How many times is Nun mentioned in the Bible?
The word Nun appears 29 times in the King James Version, in 29 verses. It is found in 7 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Nun 30 times.
Nun is the father of Joshua, who is called Joshua the son of Nun throughout the Old Testament. The KJV spells it Non once, in 1 Chronicles 7:27, and that spelling is not counted; the World English Bible writes Nun there, so its count is one higher.
Nun in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Nun counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Nun | 29 | 30 |
| Total | 29 | 30 |
What the name Nun means
Hitchcock lists Nun as the same name as Non, which he glosses as "posterity; a fish; eternal".
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 2026-10-24.
First and last mention of Nun
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
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 7:27: counted in the World English Bible only
Non his son, Jehoshuah his son.
Nun his son, and Joshua his son.
Common questions
How many times is Nun in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 29 of the 29 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Nun appears in 7 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Numbers has the most (11), then Joshua (10) and Deuteronomy (4).
Where is Nun first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Exodus 33:11: "And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle." The last is Nehemiah 8:17.
What does the name Nun mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock lists Nun as the same name as Non, which he glosses as "posterity; a fish; eternal".
More word counts: Hananiah, Jehoram, Elkanah, Ethiopians, Rezin, Zoar, Ophrah, Cilicia, or all 635 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 2026-10-24.