How many times is publican mentioned in the Bible?
The word publican appears 6 times in the King James Version, in 6 verses. Counting every form (publican, publicans), it appears 23 times in 22 verses across 3 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses publican 8 times (24 with every form).
The World English Bible says tax collector where the KJV says publican. Its column counts tax collector and tax collectors.
Publican in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of publican counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| publican | 6 | not counted |
| publicans | 17 | not counted |
| tax collector | not counted | 8 |
| tax collectors | not counted | 16 |
| Total | 23 | 24 |
First and last mention of publican
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
The verse that uses it most is Mark 2:16, 2 times:
And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
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.
Daniel 11:20: counted in the World English Bible only
Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
“Then one who will cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory will stand up in his place; but within few days he shall be destroyed, not in anger, and not in battle.
Verses with publican on our topic pages
3 verses that use publican in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
On: Alcohol
There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
On: Hospitality
Common questions
How many times is publican in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 23 uses are in the Old Testament and 23 in the New Testament. Publican appears in 3 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Luke has the most (11), then Matthew (9) and Mark (3).
Where is publican first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Matthew 5:46: "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" The last is Luke 19:2.
More word counts: scribe, centurion, synagogue, proverb, love, God, Jesus, Christ, 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.