How many times is Jonathan mentioned in the Bible?
The word Jonathan appears 118 times in the King James Version, in 103 verses. Counting every form (Jonathan, Jonathan's), it appears 121 times in 105 verses across 8 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Jonathan 118 times (122 with every form).
Jonathan in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Jonathan counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan | 118 | 118 |
| Jonathan's | 3 | 4 |
| Total | 121 | 122 |
What the name Jonathan means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Jonathan as "given of God".
This is the 1869 traditional meaning; modern scholars often read names differently.
See every name and place with its meaning and count on Bible names and their meanings.
Source: Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869), checked 2026-10-22.
First and last mention of Jonathan
And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Samuel 19:7, 3 times:
And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 1 verse matches only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
1 Chronicles 27:25: counted in the World English Bible only
And over the king’s treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the castles, was Jehonathan the son of Uzziah:
Over the king’s treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the treasures in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah;
Verses with Jonathan on our topic pages
2 verses that use Jonathan in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
They mourned, wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel; because they had fallen by the sword.
On: Fasting
David said to him, “Don’t be afraid; for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. You will eat bread at my table continually.”
On: Kindness
Common questions
How many times is Jonathan in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 121 of the 121 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Jonathan appears in 8 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Samuel has the most (73), then 2 Samuel (25) and 1 Chronicles (10).
Where is Jonathan first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Judges 18:30: "And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land." The last is Jeremiah 40:8.
What does the name Jonathan mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Jonathan as "given of God".
More word counts: Absalom, Jeroboam, Ahab, Jehoshaphat, Eleazar, Abimelech, Abner, Simon, 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.