How many times is Samaria mentioned in the Bible?
The word Samaria appears 124 times in the King James Version, in 115 verses. It is found in 15 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Samaria 122 times.
Samaria in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Samaria counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Samaria | 124 | 122 |
| Total | 124 | 122 |
First and last mention of Samaria
For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Kings 16:24, 2 times (tied with 1 Kings 22:37, 2 Kings 6:20, 2 Kings 10:1, 2 Kings 10:17, 2 Kings 15:14 and 3 more):
And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.
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.
John 4:9: counted in the KJV only
Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Verses with Samaria on our topic pages
3 verses that use Samaria in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
On: Holy Spirit
Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.
On: Persecution
But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,
Common questions
How many times is Samaria in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 111 of the 124 uses are in the Old Testament and 13 in the New Testament. Samaria appears in 15 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 2 Kings has the most (49), then 1 Kings (19) and 2 Chronicles (8).
Where is Samaria first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is 1 Kings 13:32: "For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass." The last is Acts 15:3.
More word counts: Nineveh, serpent, bread, honey, milk, oil, salt, fire, 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.