How many times is Abel mentioned in the Bible?
The word Abel appears 24 times in the King James Version, in 21 verses. It is found in 11 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Abel 23 times.
Hitchcock's dictionary lists more than one person or place with this name, and every use is counted.
Abel in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Abel counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Abel | 24 | 23 |
| Total | 24 | 23 |
What the name Abel means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Abel as "vanity; breath; vapor". He lists one more entry under the same spelling, for another person or place: "a city; mourning".
This is the 1869 traditional meaning; modern scholars often read names differently.
See every name and place with its meaning and count on Bible names and their meanings.
Source: Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869), checked 2026-10-22.
First and last mention of Abel
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 4:2, 2 times (tied with Genesis 4:4, Genesis 4:8):
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Where the two translations differ
1 verse matches in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 0 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
1 Samuel 6:18: counted in the KJV only
And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemite.
and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone, on which they set down Yahweh’s ark. That stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
Verses with Abel on our topic pages
1 verse that uses Abel in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering,
On: Jealousy
Common questions
How many times is Abel in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 20 of the 24 uses are in the Old Testament and 4 in the New Testament. Abel appears in 11 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (9), then 2 Samuel (3) and 1 Kings (3).
Where is Abel first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 4:2: "And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." The last is Hebrews 12:24.
What does the name Abel mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Abel as "vanity; breath; vapor". He lists one more entry under the same spelling, for another person or place: "a city; mourning".
More word counts: Phinehas, Boaz, Hazael, Cyrus, Hiram, Jezebel, Naboth, Zerubbabel, or all 484 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-22.