How many times is Elijah mentioned in the Bible?
The word Elijah appears 69 times in the King James Version, in 63 verses. Counting every form (Elijah, Elias), it appears 99 times in 93 verses across 11 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Elijah 99 times (101 with every form).
The KJV spells the name Elias in the New Testament. Both spellings are counted.
Elijah in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Elijah counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Elijah | 69 | 99 |
| Elijah's | 0 | 2 |
| Elias | 30 | not counted |
| Total | 99 | 101 |
First and last mention of Elijah
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Kings 17:23, 2 times (tied with 1 Kings 18:7, 1 Kings 18:40, 1 Kings 19:13, 2 Kings 2:1, 2 Kings 2:14):
And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 2 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
1 Chronicles 8:27: counted in the World English Bible only
And Jaresiah, and Eliah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.
Jaareshiah, Elijah, Zichri, and the sons of Jeroham.
Ezra 10:26: counted in the World English Bible only
And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Eliah.
Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.
Verses with Elijah on our topic pages
9 verses that use Elijah in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
On: Friendship
If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come.
They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.
His disciples asked him, saying, “Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Jesus answered them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things,
but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they didn’t recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them.”
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”
They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”
Common questions
How many times is Elijah in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 69 of the 99 uses are in the Old Testament and 30 in the New Testament. Elijah appears in 11 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Kings has the most (42), then 2 Kings (24) and Matthew (9).
Where is Elijah first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is 1 Kings 17:1: "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." The last is James 5:17.
More word counts: Elisha, Daniel, John, James, Judas, Martha, Lazarus, Gabriel, 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.