How Many Times Is Love Mentioned In The Bible?
None. The Bible was not composed in English. You might think that’s trivial; however, it’s not. The New Testament was written in Greek, and the Greek words are pretty specific. Eros is Love for sexual pleasure, Phileo (maybe misspelled) can mean brotherly Love, and Agape is loving unconditional. The three are all translated to love. If you are looking for a total numerical, Google will likely provide the link to a concordance that will provide an answer. But the Love that is found in the Bible does not always mean the same thing.
S.No | Books | Love Mentioned |
1. | King James Version (KJV) | 310 times |
2. | Old Testament | 449 times |
3. | New Testament | 335 times |
4. | New Living Translation (NLT) | 759 times |
5. | English Standard Version (ESV) | 684 times |
6. | New American Standard Version Bible | 541 times |
7. | New International Version (NIV) | 574 times |
Count How Many Times Love Is Mentioned In The Bible (King James Bible)?

I’ll teach you how to count using a simple tool.
Visit Strong’s Concordance Hebrew as well as Greek Lexicon.
In the first cell of the table (Strong’s Concordance), type “love” into the search field, and then hit the Search! Button.
It is also important to note that you can choose between various versions, including the King James Version (KJV) being the most popular.
The search results in “love” 310 times in 280 verses in KJV if we start from there.
There are a few appearing following the most frequent occasions of “love” in each chapter. For instance, the very first mention of Love in the KJV is Genesis 27:4. The word “love” is given the designation H157. (If you ever hear of “Strong’s number, “Strong’s number,” that’s what’s being discussed) By clicking on that link, you can open an additional page that explains the Hebrew word used for this specific application of Love, as well as its significance.
Each Hebrew, as well as Greek, are stronger languages in comparison to English. That’s because the word “love” is broken into various variations like the brotherly bond, romantic, unconditional Love, etc. You’ll probably come across a word that has multiple Strong’s numbers.
Then scroll through to Deuteronomy 7:7, and you’ll notice that the word “love” has been given the designation Strong’s H2836. The same English word, however, it’s an entirely different Hebrew word with a different meaning.
For one side, the New Testament side, words begin with “G” for Greek.
There will also be different word count variations when you browse through different versions. On the left part of this page, beneath the section “Search Results in Other Versions,” click “NIV” for the New International Version. The word “love” occurs 574 times in 526 verses.
Notice the very first love story in Genesis 4:1 “Adam made love to his wife, and she became pregnant.” Compare that with the KJV, stating, “Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived.” The 17th as well as 20th century English.
A final point. Strong’s Concordance is based upon the KJV. Therefore, while you can do the word count in many different versions, you will only get the Hebrew and Greek definitions of the terms in the KJV.
When Is The Word Love First Mentioned In The Bible?
An important question is: What does the Bible say about Love? When is the word Love first mentioned? The most effective way to find out is to go through the entire Bible by observing any places it may have an opinion on the idea of Love. There’s plenty of information about Love in the Bible that includes God’s Love for God as well as God’s Love, our devotion to God and God’s Love for us genuine Love, false Love, lust, and even what my mom used to refer to as “cupboard love.”
I had a fascinating moment in March while pondering how the Bible of Genesis is saying about Love. Love is the English term “love” that appears for the first time in Genesis and, consequently, the Bible begins in Genesis chapter 22. God tells Abraham: “You are stern.” Abraham:

Note that the first time “love” is used, it refers to the affection of a father to his Son.
In Genesis, we learn about Isaac’s passion for Esau, which is connected to his Love for the meat (cupboard love), Jacob’s romantic affection for Rachel as well as his fatherly affection for Joseph as well as Shechem’s “love” for Dinah – that led her to rape her! It is the same Hebrew term employed since the Biblical languages use one word with many meanings, the same way we employ one word with many meanings.
There is plenty of information in the book of fifty chapters on God’s grace, care and faithfulness, and provision as attributes of a caring God. However, there’s not a single chapter in Genesis in which God is mentioned as having “love” for his creation! God generously gives clothes made from animal skins to Adam and Eve after committing a sin and being aware of their nakedness.
He takes care of Hagar even though she’s no longer the maternal grandmother of Isaac, the father of Jesus. He takes care of Joseph, who was abused, and provides the Ark to Noah and his family, saving Noah and his family from drowning.
