Hebrew
אָב av
“father” · 1,213 times in the Old Testament
Through the Bible
- “father” 926
- “families” 100
- “forefathers” 22
- “them” 11
- “(not translated)” 8
- other ways 146
- patēr, the Greek the New Testament uses for it 413
In the New Testament it continues as patēr: Hebrews 1:5 quotes 2 Samuel 7:14, and puts this word in Greek.
As a table, book by book
| Book | Times |
|---|---|
| Genesis | 208 |
| Exodus | 24 |
| Leviticus | 25 |
| Numbers | 85 |
| Deuteronomy | 71 |
| Joshua | 35 |
| Judges | 54 |
| Ruth | 3 |
| 1 Samuel | 54 |
| 2 Samuel | 28 |
| 1 Kings | 95 |
| 2 Kings | 70 |
| 1 Chronicles | 106 |
| 2 Chronicles | 123 |
| Ezra | 14 |
| Nehemiah | 20 |
| Esther | 3 |
| Job | 9 |
| Psalms | 19 |
| Proverbs | 26 |
| Isaiah | 21 |
| Jeremiah | 63 |
| Lamentations | 2 |
| Ezekiel | 27 |
| Daniel | 8 |
| Hosea | 1 |
| Joel | 1 |
| Amos | 2 |
| Micah | 2 |
| Zechariah | 7 |
| Malachi | 7 |
| Matthew | 63 |
| Mark | 18 |
| Luke | 56 |
| John | 136 |
| Acts | 35 |
| Romans | 14 |
| 1 Corinthians | 6 |
| 2 Corinthians | 5 |
| Galatians | 5 |
| Ephesians | 11 |
| Philippians | 4 |
| Colossians | 5 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 5 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 3 |
| 1 Timothy | 2 |
| 2 Timothy | 1 |
| Titus | 1 |
| Philemon | 1 |
| Hebrews | 9 |
| James | 4 |
| 1 Peter | 3 |
| 2 Peter | 2 |
| 1 John | 14 |
| 2 John | 4 |
| Jude | 1 |
| Revelation | 5 |
How the BSB translates it
Each way the Berean Standard Bible puts it into English, and how often.
Its meanings, as STEP Bible divides them
- father 1209
- (Huram)-abi 2
- father of 2
With a pronoun joined
Hebrew joins “me”, “you”, “him” and the like to the end of a word.
Where it occurs
Grouped by how it’s translated, then by book. Each reference opens the verse.
“father” 926
Genesis 80
- 2:24 …a man will leave his father and mother and be…
- 4:20 …to Jabal he was the father of those who dwell…
- 4:21 …was Jubal he was the father of all who play…
- 9:18 …and Japheth And Ham was the father of Canaan…
- 9:22 …And Ham the father of Canaan saw his…
- 9:22 …father of Canaan saw his father’s nakedness and told his…
- 9:23 …walking backward they covered their father’s nakedness Their faces were…
- 9:23 …they did not see their father’s nakedness…
- 11:28 …During his father Terah’s lifetime Haran died…
- 12:1 …your country your kindred and your father’s household and go to…
- 15:15 …however will go to your fathers in peace and be…
- 17:4 …you You will be the father of many nations…
- 17:5 …I have made you a father of many nations…
- 19:31 …said to the younger Our father is old and there…
- 19:33 …in and slept with her father he was not aware…
- 19:34 …Look I slept with my father last night Let us…
- 19:34 …and we can preserve our father’s line…
- 19:36 …Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father
- 19:37 …named him Moab He is the father of the Moabites of…
- 19:38 …named him Ben ammi He is the father of the Ammonites of…
- 20:12 …my sister the daughter of my father though not the daughter…
- 20:13 …God had me journey from my father’s house I said to…
- 22:7 …Then Isaac said to his father Abraham My father Here…
- 22:7 …to his father Abraham My father Here I am my…
- 22:21 …his brother Buz Kemuel the father of Aram…
- 24:7 …heaven who brought me from my father’s house and my native…
- 24:23 …me is there room in your father’s house for us to…
- 24:38 …you shall go to my father’s house and to my…
- 24:40 …son from my kindred and from my father’s house…
- 26:3 …oath that I swore to your father Abraham…
- 26:15 …all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in…
- 26:15 …dug in the days of his father Abraham…
- 26:18 …dug in the days of his father Abraham which the Philistines…
- 26:18 …wells the same names his father had given them…
- 26:24 …I am the God of your father Abraham Do not be…
- 27:6 …Jacob Behold I overheard your father saying to your brother…
- 27:9 …into a tasty dish for your father the kind he loves…
- 27:10 …Then take it to your father to eat so that…
- 27:12 …What if my father touches me Then I…
- 27:14 …made the tasty food his father loved…
- 27:18 …So Jacob went to his father and said My father…
- 27:18 …his father and said My father Here I am he…
- 27:19 …Jacob said to his father I am Esau your…
- 27:22 …Jacob came close to his father Isaac who touched him…
