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How many times does the Bible mention money?

Words for money, silver, gold, and units of currency appear more than 800 times across the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Money is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the Bible — appearing more often than the words for prayer, faith, or heaven.

The finding

800+

mentions of "money, silver, gold, and currency"

approximately, across all related vocabulary; varies by translation and counting methodology

Old Testament
600+

Hebrew kesef (כֶּסֶף, 'silver/money') alone appears 400+ times. Add gold (zahav, זָהָב), shekels, talents, and currency-related words for the broader count.

New Testament
200+

Greek argyrion (ἀργύριον, 'silver/money'), chrēma (χρῆμα, 'wealth'), denarion (δηνάριον, 'denarius'), and related currency vocabulary.

Notable examples

  • The first mention of silver as a medium of exchange is in Genesis 23:15-16, where Abraham purchases the cave at Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite for 400 shekels of silver.
  • Joseph is sold by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver (Genesis 37:28).
  • Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-15), echoing the price of a slave in Exodus 21:32 and the prophetic image in Zechariah 11:12.
  • The widow's two small copper coins (lepta) are praised by Jesus as a greater gift than the larger sums given by wealthy donors (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4).
  • The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) uses talents — a unit of weight and currency worth approximately 6,000 denarii or about 20 years' wages for a labourer.

The finding

Money is one of the most frequently discussed subjects in the Bible. Words for money, silver, gold, and specific units of currency appear more than 800 times across the canon, depending on the counting methodology and the translation used.

The Hebrew word kesef (כֶּסֶף), which means both “silver” and “money,” appears more than 400 times in the Old Testament alone. The Greek argyrion (ἀργύριον), with the same dual meaning, appears regularly in the New Testament. Specific currency units — shekels, talents, denarii, drachmae, lepta — appear in narrative and parable across both testaments.

By contrast:

  • The English word “prayer” (and related verbs) appears around 110 times in many translations.
  • The English word “heaven” appears around 600 times.
  • The English word “faith” appears around 250 times.

Money outpaces all three by significant margins.

A note on counting

Counts vary substantially by:

  • Translation. Different English translations render the same Hebrew or Greek word with different English words. Counting “money” alone in the BSB will produce a different number than counting “silver” or “gold” or specific currency units.
  • What is counted. Should the count include the unit names (“shekel,” “talent,” “denarius”)? The metals themselves (“silver,” “gold,” “copper”)? Verbs of buying, selling, lending? Each choice produces a different total.
  • Methodology. Lexical concordances vary in how they group derived forms.

The figure of “more than 800” is based on the combined totals of the principal Hebrew and Greek vocabulary across both testaments, including currency unit names. More restrictive counts (only direct mentions of “money”) produce lower totals; broader counts (including all economic vocabulary) produce higher totals.

The most-cited statistic

A widely repeated claim is that “Jesus spoke about money more than he spoke about heaven and hell combined.” Counts vary by methodology, but it is consistent across major studies that money and possessions are one of the most frequent subjects in the recorded teaching of Jesus, particularly in the parables — which include the rich young ruler, the rich fool, the dishonest manager, the talents, the minas, the two debtors, and the widow’s mite. Approximately 11 of the 39 parables in the Synoptic Gospels concern money or possessions.

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