Word study
Military
5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “military”. 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 “military” 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 2 times of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2428Noun · Translated: army 73, valor 49, wealth 26, strength 9Full study and all 219 verses →
2 Chronicles 33:14 After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.
- מַד madmeasuretranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s H4055Noun · Translated: tunic 2Full study and all 11 verses →
2 Samuel 20:8 And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 1 time of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- מִלְחָמָה milchâmâhbattle, wartranslated this way 1 time of its 298 uses · Strong’s H4421Noun · Translated: battle 135, war 96, fight 11, army 5Full study and all 289 verses →
2 Chronicles 32:6 Hezekiah appointed military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them, saying,
- צָבָא tsâbâarmy, war, warfaretranslated this way 1 time of its 468 uses · Strong’s H6635Noun · Translated: Hosts 286, army 66, host 23, divisions 21Full study and all 448 verses →
2 Chronicles 33:11 So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χιλίαρχος chilíarchosa military tribunetranslated this way 1 time of its 21 uses · Strong’s G5506Noun · Translated: commander 17, commanders 3, military commanders 1Full study and all 21 verses →
Mark 6:21 On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
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.