The length of the shortest verse in the King James Version, that's easy to find
mysql> mysql> mysql> CREATE TABLE mytable -> ( -> bsect ENUM('O','N') NOT NULL, # book section (testament) -> bname VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL, # book name -> bnum TINYINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL, # book number -> cnum TINYINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL, # chapter number -> vnum TINYINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL, # verse number -> vtext TEXT NOT NULL # text of verse -> ) TYPE = MyISAM; Query OK, 0 rows affected, 1 warning (0.01 sec) mysql> mysql> SELECT MIN(LENGTH(vtext)) FROM mytable; +--------------------+ | MIN(LENGTH(vtext)) | +--------------------+ | NULL | +--------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> drop table mytable; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)