- 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him…
- 27:30 …and Jacob had left his father’s presence his brother Esau…
- 27:31 …some tasty food brought it to his father and said to him…
- 27:31 …and said to him My father sit up and eat…
- 27:32 But his father Isaac replied Who are…
- 27:34 …When Esau heard his father’s words he let out…
- 27:34 …bitter cry and said to his father Bless me too O…
- 27:38 …Esau said to his father Do you have only…
- 27:38 …have only one blessing my father Bless me too O…
- 27:39 His father Isaac answered him Behold…
- 27:41 …because of the blessing his father had given him And…
- 27:41 …The days of mourning for my father are at hand then…
- 28:2 …house of your mother’s father Bethuel and take a…
- 28:7 …that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone…
- 28:8 …And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the…
- 28:13 …the LORD the God of your father Abraham and the God…
- 28:21 …may return safely to my father’s house then the LORD…
- 29:9 …them Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep for she was…
- 29:12 …Rebekah’s son a relative of her father and she ran and…
- 29:12 …she ran and told her father
- 31:1 …all that belonged to our father and built all this…
- 31:3 …back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred…
- 31:5 …them I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude…
- 31:5 …changed but the God of my father has been with me…
- 31:6 …that I have served your father with all my strength…
- 31:9 …God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them…
- 31:14 …portion or inheritance left in our father’s house…
- 31:16 …God has taken away from our father belongs to us and…
- 31:18 …aram to go to his father Isaac in the land…
- 31:19 …his sheep Rachel stole her father’s household idols…
- 31:29 …last night the God of your father said to me Be…
- 31:30 …off because you long for your father’s house But why have…
- 31:35 …Rachel said to her father Sir do not be…
- 31:42 …If the God of my father the God of Abraham…
- 31:53 …of Nahor the God of their father judge between us So…
- 31:53 …swore by the Fear of his father Isaac…
And 846 more, on the full page.
“families” 100
Exodus 2
Numbers 34
- 1:2 …Israel by their clans and families listing every man by…
- 1:18 …their ancestry by clans and families counting one by one…
- 1:20 …records of their clans and families counting one by one…
- 1:22 …records of their clans and families counting one by one…
- 1:24 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:26 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:28 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:30 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:32 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:34 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:36 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:38 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:40 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 1:42 …records of their clans and families counting the names of…
- 2:2 …standard with the banners of his family
- 2:34 …with his clan and his family
- 3:15 …Number the Levites by their families and clans You are…
- 3:24 …and the leader of the families of the Gershonites was…
- 3:30 …and the leader of the families of the Kohathites was…
- 3:35 …The leader of the families of the Merarites was…
- 4:2 …Levites by their clans and families
- 4:22 …the Gershonites as well by their families and clans…
- 4:29 …them by their clans and families
- 4:34 …Kohathites by their clans and families
- 4:38 …numbered by their clans and families
- 4:40 …numbered by their clans and families totaled…
- 4:42 …numbered by their clans and families
- 4:46 …numbered by their clans and families all the Levites…
- 7:2 …of Israel the heads of their families presented an offering These…
- 25:14 …leader of a Simeonite family
- 25:15 …chief of a Midianite family
- 31:26 …and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the congregation…
- 32:28 …Joshua son of Nun and to the family leaders of the tribes…
- 36:1 Now the family heads of the clan…
Joshua 7
- 2:12 …indeed show kindness to my family because I showed kindness…
- 2:18 …and brothers and all your family into your house…
- 14:1 …Nun and the heads of the families of the tribes of…
- 19:51 …Nun and the heads of the families distributed by lot to…
