How many times is Saul mentioned in the Bible?
The word Saul appears 389 times in the King James Version, in 327 verses. Counting every form (Saul, Saul's), it appears 420 times in 346 verses across 6 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Saul 375 times (419 with every form).
Saul is the first king of Israel and also the Hebrew name of the apostle Paul before Acts 13:9. Every use is counted.
Saul in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Saul counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Saul | 389 | 375 |
| Saul's | 31 | 44 |
| Total | 420 | 419 |
First and last mention of Saul
And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Samuel 15:35, 3 times (tied with 1 Samuel 18:5, 1 Samuel 23:26, 1 Samuel 24:16, 1 Samuel 26:5):
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Where the two translations differ
2 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.
Genesis 36:37: counted in the KJV only
And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.
Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place.
Genesis 36:38: counted in the KJV only
And Saul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
Shaul died, and Baal Hanan, the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
1 Samuel 15:27: counted in the World English Bible only
And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
Verses with Saul on our topic pages
19 verses that use Saul in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?”
On: Jealousy
Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. Saul had sent away those who had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land.
Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar spirit at Endor.”
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”
The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.”
He said to her, “What does he look like?” She said, “An old man comes up. He is covered with a robe.” Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and showed respect.
Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?” Saul answered, “I am very distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me, and answers me no more, by prophets, or by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do.”
When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
all the valiant men arose, went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burned them there.
They mourned, wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel; because they had fallen by the sword.
On: Fasting
The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.”
David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “Blessed are you by Yahweh, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.
Common questions
How many times is Saul in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 394 of the 420 uses are in the Old Testament and 26 in the New Testament. Saul appears in 6 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Samuel has the most (297), then 2 Samuel (66) and 1 Chronicles (28).
Where is Saul first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 36:37: "And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead." The last is Acts 26:14.
More word counts: Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, John, James, Judas, Martha, Lazarus, 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.