How many times is wilderness mentioned in the Bible?
The word wilderness appears 304 times in the King James Version, in 293 verses. It is found in 36 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses wilderness 301 times.
Wilderness in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of wilderness counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| wilderness | 304 | 301 |
| Total | 304 | 301 |
Which books mention wilderness most
Wilderness appears in 36 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Numbers has the most (45), then Exodus (23) and Psalms (22).
Also in: Job (6), Hosea (5), Joel (5), Matthew (5), Mark (5), Leviticus (4), 1 Kings (4), 1 Chronicles (4), John (4), Lamentations (3), Amos (3), Revelation (3), Nehemiah (2), Song of Solomon (2), Hebrews (2), 2 Kings (1), Proverbs (1), Zephaniah (1), Malachi (1), 1 Corinthians (1), 2 Corinthians (1).
First and last mention of wilderness
And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
The verse that uses it most is Exodus 15:22, 2 times (tied with Numbers 10:12, Numbers 14:33, Numbers 33:8, 1 Samuel 23:14, 1 Samuel 23:25 and 5 more):
So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Where the two translations differ
16 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 10 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Job 30:3: counted in the KJV only
For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.
Psalm 74:14: counted in the KJV only
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.
Exodus 3:1: counted in the World English Bible only
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb.
Exodus 5:3: counted in the World English Bible only
And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
Verses with wilderness on our topic pages
5 verses that use wilderness in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
On: New Beginnings, Bitterness
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
On: Fasting, Temptation
and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.”
On: Fathers
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. Then he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough. Now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.”
On: What Does the Bible Say About Suicide? 25 Verses of Hope
John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.
On: Baptism
Common questions
How many times is wilderness in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 269 of the 304 uses are in the Old Testament and 35 in the New Testament. Wilderness appears in 36 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Numbers has the most (45), then Exodus (23) and Psalms (22).
Where is wilderness first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 14:6: "And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness." The last is Revelation 17:3.
More word counts: crown, throne, altar, temple, tabernacle, ark, sacrifice, incense, 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.