- 21:1 Now the family heads of the Levites…
- 22:14 …sent ten chiefs one family leader from each tribe…
- 22:14 …Israel each the head of a family among the clans of…
1 Chronicles 32
- 4:38 …leaders of their clans Their families increased greatly…
- 5:15 …of Guni was head of their family
- 5:24 …These were the heads of their families Epher Ishi Eliel Azriel…
- 5:24 …famous men and heads of their families
- 7:2 …and Shemuel the heads of their families In the days of…
- 7:7 …Jerimoth and Iri heads of their families five in all There…
- 7:9 …according to the heads of their families mighty men of valor…
- 7:11 …of Jediael were heads of their families mighty men of valor…
- 7:40 …descendants of Asher heads of their families choice and mighty men…
- 8:6 …who were the heads of the families living in Geba and…
- 8:10 …were his sons heads of families
- 8:13 …who were the heads of families living in Aijalon and…
- 8:28 …All these were heads of families the chiefs according to…
- 9:9 …these men were heads of their families
- 9:9 …these men were heads of their families
- 9:13 …their relatives the heads of their families able men for the…
- 9:33 …the heads of Levite families stayed in the temple…
- 9:34 …were heads of Levite families chiefs according to their…
- 15:12 …heads of the Levitical families You and your relatives…
- 23:9 …These were the heads of the families of Ladan…
- 23:24 …the descendants of Levi by their families the heads of families…
- 23:24 …their families the heads of families registered individually by name…
- 24:4 …There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of…
- 24:6 …Abiathar and the heads of families of the priests and…
- 24:6 …and the Levites one family being taken from Eleazar…
- 24:31 …Ahimelech and the heads of the families of the priests and…
- 24:31 …the priests and Levites the family heads and their younger…
- 26:21 …through Ladan and heads of the families of Ladan the Gershonite…
- 26:26 …David by the heads of families who were the commanders…
- 26:32 …men who were heads of families King David appointed them…
- 27:1 …the Israelites the heads of families the commanders of thousands…
- 29:6 …Then the leaders of the families the officers of the…
2 Chronicles 5
And 20 more, on the full page.
“forefathers” 22
Genesis 1
- 10:21 …brother of Japheth Shem was the forefather of all the sons…
Judges 1
- 18:29 …named it Dan after their forefather Dan who was born…
1 Chronicles 2
Nehemiah 1
- 13:18 …Did not your forefathers do the same things…
Isaiah 1
- 14:21 …sons for the iniquities of their forefathers They will never rise…
Jeremiah 12
- 11:4 …which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them…
- 11:5 …the oath I swore to your forefathers to give them a…
- 11:10 …returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey…
- 16:15 …land that I gave to their forefathers
- 17:22 …just as I commanded your forefathers
- 34:13 …made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them…
- 35:6 …wine they replied for our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab…
- 35:8 …have obeyed the voice of our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab…
- 35:10 …and done exactly as our forefather Jonadab commanded us…
- 35:14 …have obeyed the command of their forefather But I have spoken…
- 35:16 …carried out the command their forefather gave them but these…
- 35:18 …have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have kept…
Ezekiel 2
Daniel 2
“them” 11
Not translated: the English carries it without a word 8
“father of” 6
1 Chronicles 6
- 2:42 …Mesha his firstborn who was the father of Ziph and Mareshah his…
- 2:45 …was Maon and Maon was the father of Beth zur…
- 2:51 …Salma the father of Bethlehem and Hareph the…
- 4:4 …of Gedor and Ezer was the father of Hushah These were the…
- 4:5 …Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives…
- 7:31 …well as Malchiel who was the father of Birzaith…
“according to their families” 5
Numbers 3
1 Chronicles 2
“as his father” 5
1 Kings 2
2 Kings 2
2 Chronicles 1
- 33:23 …himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done instead…
“whereas my father” 5
1 Kings 3
2 Chronicles 2
“fathers did” 3
“grandfather” 3
“than my father’s” 3
“like their fathers” 3
“got their father” 2
“him” 2
“o my father” 2
“nor your grandfathers” 2
“give their fathers” 2
“than their fathers” 2
“when your father” 2
“family leaders” 2
“ancestors” 2
