How many times is Canaan mentioned in the Bible?
The word Canaan appears 91 times in the King James Version, in 88 verses. It is found in 13 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Canaan 91 times.
Canaan in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Canaan counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Canaan | 91 | 91 |
| Total | 91 | 91 |
First and last mention of Canaan
And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 12:5, 2 times (tied with Numbers 34:2, Judges 4:24):
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Where the two translations differ
3 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 3 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Ezekiel 16:3: counted in the KJV only
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: “Your origin and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite. An Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.
Ezekiel 16:29: counted in the KJV only
Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren’t satisfied with this.
Zephaniah 1:11: counted in the World English Bible only
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
Acts 7:11: counted in the World English Bible only
Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.
Verses with Canaan on our topic pages
2 verses that use Canaan in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.
Common questions
How many times is Canaan in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 90 of the 91 uses are in the Old Testament and 1 in the New Testament. Canaan appears in 13 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (46), then Numbers (12) and Joshua (8).
Where is Canaan first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 9:18: "And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan." The last is Matthew 15:22.
More word counts: Damascus, Jericho, Samaria, Nineveh, serpent, bread, honey, milk, or all 253 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-05.