How many times is Ethiopians mentioned in the Bible?
The word Ethiopians appears 13 times in the King James Version, in 12 verses. Counting every form (Ethiopians, Ethiopian), it appears 21 times in 19 verses across 9 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Ethiopians 10 times (16 with every form).
This page counts the people, Ethiopian and Ethiopians. The land, Ethiopia, has its own page. In four verses (Numbers 12:1, Isaiah 20:4, Jeremiah 46:9 and Zephaniah 2:12) the KJV says Ethiopian or Ethiopians where the World English Bible has Cushite, Cush or Ethiopia, so its count is lower.
Ethiopians in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Ethiopians counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopians | 13 | 10 |
| Ethiopian | 8 | 6 |
| Total | 21 | 16 |
First and last mention of Ethiopians
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
The verse that uses it most is Numbers 12:1, 2 times (tied with 2 Chronicles 14:12):
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Where the two translations differ
4 verses match 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.
Numbers 12:1: counted in the KJV only
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.
Isaiah 20:4: counted in the KJV only
So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Common questions
How many times is Ethiopians in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 20 of the 21 uses are in the Old Testament and 1 in the New Testament. Ethiopians appears in 9 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 2 Chronicles has the most (7), then Jeremiah (6) and Numbers (2).
Where is Ethiopians first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Numbers 12:1: "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman." The last is Acts 8:27.
More word counts: Ethiopia, Rezin, Zoar, Ophrah, Cilicia, silver, seed, darkness, 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.