How many times is Zeruiah mentioned in the Bible?
The word Zeruiah appears 26 times in the King James Version, in 25 verses. It is found in 4 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Zeruiah 26 times.
Zeruiah was David's sister, the mother of Joab, Abishai and Asahel (1 Chronicles 2:16). Most uses name her sons as "the son of Zeruiah".
Zeruiah in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Zeruiah counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Zeruiah | 26 | 26 |
| Total | 26 | 26 |
What the name Zeruiah means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Zeruiah as "pain or tribulation of the Lord".
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 2026-10-26.
Which books mention Zeruiah most
Zeruiah appears in 4 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 2 Samuel has the most (14), then 1 Chronicles (8) and 1 Kings (3).
First and last mention of Zeruiah
Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Chronicles 2:16, 2 times:
Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.
Common questions
How many times is Zeruiah in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 26 of the 26 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Zeruiah appears in 4 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 2 Samuel has the most (14), then 1 Chronicles (8) and 1 Kings (3).
Where is Zeruiah first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is 1 Samuel 26:6: "Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee." The last is 1 Chronicles 27:24.
What does the name Zeruiah mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Zeruiah as "pain or tribulation of the Lord".
More word counts: Joab, Abishai, Asahel, love, God, Jesus, Christ, Lord, 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.