The Shortest Man

Who Was The Shortest Person In the Bible?

Let’s have some fun. Most people can quickly tell you that Methuselah was the oldest person in the Bible (Genesis 5:27), but do you know who was the shortest person in the Bible?

Who do you think was the shortest person mentioned in the Bible?
(a) Goliath
(b) Bildad
(c) Nehemiah
(d) Zacchaeus
(e) James
(f) Peter
(g) Paul
(h) Mary

A common answer is Zacchaeus based on Luke 19:2, which tells us that he was a short man. Recall that he was concerned that he would not be able to see Jesus when He passed by. So Zacchaeus remedied his problem by climbing into a sycamore tree.

Some might suggest James, the cousin of our Lord and the author of the Epistle of James, might be shorter than Zacchaeus since he is referred to in Scripture as “James the less” (Mark 15:40) which in the original language literally meant “little” (compared to James the son of Zebedee).

Others will suggest that a shorter man than Zacchaeus or James was Nehemiah since names in Scripture often had significance and his name, knee-high-miah, obviously indicates he was very short.

But considering the names of Biblical characters, some people might point out that Nehemiah was obviously a giant compared to Bildad who was a shuhite (shoe-height) and therefore obviously shorter than a knee-high individual (Job 2:11).

Still others, who are not as much into focusing on the meaning of names as considering the whole of Scripture, have a different view. They simply state that obviously Peter was the smallest of all since he was so tiny he was able to sleep on his watch (Matthew 26:40).