How many times is rabbi mentioned in the Bible?
The word rabbi appears 8 times in the King James Version, in 7 verses. Counting every form (Rabbi, Rabboni), it appears 9 times in 8 verses across 2 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses rabbi 17 times (19 with every form).
The KJV prints Rabbi 8 times and writes Master for the same title in other verses, such as Mark 9:5, where the World English Bible keeps Rabbi. That is why its count is higher. John 1:38 explains the word: Master in the KJV, Teacher in the World English Bible.
Rabbi in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of rabbi counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Rabbi | 8 | 17 |
| Rabboni | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 9 | 19 |
First and last mention of rabbi
And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
The verse that uses it most is Matthew 23:7, 2 times:
And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 9 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Matthew 26:25: counted in the World English Bible only
Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.
Judas, who betrayed him, answered, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You said it.”
Matthew 26:49: counted in the World English Bible only
And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
Verses with rabbi on our topic pages
2 verses that use rabbi in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
On: Betrayal
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Common questions
How many times is rabbi in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 9 uses are in the Old Testament and 9 in the New Testament. Rabbi appears in 2 books of the 66 in the King James Version. John has the most (6), then Matthew (3).
Where is rabbi first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Matthew 23:7: "And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." The last is John 20:16.
More word counts: Ashkelon, enemy, brother, virgin, birth, mouth, Hinnom, Nadab, 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.