Matthew, Mark or John?

It happens at times that a Bible society must make a choice as to which book of the Bible it will first translate into a new tongue. In such a case it might seem that of all sixty-six books of the Bible the Gospel of Matthew would be the first choice. But not so. Usually there is another consideration, that of convenience. Thus Mark’s Gospel is the first choice in most of such instances because of its simplicity and brevity. The Gospel of John, however, is the Bible book having the widest distribution, it being the most popular.

In this regard it may be observed that of the 1,165 languages into which the Bible is translated, 221 are of the complete Bible, 277 of the Christian Greek Scriptures, and the rest, 667, of one or more Bible books.