How many times is Esther mentioned in the Bible?
The word Esther appears 53 times in the King James Version, in 43 verses. It is found in 1 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Esther 52 times.
Esther in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Esther counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Esther | 53 | 52 |
| Total | 53 | 52 |
Which books mention Esther most
Esther appears in 1 book of the 66 in the King James Version. Esther has the most (53).
First and last mention of Esther
And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
The verse that uses it most is Esther 5:2, 3 times:
And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
Where the two translations differ
1 verse matches in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 0 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Esther 9:25: counted in the KJV only
But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plan, which he had planned against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
Verses with Esther on our topic pages
1 verse that uses Esther in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.
On: Orphans
Common questions
How many times is Esther in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 53 of the 53 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Esther appears in 1 book of the 66 in the King James Version. Esther has the most (53).
Where is Esther first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Esther 2:7: "And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter." The last is Esther 9:32.
Esther is also the name of a book of the Bible. See its 10 chapters, 167 verses and reading time.
More word counts: Job, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Samson, Goliath, Gideon, 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.