How many times is harp mentioned in the Bible?
The word harp appears 30 times in the King James Version, in 29 verses. Counting every form (harp, harps), it appears 50 times in 49 verses across 14 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses harp 32 times (52 with every form).
Harp in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of harp counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| harp | 30 | 32 |
| harps | 20 | 20 |
| Total | 50 | 52 |
Which books mention harp most
Harp appears in 14 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Psalms has the most (14), then 1 Chronicles (8) and Isaiah (5).
First and last mention of harp
And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
The verse that uses it most is Psalm 98:5, 2 times:
Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.
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.
Amos 5:23: counted in the World English Bible only
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Amos 6:5: counted in the World English Bible only
That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;
who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
Verses with harp on our topic pages
1 verse that uses harp in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving. Sing praises on the harp to our God,
On: Gratitude
Common questions
How many times is harp in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 46 of the 50 uses are in the Old Testament and 4 in the New Testament. Harp appears in 14 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Psalms has the most (14), then 1 Chronicles (8) and Isaiah (5).
Where is harp first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 4:21: "And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." The last is Revelation 15:2.
More word counts: sackcloth, pearl, wheat, rock, star, rain, cloud, thorn, or all 484 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 2026-10-22.