How many times is meek mentioned in the Bible?
The word meek appears 17 times in the King James Version, in 16 verses. Counting every form (meek, meekness), it appears 31 times in 29 verses across 16 of the 66 books. The World English Bible never uses the word meek.
The World English Bible never says meek or meekness. Where the KJV says meek it says humble (Numbers 12:3, Moses) or gentle (Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the gentle"), and for meekness it says gentleness or humility (Galatians 5:23), so its count is zero.
Meek in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of meek counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| meek | 17 | 0 |
| meekness | 14 | 0 |
| Total | 31 | 0 |
Which books mention meek most
Meek appears in 16 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Psalms has the most (8), then Isaiah (3) and Matthew (3).
Also in: Titus (1).
First and last mention of meek
(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
The verse that uses it most is Psalm 25:9, 2 times (tied with Zephaniah 2:3):
The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Where the two translations differ
29 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 12:3: counted in the KJV only
(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth.
Psalm 22:26: counted in the KJV only
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
Common questions
How many times is meek in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 15 of the 31 uses are in the Old Testament and 16 in the New Testament. Meek appears in 16 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Psalms has the most (8), then Isaiah (3) and Matthew (3).
Where is meek first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Numbers 12:3: "(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)" The last is 1 Peter 3:15.
Read the full collection: Bible Verses About Humility (29 Verses).
More word counts: beast, flower, feast, word, husband, morning, kingdom, temperance, or all 680 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 2026-10-26.