How many times is stone mentioned in the Bible?
The word stone appears 191 times in the King James Version, in 176 verses. Counting every form (stone, stones, stone's), it appears 370 times in 320 verses across 39 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses stone 198 times (365 with every form).
Stoned and stonest (the verb), brimstone, millstone and hailstones are different words and are not counted. The plain word stone is counted wherever it appears, including the verb in "ye shall stone him".
Stone in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of stone counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| stone | 191 | 198 |
| stones | 178 | 166 |
| stone's | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 370 | 365 |
Which books mention stone most
Stone appears in 39 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Exodus has the most (38), then 1 Kings (29) and Deuteronomy (28).
Also in: Matthew (10), 2 Kings (8), Psalms (8), Mark (8), Numbers (7), Jeremiah (7), Daniel (7), Zechariah (7), 2 Samuel (6), Proverbs (5), 1 Peter (5), Lamentations (4), Judges (3), Nehemiah (3), Ecclesiastes (3), Acts (3), Ezra (2), Habakkuk (2), Haggai (2), 2 Corinthians (2), Amos (1), Micah (1), 1 Corinthians (1), Ephesians (1).
First and last mention of stone
And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
The verse that uses it most is 1 Chronicles 29:2, 5 times:
Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.
Where the two translations differ
21 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 19 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Exodus 4:25: counted in the KJV only
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
Leviticus 21:20: counted in the KJV only
Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.
Numbers 33:52: counted in the World English Bible only
Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places.
Deuteronomy 16:22: counted in the World English Bible only
Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.
Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates.
Verses with stone on our topic pages
20 verses that use stone in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
“‘A man or a woman that is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’”
On: What Does the Bible Say About Ghosts? 25 Verses, What Does the Bible Say About Witchcraft? 25 Verses, Psychics
But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.”
On: Judging Others, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses
then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”
On: Tithing
“Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
On: Blasphemy
He who blasphemes Yahweh’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
On: Blasphemy
They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
On: Protection
Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.
On: Laziness
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
On: Time
I will cause it to go out,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”
The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
On: Temptation
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
On: Temptation
Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
On: Fathers
Common questions
How many times is stone in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 301 of the 370 uses are in the Old Testament and 69 in the New Testament. Stone appears in 39 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Exodus has the most (38), then 1 Kings (29) and Deuteronomy (28).
Where is stone first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 2:12: "And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone." The last is Revelation 21:19.
More word counts: gate, beard, generation, image, brass, valley, cattle, voice, or all 680 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 2026-10-26.