How many times is dance mentioned in the Bible?
The word dance appears 8 times in the King James Version, in 8 verses. Counting every form (dance, danced, dances, dancing), it appears 27 times in 26 verses across 14 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses dance 10 times (29 with every form).
Dance in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of dance counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| dance | 8 | 10 |
| danced | 6 | 4 |
| dances | 6 | 7 |
| dancing | 7 | 8 |
| Total | 27 | 29 |
Which books mention dance most
Dance appears in 14 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Judges and 1 Samuel share the most, 4 each.
First and last mention of dance
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
The verse that uses it most is Judges 21:21, 2 times:
And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
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 13:21: counted in the KJV only
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.
Job 41:22: counted in the World English Bible only
In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him.
Psalm 87:7: counted in the World English Bible only
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.
Those who sing as well as those who dance say, “All my springs are in you.”
Verses with dance on our topic pages
2 verses that use dance in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness,
On: Comfort, Depression, Joy
Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance; the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
On: Comfort
Common questions
How many times is dance in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 22 of the 27 uses are in the Old Testament and 5 in the New Testament. Dance appears in 14 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Judges and 1 Samuel share the most, 4 each.
Where is dance first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Exodus 15:20: "And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." The last is Luke 15:25.
More word counts: dog, lion, children, mother, father, friend, heart, holy, or all 107 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 2026-10-02.