“like your fathers” 2
“than your father” 2
“nor their fathers” 2
“own father’s” 2
“nor your fathers” 2
“who was the father” 1
Genesis 1
- 11:29 …the daughter of Haran who was the father of both Milcah and…
“both milcah” 1
Genesis 1
- 11:29 …who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah…
“us get our father” 1
Genesis 1
- 19:32 …Come let us get our father drunk with wine so…
“his” 1
Genesis 1
- 19:32 …with him and preserve his line…
“father’s expense” 1
Genesis 1
- 31:1 …all this wealth at our father’s expense
“although he” 1
Genesis 1
- 31:7 And although he has cheated me and…
“dinah’s father” 1
Genesis 1
- 34:11 …Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers Grant me…
“where his father” 1
Genesis 1
- 37:1 …lived in the land where his father had resided the land…
“one father” 1
Genesis 1
- 42:32 …are twelve brothers sons of one father One is no more…
“if my father” 1
Genesis 1
- 44:30 …return to your servant and if my father whose life is wrapped…
“before you my father” 1
Genesis 1
- 44:32 …will bear the guilt before you, my father all my life…
“bury his father” 1
Genesis 1
- 50:14 …had gone with him to bury his father
“father as high priest” 1
Leviticus 1
- 16:32 …and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement He…
“either your father’s” 1
Leviticus 1
- 18:9 …relations with your sister either your father’s daughter or your mother’s…
“even for his father” 1
Leviticus 1
- 21:11 …must not defile himself even for his father or mother…
“each family” 1
Numbers 1
- 1:4 …each tribe the head of each family must be there with…
“representing his family” 1
Numbers 1
- 1:44 …of Israel each one representing his family
“even if his father” 1
Numbers 1
- 6:7 Even if his father or mother or brother…
“if her father” 1
Numbers 1
- 12:14 …the LORD answered Moses If her father had but spit in…
“tribe” 1
Numbers 1
- 17:2 …the leader of each tribe Write each man’s name…
“each tribe” 1
Numbers 1
- 17:3 …staff for the head of each tribe
“tribes” 1
Numbers 1
- 17:6 …each of the leaders of their tribes twelve staffs in all…
“how our fathers” 1
Numbers 1
- 20:15 how our fathers went down to Egypt…
“but” 1
Numbers 1
- 30:4 …her vow or pledge but says nothing to her…
“still in his” 1
Numbers 1
- 30:16 …and a young daughter still in his home…
“gadites” 1
Numbers 1
- 34:14 …of the Reubenites and Gadites along with the half…
“who were the heads” 1
Numbers 1
- 36:1 …Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families…
“give your fathers” 1
Deuteronomy 1
- 6:18 …LORD your God swore to give your fathers
“father’s estate” 1
Deuteronomy 1
- 18:8 …money from the sale of his father’s estate
“more than your fathers” 1
Deuteronomy 1
- 30:5 …to prosper and multiply more than your fathers
“which your fathers” 1
Deuteronomy 1
- 32:17 …to newly arrived gods which your fathers did not fear…
“arba was the forefather” 1
Joshua 1
- 15:13 …arba that is Hebron Arba was the forefather of Anak…
“arba was the father” 1
Joshua 1
- 21:11 …hill country of Judah Arba was the father of Anak…
“abraham” 1
Joshua 1
- 24:2 …including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor lived beyond…
“mother” 1
Judges 1
- 9:1 …to all the clan of his mother
“fathers up” 1
1 Samuel 1
- 12:6 …Aaron and who brought your fathers up out of the land…
“as it was against your fathers” 1
1 Samuel 1
- 12:15 …will be against you as it was against your fathers
“would he” 1
1 Samuel 1
- 20:2 …telling me So why would he hide this matter from…
“over your father” 1
2 Samuel 1
- 6:21 …LORD who chose me over your father and all his house…
“moreover your father is” 1
2 Samuel 1
- 17:8 …robbed of her cubs Moreover, your father is a man of war…
“saul’s father” 1
2 Samuel 1
- 21:14 …Benjamin in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish After they had…
“against my father” 1
1 Kings 1
- 5:3 …waged on all sides against my father David he could not…
“unlike his father” 1
1 Kings 1
- 11:6 …sight of the LORD unlike his father David he did not…
“as solomon’s father” 1
1 Kings 1
- 11:33 …My statutes and judgments as Solomon’s father David did…
“forefather had been” 1
1 Kings 1
- 15:3 …the heart of David his forefather had been
“who was the father of” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 2:42 …Mareshah his second son who was the father of Hebron…
“machbenah” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 2:49 …and of Sheva father of Machbenah and Gibea Caleb’s daughter…
