How Many Prophecies about Jesus are in the Old Testament?
This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of 301 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray Konig
Published: March 3, 2026
How many prophecies are there in the Old Testament of the Bible about the Messiah?
This is a commonly asked question. Commonly given answers range from about 100 to more than 400, depending on who you ask, because scholars and commentators have different ways of identifying and counting the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
To give a low-end example, J. Barton Payne, in his Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, lists 113 Old Testament prophecies that have what he calls a “personal reference to Christ.” This is a very low estimate. While Payne’s work involving the prophecies of the Bible is monumental, his list of Messianic prophecies overlooks many well-established and critically important Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, including Isaiah 49:6, which is quoted in the New Testament, in Acts 13:47. That prophecy foretold that the Messiah would be a light to Gentiles and that he would bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth.
To give a high-end example, Alfred Edersheim in his The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, concludes that there at least 456 passages in the Old Testament that Jewish rabbis throughout the ages have interpreted as being about the Messiah. Edersheim’s compilation is comprehensive and is based largely on an analysis of the Talmud and other post-Temple rabbinical writings. Those writings, however, reflect a severely underdeveloped understanding of the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament and they include a great number of spurious, questionable and contradictory views, while omitting a great number of well-established and critically important Messianic prophecies.
To give my answer, there are more than 400 prophecies in the Old Testament that are about a promised savior that have been fulfilled by Jesus as the Messiah. This is based on research that I began in 1998. This promised savior is commonly referred to the Messiah or Christ. These two words, respectively, are based on the Hebrew and Greek words for anointed, as in anointed to be the savior of the world.
The Old Testament of the Bible was written by many Israelites during ancient times, starting with Moses about 3,400 years ago and ending with Malachi about 2,400 years ago, which is about 400 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The Old Testament is focused on the problem of sin, which separates humanity from God, and with the promise of a solution, a savior who would reconcile humanity with God. The promised savior would suffer and die to atone for, as in pay for, the sins of others, so that believers can be reconciled with God and have eternal life in the Kingdom of God, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven, or simply as heaven.
The problem of sin is of utmost importance in the Old Testament. Every event, law, prophecy and ceremony in the Old Testament points in some way to the problem of sin. And that is why there are so many prophecies, or promises, about the solution -- the promised Messiah.
I identify and explain 301 Messianic prophecies that are fulfilled by Jesus in my book 301 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus. I provide a list of these 301 prophecies here on Zealization.com, with an article titled 301 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, and with an article titled 301 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus at AboutBibleProphecy.com.
© 2025 Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of 301 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
Related: 301 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus