How many times is Esau mentioned in the Bible?
The word Esau appears 88 times in the King James Version, in 78 verses. Counting every form (Esau, Esau's), it appears 100 times in 85 verses across 9 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Esau 90 times (102 with every form).
Esau in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Esau counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Esau | 88 | 90 |
| Esau's | 12 | 12 |
| Total | 100 | 102 |
Which books mention Esau most
Esau appears in 9 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (76), then Obadiah (7) and Deuteronomy (6).
First and last mention of Esau
And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 36:10, 3 times:
These are the names of Esau’s sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 2 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Genesis 33:8: counted in the World English Bible only
And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.
Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”
Genesis 33:12: counted in the World English Bible only
And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.
Esau said, “Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you.”
Common questions
How many times is Esau in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 97 of the 100 uses are in the Old Testament and 3 in the New Testament. Esau appears in 9 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (76), then Obadiah (7) and Deuteronomy (6).
Where is Esau first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 25:25: "And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau." The last is Hebrews 12:16.
More word counts: Judah, Babylon, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Jordan, Sinai, Sodom, 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.