How many times is Ekron mentioned in the Bible?
The word Ekron appears 22 times in the King James Version, in 20 verses. Counting every form (Ekron, Ekronites), it appears 24 times in 20 verses across 8 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Ekron 22 times (24 with every form).
Ekron in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Ekron counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Ekron | 22 | 22 |
| Ekronites | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 24 | 24 |
What the name Ekron means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Ekron as "barrenness; torn away".
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 2026-10-24.
First and last mention of Ekron
From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:
And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Samuel 5:10, 3 times:
Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
Common questions
How many times is Ekron in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 24 of the 24 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Ekron appears in 8 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Samuel has the most (8), then Joshua (6) and 2 Kings (4).
Where is Ekron first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Joshua 13:3: "From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:" The last is Zechariah 9:7.
What does the name Ekron mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Ekron as "barrenness; torn away".
More word counts: Manoah, Paran, Achaia, Adullam, flesh, knowledge, tears, mourning, or all 635 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 2026-10-24.