How many times is Elam mentioned in the Bible?
The word Elam appears 28 times in the King James Version, in 27 verses. Counting every form (Elam, Elamites), it appears 30 times in 29 verses across 9 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Elam 28 times (30 with every form).
Elam is a son of Shem, the land his people settled east of Babylon, and several later men. Every use is counted, with Elamites.
Elam in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Elam counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Elam | 28 | 28 |
| Elamites | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 30 | 30 |
What the name Elam means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Elam as "a young man; a virgin; a secret".
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 Elam
The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
The verse that uses it most is Jeremiah 49:36, 2 times:
And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
Verses with Elam on our topic pages
1 verse that uses Elam in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
On: What Does the Bible Say About Speaking in Tongues? 22 Verses
Common questions
How many times is Elam in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 29 of the 30 uses are in the Old Testament and 1 in the New Testament. Elam appears in 9 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Jeremiah has the most (8), then Ezra (6) and Nehemiah (4).
Where is Elam first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 10:22: "The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram." The last is Acts 2:9.
What does the name Elam mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Elam as "a young man; a virgin; a secret".
More word counts: Ramah, Moabites, Anak, Asaph, year, Mephibosheth, Benaiah, Eliab, 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.