How many times is Jonah mentioned in the Bible?
The word Jonah appears 19 times in the King James Version, in 17 verses. Counting every form (Jonah, Jonas), it appears 31 times in 27 verses across 5 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Jonah 32 times.
The KJV spells the name Jonas in Matthew 12 and 16, Luke 11 and John 1:42 (where Jonas is Peter's father). Both spellings are counted.
Jonah in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Jonah counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Jonah | 19 | 32 |
| Jonas | 12 | not counted |
| Total | 31 | 32 |
First and last mention of Jonah
He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
The verse that uses it most is Jonah 1:17, 2 times (tied with Jonah 4:6, Matthew 12:41, Luke 11:32):
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Where the two translations differ
1 verse matches 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.
Jonah 4:8: counted in the KJV only
And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Matthew 16:17: counted in the World English Bible only
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
John 1:42: counted in the World English Bible only
And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).
Common questions
How many times is Jonah in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 19 of the 31 uses are in the Old Testament and 12 in the New Testament. Jonah appears in 5 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Jonah has the most (18), then Matthew (5) and Luke (4).
Where is Jonah first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is 2 Kings 14:25: "He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher." The last is John 21:17.
Jonah is also the name of a book of the Bible. See its 4 chapters, 48 verses and reading time.
More word counts: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Herod, Pilate, Cain, Ishmael, 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.