How many times is altar mentioned in the Bible?
The word altar appears 378 times in the King James Version, in 321 verses. Counting every form (altar, altars), it appears 433 times in 364 verses across 33 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses altar 379 times (440 with every form).
Altar in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of altar counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| altar | 378 | 379 |
| altars | 55 | 61 |
| Total | 433 | 440 |
Which books mention altar most
Altar appears in 33 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Leviticus has the most (87), then Exodus (60) and 2 Chronicles (40).
Also in: Matthew (6), 1 Samuel (5), Psalms (5), Jeremiah (4), Amos (4), 2 Samuel (3), Ezra (3), Malachi (3), 1 Corinthians (3), Joel (2), Zechariah (2), Luke (2), Hebrews (2), Nehemiah (1), Lamentations (1), Acts (1), Romans (1), James (1).
First and last mention of altar
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
The verse that uses it most is Exodus 29:37, 3 times (tied with Exodus 40:10, Leviticus 1:15, Leviticus 8:15, 1 Kings 13:2, 2 Kings 16:14 and 1 more):
Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
Where the two translations differ
1 verse matches in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 3 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Isaiah 65:3: counted in the KJV only
A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
Leviticus 26:30: counted in the World English Bible only
And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
Isaiah 29:2: counted in the World English Bible only
Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
then I will distress Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation. She shall be to me as an altar hearth.
Verses with altar on our topic pages
1 verse that uses altar in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.
On: Persecution, What Does the Bible Say About Ghosts? 25 Verses
Common questions
How many times is altar in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 409 of the 433 uses are in the Old Testament and 24 in the New Testament. Altar appears in 33 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Leviticus has the most (87), then Exodus (60) and 2 Chronicles (40).
Where is altar first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 8:20: "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." The last is Revelation 16:7.
More word counts: temple, tabernacle, ark, sacrifice, incense, idol, apostle, disciple, or all 253 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 2026-10-05.