Word study
Army
9 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: army, armies. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “army” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חַיִל chayilstrength, efficiency, wealth, armytranslated this way 83 times of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2428Noun · Translated: army 73, valor 49, wealth 26, strength 9Full study and all 219 verses →
Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.
Numbers 31:14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army — the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds — who were returning from the battle.
- צָבָא tsâbâarmy, war, warfaretranslated this way 72 times of its 468 uses · Strong’s H6635Noun · Translated: Hosts 286, army 66, host 23, divisions 21Full study and all 448 verses →
Genesis 21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
Numbers 1:3 You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions— everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.
- עַם ampeopletranslated this way 26 times of its 1,751 uses · Strong’s H5971Noun · Translated: people 1,346, peoples 111, troops 89, nations 65Full study and all 1,601 verses →
Exodus 14:6 So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him.
Numbers 20:20 But Edom insisted, “You may not pass through.” And they came out to confront the Israelites with a large army and a strong hand.
- מַחֲנֶה machănehencampment, camptranslated this way 26 times of its 206 uses · Strong’s H4264Noun · Translated: camp 146, army 21, camps 12, armies 3Full study and all 186 verses →
Exodus 14:24 At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
Joshua 10:5 So the five kings of the Amorites— the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon— joined forces and advanced with all their armies. They camped before Gibeon and made war against it.
- הָמוֹן hâmônsound, murmur, roar, crowd, abundancetranslated this way 12 times of its 81 uses · Strong’s H1995Noun · Translated: multitude 12, army 10, multitudes 8, many 6Full study and all 77 verses →
1 Kings 20:13 Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
2 Chronicles 13:8 And now you think you can resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army, and you have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.
- מִלְחָמָה milchâmâhbattle, wartranslated this way 5 times of its 298 uses · Strong’s H4421Noun · Translated: battle 135, war 96, fight 11, army 5Full study and all 289 verses →
Joshua 8:1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
Joshua 8:3 So Joshua and the whole army set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night
- מַעֲרָכָה maărâkâhrow, rank, battle-linetranslated this way 4 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H4634Noun · Translated: armies 4, battle line 2, battle 2, ranks 2Full study and all 15 verses →
1 Samuel 17:26 David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
- גְּדוּד gedûdband, trooptranslated this way 2 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H1416Noun · Translated: raiders 10, troops 8, army 2, band 2Full study and all 28 verses →
2 Samuel 22:30 For in You I can charge an army; with my God I can scale a wall.
Psalm 18:29 For in You I can charge an army, and with my God I can scale a wall.
- חַיִל chayilpower, strength, armytranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H2429Noun · Translated: army 2, loudly 1, valor 1, loud voice 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 3:20 and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace.
Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
Greek words (New Testament)
- στράτευμα stráteumaan armytranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G4753Noun · Translated: troops 3, soldiers 2, armies 2, army 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Revelation 19:14 The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses.
Revelation 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.