How many times is disciple mentioned in the Bible?
The word disciple appears 29 times in the King James Version, in 27 verses. Counting every form (disciple, disciples), it appears 273 times in 256 verses across 6 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses disciple 31 times (278 with every form).
Disciple in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of disciple counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| disciple | 29 | 31 |
| disciples | 244 | 247 |
| Total | 273 | 278 |
First and last mention of disciple
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
The verse that uses it most is Mark 2:18, 3 times (tied with John 6:22):
And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
Where the two translations differ
3 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 6 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Matthew 8:25: counted in the KJV only
And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
They came to him, and woke him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We are dying!”
Mark 8:14: counted in the KJV only
Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them.
Matthew 13:52: counted in the World English Bible only
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”
Matthew 26:20: counted in the World English Bible only
Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Now when evening had come, he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
Verses with disciple on our topic pages
28 verses that use disciple in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
On: Baptism, Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Evangelism
Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
On: Discipleship, Freedom
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
On: Love, Discipleship
He called the multitude to himself with his disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
On: Discipleship
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
On: Discipleship
Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple.
On: Discipleship
So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
On: Discipleship
He called his disciples to himself, and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury,
Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”
On: Fasting
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
On: Evangelism
He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
On: Demons
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear.
Common questions
How many times is disciple in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 1 of the 273 uses are in the Old Testament and 272 in the New Testament. Disciple appears in 6 books of the 66 in the King James Version. John has the most (81), then Matthew (75) and Mark (46).
Where is disciple first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Isaiah 8:16: "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." The last is Acts 21:16.
Read the full collection: Bible Verses About Discipleship (19 Verses).
More word counts: elder, gospel, parable, demon, judgment, wrath, vengeance, envy, 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.