“sons” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 4:3 …These were the sons of Etam Jezreel Ishma…
“families were” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 5:13 …Their kinsmen by families were Michael Meshullam Sheba Jorai…
“listed according to their fathers” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 6:19 …clans of the Levites listed according to their fathers
“according to their genealogy” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 7:4 …In addition to them according to their genealogy they had troops for…
“jeiel the father” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 8:29 Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in…
“korahites” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 9:19 …Korah and his relatives from the Korahites were assigned to guard…
“just as their fathers” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 9:19 …thresholds of the Tent just as their fathers had been assigned to…
“own family” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 12:28 …of valor with commanders from his own family
“among their own clans” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 12:30 …men of valor famous among their own clans
“one family” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 23:11 …they were counted as one family and received a single…
“over their families” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 26:6 …born sons who ruled over their families because they were strong…
“chose my father’s” 1
1 Chronicles 1
- 28:4 …the house of Judah He chose my father’s household and from my…
“huram abi” 1
2 Chronicles 1
- 2:13 …I am sending you Huram-abi a skillful man endowed…
“all these objects that huram abi” 1
2 Chronicles 1
- 4:16 …all the other articles All these objects that Huram-abi made for King Solomon…
“zechariah’s father” 1
2 Chronicles 1
- 24:22 …remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to…
“assigned them according to their families” 1
2 Chronicles 1
- 25:5 …the people of Judah and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands…
“as your fathers did” 1
2 Chronicles 1
- 30:8 …not stiffen your necks as your fathers did Submit to the LORD…
“enrolled according to” 1
2 Chronicles 1
- 31:17 …and to the priests enrolled according to their families in the…
“who were family” 1
Ezra 1
- 10:16 …the priest selected men who were family heads each of them…
“represent their families” 1
Ezra 1
- 10:16 …them identified by name to represent their families On the first day…
“where my fathers” 1
Nehemiah 1
- 2:5 …Judah to the city where my fathers are buried so that…
“when her father” 1
Esther 1
- 2:7 …in form and appearance and when her father and mother had died…
“as would a father” 1
Job 1
- 31:18 …youth I reared him as would a father and from my mother’s…
“as a father” 1
Psalms 1
- 103:13 As a father has compassion on his…
“as does a father” 1
Proverbs 1
- 3:12 …the one He loves as does a father the son in whom…
“heeds his father’s” 1
Proverbs 1
- 13:1 …A wise son heeds his father’s discipline but a mocker…
“within his father’s” 1
Isaiah 1
- 3:6 …will seize his brother within his father’s house You have a…
“everlasting father” 1
Isaiah 1
- 9:6 …Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace…
“did your fathers” 1
Jeremiah 1
- 2:5 …LORD says What fault did your fathers find in Me that…
“gave to your fathers” 1
Jeremiah 1
- 3:18 …to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance…
“what our fathers” 1
Jeremiah 1
- 3:24 …shameful god has consumed what our fathers have worked for their…
“loss of a father” 1
Jeremiah 1
- 16:7 …will be given for the loss of a father or mother…
“father the news” 1
Jeremiah 1
- 20:15 …the man who brought my father the news saying A son is…
“fatherless” 1
Lamentations 1
- 5:3 …We have become fatherless orphans our mothers are…
“both father” 1
Ezekiel 1
- 18:4 …soul belongs to Me both father and son are Mine…
“as for his father” 1
Ezekiel 1
- 18:18 As for his father he will die for…
“fathers now” 1
Zechariah 1
- 1:5 …Where are your fathers now And the prophets do…
“am a father” 1
Malachi 1
- 1:6 …master But if I am a father where is My honor…
The Hebrew and Greek words, their glosses and grammar: STEP Bible (CC BY 4.0). The English: the Berean Standard Bible, which also gives which English words render which. Counts are ours.