How many times is Onan mentioned in the Bible?
The word Onan appears 8 times in the King James Version, in 6 verses. It is found in 3 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Onan 8 times.
Onan in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Onan counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Onan | 8 | 8 |
| Total | 8 | 8 |
Which books mention Onan most
Onan appears in 3 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (5), then Numbers (2) and 1 Chronicles (1).
First and last mention of Onan
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 46:12, 2 times (tied with Numbers 26:19):
And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
Verses with Onan on our topic pages
2 verses that use Onan in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his; and when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.
Common questions
How many times is Onan in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 8 of the 8 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Onan appears in 3 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (5), then Numbers (2) and 1 Chronicles (1).
Where is Onan first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 38:4: "And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan." The last is 1 Chronicles 2:3.
More word counts: Nazarite, Kidron, Gilboa, Belteshazzar, Shunammite, Mamre, Rabshakeh, love, 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.