How many times is Jesse mentioned in the Bible?
The word Jesse appears 47 times in the King James Version, in 44 verses. It is found in 12 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Jesse 47 times.
Jesse in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Jesse counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Jesse | 47 | 47 |
| Total | 47 | 47 |
What the name Jesse means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Jesse as "gift; oblation; one who is".
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.
First and last mention of Jesse
And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
The verse that uses it most is Ruth 4:22, 2 times (tied with 1 Samuel 16:10, 1 Samuel 16:11):
And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
Verses with Jesse on our topic pages
1 verse that uses Jesse in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
and didn’t inquire of Yahweh. Therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
Common questions
How many times is Jesse in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 42 of the 47 uses are in the Old Testament and 5 in the New Testament. Jesse appears in 12 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Samuel has the most (26), then 1 Chronicles (5) and Ruth (3).
Where is Jesse first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Ruth 4:17: "And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David." The last is Romans 15:12.
What does the name Jesse mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Jesse as "gift; oblation; one who is".
More word counts: Nathan, Balak, Ahaz, Zechariah, Eli, Caleb, Ahasuerus, Jephthah, 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.