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Summary
- The King James Bible says “father” (with “father’s”) 1,126 times and “fathers” 549 times, 1,675 in all, about three quarters of them in the Old Testament.
- The Reina-Valera 1960 has its word for father 1,092 times and the plural 512 times, 1,604 in all.
- Of the 273 times the KJV prints “Father” with a capital, 268 name God, and 122 of those are in John’s Gospel.
- The Old Testament calls God Father in only about fourteen verses, among them Deuteronomy 32:6, Psalm 68:5, Isaiah 64:8 and Malachi 2:10.
- “Abba” comes three times in the New Testament, always followed by the Greek word for father, and it is an adult’s word, not “Daddy.”
- Scripture asks fathers to teach their children the faith, provide for them, correct them without provoking them, and show mercy like the father who ran to his prodigal son (Luke 15:20).
- When a father fails, God does not: “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up” (Psalm 27:10).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version (public domain), via BibleGateway: Genesis 4:20–21; 17:5; 18:19; 37:3–4; Exodus 3:15; 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:7; 32:6; 2 Samuel 7:14; 18:33; 1 Samuel 3:13; 1 Kings 1:6; 2 Kings 2:12; Job 29:16; Psalms 27:10; 68:5; 89:26; 103:13; Proverbs 3:12; Isaiah 9:6; 63:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 3:4, 19; 31:9; Malachi 2:10; 4:6; Matthew 1:24; 6:9; Mark 14:36; Luke 15:20–24; John 20:17; Romans 8:15; 1 Corinthians 4:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:14–15; 6:4; Colossians 3:21; 1 Timothy 5:8; Hebrews 12:10.
- Word counts: King James Version (1769 text), eBible.org verse-per-line edition, checked against Project Gutenberg eBook #10; counted October 2026.
- Reina-Valera 1960 count: BibleGateway word search, all result pages, October 2026.
- Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s concordance entries: H1 ‘ab, G3962 pater and G5 Abba.
- James Barr, “‘Abbā Isn’t ‘Daddy’”, The Journal of Theological Studies 39, no. 1 (1988): 28–47, doi:10.1093/jts/39.1.28; quoted, with Joachim Jeremias, from Karen Engle, “What Does ‘Abba’ Really Mean?”, Logos, 2021.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 238–240, vatican.va.
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 12, “Of Adoption”, Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- John Chrysostom, Homily 21 on Ephesians, translated by Gross Alexander, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 13 (1889).
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