How many times is John mentioned in the Bible?
The word John appears 131 times in the King James Version, in 128 verses. Counting every form (John, John's), it appears 133 times in 130 verses across 7 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses John 123 times (133 with every form).
John the Baptist, the apostle, and John Mark all share the name. Every use is counted.
John in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of John counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| John | 131 | 123 |
| John's | 2 | 10 |
| Total | 133 | 133 |
First and last mention of John
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
The verse that uses it most is Mark 2:18, 2 times (tied with Luke 7:24, John 10:41):
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
2 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.
John 1:29: counted in the KJV only
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Revelation 21:2: counted in the KJV only
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
Mark 6:27: counted in the World English Bible only
And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
Immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring John’s head, and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
Acts 4:7: counted in the World English Bible only
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”
Verses with John on our topic pages
10 verses that use John in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”
On: Fasting
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptizer.
John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.
On: Baptism
I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’
On: What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? 22 Verses
He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
On: What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? 22 Verses
Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
On: What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? 22 Verses
Common questions
How many times is John in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 133 uses are in the Old Testament and 133 in the New Testament. John appears in 7 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Luke has the most (31), then Matthew (26) and Mark (26).
Where is John first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Matthew 3:1: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea," The last is Revelation 22:8.
John is also the name of a book of the Bible. See its 21 chapters, 879 verses and reading time.
More word counts: James, Judas, Martha, Lazarus, Gabriel, Michael, Stephen, Timothy, 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.