What book of the Bible is the word cross first mentioned?

Answer 1

Cross as a noun is first mentioned in Matthew chapter 10 verse 28:

Mat 10:38 Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples.

Another answer:

Technically, if you're inquiring about the "originally inspired" Scriptures... the word "cross" is NEVER mentioned.

"Cross" is from the Latin "crux" which first appeared in the Latin Vulgate translation, in which the translators substituted "cross" for the originally inspired Greek word "stauros." "Cross," then, made its way from the Latin Vulgate into the King James Version when the King's translators, utilizing many of the translations of The Bible extant in their day, borrowed heavily from the Latin version:

"...that out of the Original Sacred Tongues, together with comparing of the labours, both in our own, and other foreign Languages, of many worthy men who went before us, there should be one more exact Translation of the holy Scriptures into the English Tongue..." (excerpt from the King James Bible PREFACE)

So, the above inquiry might be construed as a "trick question"... in that, technically, "cross" is never mentioned in any of the originally-inspired manuscripts of the Bible; but by virtue of subsequent translations, the first answer is also correct.