What percentage of the population could read when the Bible was written?

Less than .01% could read. Books were hand printed and even more scarce than people who could read.

It depends upon the time and the population. The elite could generally read, and that included the Jewish leadership. After all, they were the ones that created the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Rabbis and other Jewish leaders were literate, and school was a requirement of the Jewish community.

As far as Roman and Greek non-Jews are concerned, again, it depended upon the time and population. Romans and Greeks were not some backwater civilization, but counted among their numbers great thinkers and scholars. Greek Philosophers of the time are still required reading in classic literature.

The BIble wasn't finally compiled in its present form (with or without the Apocryphal works) until the end of the 4th century. The Hebrew Old Testament was available widely in Synagogues of the time. And the Christian letters and accounts were widely copied by hand and many of them were sent to more than the congregations they were originally written to.

But, to be fair, the scriptures or what became the scriptures were not held by the average person. While many were literate, there was still a sizable population who were not. It is a major mistake to think, though, that the vast majority of the population were illiterate -- they weren't.

After the fall of Rome and consolidation of the Church through its ecumenical councils, starting with the first held in Nicaea in 325, the literacy of the general population fell considerably. Prior to that time, the Greeks and Romans both enjoyed an amazing amount of literacy.

So compare the writings of Job, 19:23-26; or the 2368 years of people in the

book of Genesis, at this Matt.1:1-17, lineage brings forth the Old Testament.

The four books Moses did in the wilderness year 2513 to year 2553, to the

KJV Bible in the world 3124 years later, then all the other translations in the

past 403 years, what really was the progress of mankind?

Who remembers the horse and buggy days? I do.

Less than 1%. That's why they needed priests, preachers, etc. Someone had to read to the illiterate masses and whip them into a frenzy.