How many times is Joseph mentioned in the Bible?
The word Joseph appears 228 times in the King James Version, in 214 verses. Counting every form (Joseph, Joseph's), it appears 250 times in 229 verses across 23 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Joseph 226 times (249 with every form).
Several men share this name, and every one is counted.
Joseph in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Joseph counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph | 228 | 226 |
| Joseph's | 22 | 23 |
| Total | 250 | 249 |
Which books mention Joseph most
Joseph appears in 23 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (157), then Numbers (12) and Joshua (12).
Also in: Hebrews (2), 2 Samuel (1), 1 Kings (1), Ezra (1), Nehemiah (1), Obadiah (1), Zechariah (1), Revelation (1).
First and last mention of Joseph
And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 37:28, 3 times:
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Where the two translations differ
1 verse matches in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 0 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Genesis 39:11: counted in the KJV only
And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.
Verses with Joseph on our topic pages
12 verses that use Joseph in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
On: Dreams
They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.” Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”
On: Dreams
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.
On: Dreams
Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
On: Christmas
Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.
On: Christmas
Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;
On: Christmas
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
On: Dreams
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
On: Dreams
When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who himself was also Jesus’ disciple came.
Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
Common questions
How many times is Joseph in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 215 of the 250 uses are in the Old Testament and 35 in the New Testament. Joseph appears in 23 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (157), then Numbers (12) and Joshua (12).
Where is Joseph first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 30:24: "And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son." The last is Revelation 7:8.
More word counts: Solomon, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, Saul, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, 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.