How many times is sister mentioned in the Bible?
The word sister appears 109 times in the King James Version, in 103 verses. Counting every form (sister, sisters, sister's), it appears 135 times in 124 verses across 30 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses sister 110 times (138 with every form).
Sister in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of sister counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| sister | 109 | 110 |
| sisters | 19 | 22 |
| sister's | 7 | 6 |
| Total | 135 | 138 |
Which books mention sister most
Sister appears in 30 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (24), then Ezekiel (21) and 1 Chronicles (11).
Also in: Ruth (2), Romans (2), 1 Corinthians (2), Deuteronomy (1), Joshua (1), Judges (1), 2 Kings (1), 2 Chronicles (1), Proverbs (1), Hosea (1), Acts (1), Colossians (1), 1 Timothy (1), James (1), 2 John (1).
First and last mention of sister
And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.
The verse that uses it most is Genesis 24:30, 2 times (tied with Leviticus 20:17, Leviticus 20:19, Ruth 1:15, 1 Kings 11:19, 1 Chronicles 7:15 and 5 more):
And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
Where the two translations differ
2 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 4 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
1 Corinthians 9:5: counted in the KJV only
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
Colossians 4:10: counted in the KJV only
Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;)
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
Genesis 34:17: counted in the World English Bible only
But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone.”
Ezekiel 23:40: counted in the World English Bible only
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,
“Furthermore you sisters have sent for men who come from far away, to whom a messenger was sent, and behold, they came; for whom you washed yourself, painted your eyes, decorated yourself with ornaments,
Verses with sister on our topic pages
9 verses that use sister in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
On: Divorce, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses
She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
On: Christmas, Hospitality
But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
On: Christmas, Hospitality
Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
On: Divorce, Remarriage
“‘“Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters. She also didn’t strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News,
On: Persecution
but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.
On: Persecution
that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
On: What Does the Bible Say About Sex Before Marriage? 26 Verses
And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,
On: Serving Others
Common questions
How many times is sister in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 110 of the 135 uses are in the Old Testament and 25 in the New Testament. Sister appears in 30 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Genesis has the most (24), then Ezekiel (21) and 1 Chronicles (11).
Where is sister first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Genesis 4:22: "And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah." The last is 2 John 1:13.
More word counts: body, son, teeth, womb, disease, Shushan, Lachish, Ziklag, 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.