LXX Mean Log Word Frequency
The Blog of Nathan D. Smith

In another recent post, James Tauber covers the topic of mean log word frequency as a measure of difficulty of reading. I adapted James' code to address the CATSS LXX data (new format still forthcoming, I promise!).

Output columns are mean log word frequency, and then book+chapter (insert caveat about LXX chapter numbering). The higher the first column, the harder to read. Here are the top ten hardest chapters by this measure:

7983 Wisdom 17
7708 1 Chronicles 1
7281 2 Esdras 2
7217 Proverbs 10
7128 3 Maccabees 4
7114 Wisdom 11
7110 Wisdom 13
7092 Proverbs 14
7076 Proverbs 11
7065 Wisdom 14

Wisdom 17 has the unique distinction of having a broader vocabulary than a list of names, which is impressive. And now the easiest:

4752 Psalm 133
4752 Psalm 135
4792 Deuteronomy 30
4809 Deuteronomy 26
4836 1 Kings 13
4837 Psalm 116
4851 Ezekiel 20
4852 2 Chronicles 7
4856 Ezekiel 37
4881 Ezekiel 33

Top five hardest books:

6777 Wisdom
6677 4 Maccabees
6664 3 Maccabees
6634 Proverbs
6484 Joshua A
6402 2 Maccabees

Books composed in Greek appear to have the edge. I included a sixth because "Joshua A" in this corpus is not a full-length work. Now the five eastiest:

5189 Deuteronomy
5205 2 Chronicles
5239 1 Samuel
5242 Judges A
5256 Baruck

That's all for now.