How many times is Rachel mentioned in the Bible?
The word Rachel appears 42 times in the King James Version, in 39 verses. Counting every form (Rachel, Rachel's), it appears 47 times in 44 verses across 4 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Rachel 43 times (48 with every form).
Rachel in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Rachel counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Rachel | 42 | 43 |
| Rachel's | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 47 | 48 |
First and last mention of Rachel
And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.
In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 29:18, 2 times (tied with Genesis 29:30, Genesis 30:1):
And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 1 verse matches only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Jeremiah 31:15: counted in the World English Bible only
Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
Yahweh says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
Common questions
How many times is Rachel in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 46 of the 47 uses are in the Old Testament and 1 in the New Testament. Rachel appears in 4 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (44), then Ruth (1) and 1 Samuel (1).
Where is Rachel first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 29:6: "And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep." The last is Matthew 2:18.
More word counts: Leah, Samson, Goliath, Gideon, Jonah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar, 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.