Bible English List (BEL)

A corpus-based list of key vocabulary for understanding the English Bible

The Bible English List (BEL) is a specialized vocabulary list developed to support learners, teachers, and researchers working with English-language biblical texts. Built from a full corpus analysis of the New International Version (NIV 2014), the BEL identifies the most important words needed to understand the Bible beyond general English vocabulary.

This is the first list in the NGSL Project to incorporate AI-assisted methods in the early stages of development. These tools were used to efficiently process the corpus and identify candidate vocabulary. The resulting list was then carefully reviewed, refined, and validated using traditional corpus linguistics procedures, ensuring that all final results meet the standards of reliability and transparency established in earlier NGSL Project work.

Why the NIV Version?

The New International Version (NIV 2014) was selected as the corpus for this project because it is one of the most widely read and widely distributed modern English Bible translations in the world, with hundreds of millions of copies in circulation. It is consistently among the best-selling English Bible translations and is used extensively in churches, education, and personal study. Importantly, the NIV was designed to balance accuracy with readability, making it a strong representation of contemporary, accessible English—making it an ideal foundation for identifying the vocabulary learners actually need.

Why the Bible English List?

The New General Service List (NGSL) provides excellent coverage of general English. However, texts such as the Bible contain a set of domain-specific words that are essential for comprehension but are not common in everyday language.

A detailed corpus analysis of the NIV shows that:

  • The NGSL words that actually occur in the text, together with supplementary items, provide approximately 91% coverage

  • The remaining vocabulary is concentrated in a relatively small number of high-frequency, Bible-specific words

  • Learning just the first 1000 BEL words increases coverage to nearly 99%

This means that learners do not need thousands of additional words—just a carefully selected set of high-impact vocabulary.

What is the BEL?

The BEL is a frequency-based list of words that:

  • Occur frequently in the Bible

  • Are not covered by the NGSL

  • Are not proper nouns or number words (though we also provide a list of most frequent proper nouns in the NIV too)

  • Carry important theological, cultural, and narrative meaning

These include words such as covenant, priest, sacrifice, altar, and temple—terms that are central to understanding biblical texts.

Key Features:

Corpus-Based

The BEL is derived from the complete NIV 2014 corpus, ensuring that all words are selected based on real usage frequency.

Validated Through Traditional Corpus Methods

The list has been refined and validated through independent corpus analysis, ensuring reliability and accuracy in both word selection and coverage claims.

NGSL-Aligned

The BEL is designed to extend the NGSL into the domain of biblical English, creating a systematic pathway from general to specialized vocabulary.

High Impact, Low Burden

A relatively small number of BEL words provides a disproportionate increase in comprehension, making it highly efficient for learners.

How Should the BEL Be Used?

  • Learners can focus on the vocabulary that matters most for understanding biblical texts

  • Teachers can design targeted lessons based on high-frequency, high-value words

  • Researchers can explore domain-specific vocabulary and lexical coverage

Download the Bible English List

You can download the full BEL below:

Download the Bible English List (BEL)