The name Mary can only be found in first 6 books of the New Testament (the Gospels, Acts & Romans) as 5 different women.

Links open with New International Version (NIV) verses. Unless otherwise stated, links applicable in both King James & NIV.

  1. We'll start with the mother of Jesus, the virgin Mary. She appeared in Matthew 1:16-25; has a mention in Matthew 2:11,
    and an indirect reference in Matthew 12:46-50. She also appeared in Luke 1:27-56 and chapter 2.

    Luke 1:26-35:
    26. In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
    27. to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
    28. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
    29. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
    30. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
    31. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
    32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
    33. and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
    34. "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
    35. The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
    So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

    Mary, mother of Jesus

    The book of John has 2 references to her. First, she was there when Jesus changed water into wine at a wedding in Cana
    as his first miracle (John 2:1-12). Then, John 19:25 placed her and 2 other women named Mary at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
    25. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

    She last appeared in Acts 1:14 after Jesus ascended back to Heaven:
    14. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

  2. Besides the ambiguous reference to someone named Mary in Romans 16:6, 4 more women named Mary could be found - Mary the wife of Clopas (mentioned above in John 19:25), Mary Magdalene, one of the sisters of Lazarus from Bethany and the mother of Joseph (aka Barnabas) and also of James.

  3. All 4 Gospel books had Mary Magdalene in them - Matthew 27:56-61 and 28:1; Mark 15:39-46 and 16:1-9; Luke 8:2 and 24:10; John 19:25 and 20:1-18.

  4. Lazarus' sister Mary only appears in 2 Gospels, but earned the praise of Jesus due to her humility. Luke 10:38-42:
    38. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
    39. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
    40. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
    41. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
    42. but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

    The sister of Martha & Lazarus also showed up in John 11:1-45 when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and John 12:3 which was a restatement to the Luke 10 passage.

  5. The fifth woman named Mary briefly showed up in Acts 12:12, referring to mother of one of the 12 disciples after Peter divinely escaped from prison:
    12. When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

    In the Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3, it sounds like the observers mistook the mother of Barnabas and James for Jesus' mother; but, the following references definitely spoke of Barnabas' mother: Matthew 27:56-61 and 28:1; Mark 15:39-46 and 16:1-9; Luke 8:2 and 24:10.

Return to top