What do you think of this tense tale of God directing Abraham to sacrifice his Son, whom he loves? We see the Love of God for us in sending his Son, whom He loves, to pay for the sins of humankind. And we can see God’s compassion towards Abraham and Isaac by providing an animal to sacrifice in place of Isaac.
Finding out the number of times “love” occurs is interesting, but it’s not telling us all the things the Bible describes the idea of Love. Finding the source of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words that refer to “love” is also of little value since it does not help us in the instances where the idea of Love is discussed without using the term “love.”
Even though Genesis is not a reference to God’s “love,” it is all over the book when we read about an outline of the plan God has for rescuing us from the consequences of our sin by preparing the new Adam to slay the serpent’s head that brought us into the sin of discord with God.
If you’re looking to conduct a successful word study, you can try searching for the word Hsd (approximately KHE-sed). According to the Bible version you’re using, the term is a reference to God’s faithful love and covenant love, faithfulness, or lovingkindness.
There are a lot of them in the search results for “lovingkindness” in a King James Bible concordance and “steadfast love” in an ESV concordance.
How Many Times Is Love Mentioned In The Bible ESV And NLT?
In New Living Translation (NLT), Love mentioned 759 times, and in English Standard Version (ESV), Love mentioned 684 times.
How Many Times Is Love Mentioned In 1 John?
Love (Love Love, Loveth, Beloved) is derived from Agape (from the Latin word meaning “love”), appears 51 (fifty-one) times throughout the Epistle of 1 John.
Love Mentioned In The Old Testament And New Testament?
It’s something worth thinking about and reading through a myriad of Old Testament and New Testament texts about the heart within the Bible. As I’ve realized, one of the major messages throughout the Bible is about the issue of the human “heart.” Our hearts are not in alignment with God. We require Him in the form of Christ. Christ changes the heart of the individual.
Jesus often used the term “heart” in describing His generation as well as their doubts. God provides Abimelech during a dream that the heart of God was He who preserved his purity by preventing him from sin by engaging in adultery:
[EXCERPT] God told his dream, “Yes, I am sure that you’ve done it with the fullness of your heart. It was me who stopped from being a sinner against me. So, I made sure that I didn’t allow you to be touched by her. (Genesis 20:6, ESV)
This demonstrates that God prevented Abimelech’s heart in check so that he wouldn’t perish. God warned Abimelech that he could “surely die” if he maintained Sarah; however, clearly, God Himself kept Abimelech without even realizing it by keeping his heart.
There are probably similar patterns for theological teachings Comparing and contrasting all scriptures that mention “love” in the Bible.
The reason is that the Old Testament very obviously intends and foreshadows the message contained in the New Testament. It is said that “love” appears 449 times in the Old Testament compared to 335 instances within the New Testament. By percentage, the New Testament does not use Love as frequently (since it’s smaller than Old Testament than just half). Yet, this still shows that we might want to reconsider the notion which holds that the Old Testament is totally in opposition to the new and the so-called harsh section of Scripture.
How Many Times Is Hate Mentioned In The Bible?
The word “Hate” appears on 86 occasions within the King James Version of the Bible. But one more thing, to give an exact number, I can give you no answer except to say that they are not all.
However, the word “Hate” isn’t a very exact translation from Greek. It’s more like ‘gross dislike.’
Certain words are not translated very well in English. The reason is that English has one word to describe a phenomenon. In the same way, as in Iceland, there is only one term for the snow in Iceland in English. Icelanders are blessed with 26. Therefore, for certain words, “snow” is the correct word; however, for others, it’s not. We must be able to work by using one word and considering the limitations of the translation.
Is Love The Most Used Word In The Bible
No. It’s “Lord” or “God” It’s not at all far from being the most popular.
“AND” is the word most frequently found throughout the King James Bible, with 28364 instances, which is just after “THE” at 28269. “LOVE,” the term “LOVE” only occurs 333 times. “LORD,” the term “LORD,” is the most frequent noun with 7365.
Perhaps you consider the idea that the Bible indeed has to do with Love, and you would expect that word is the best frequently used one? If so, I have some terrible news to share with you, since those words “SIN” (441), “EVIL” (657), and “WICKED” (413) are much more common. Over “LOVE.”
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