How many times is Gilead mentioned in the Bible?
The word Gilead appears 131 times in the King James Version, in 122 verses. Counting every form (gilead, Gilead's), it appears 132 times in 123 verses across 20 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Gilead 131 times (132 with every form).
Gilead in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Gilead counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| gilead | 131 | 131 |
| Gilead's | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 132 | 132 |
What the name Gilead means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Gilead as "the heap or mass of testimony".
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 2026-10-22.
Which books mention Gilead most
Gilead appears in 20 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Judges has the most (29), then Joshua (16) and 1 Chronicles (13).
Also in: Amos (2), Ezekiel (1), Obadiah (1), Micah (1), Zechariah (1).
First and last mention of Gilead
So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.
The verse that uses it most is Judges 11:29, 3 times:
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.
Verses with Gilead on our topic pages
3 verses that use Gilead in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.”
David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead, and said to them, “Blessed are you by Yahweh, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.
Common questions
How many times is Gilead in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 132 of the 132 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Gilead appears in 20 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Judges has the most (29), then Joshua (16) and 1 Chronicles (13).
Where is Gilead first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 31:21: "So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead." The last is Zechariah 10:10.
What does the name Gilead mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Gilead as "the heap or mass of testimony".
More word counts: Edom, Golgotha, Gethsemane, Calvary, Armageddon, paradise, ephod, cubit, or all 484 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 2026-10-22.