Word study
Troops
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “troops”. 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 “troops” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עַם ampeopletranslated this way 90 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 →
- גְּדוּד gedûdband, trooptranslated this way 8 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H1416Noun · Translated: raiders 10, troops 8, army 2, band 2Full study and all 28 verses →
1 Chronicles 12:18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.
2 Chronicles 25:9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”
- אַגָּף aggâphband, armytranslated this way 7 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H102Noun · Translated: troops 7Full study and all 6 verses →
Ezekiel 12:14 And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.
Ezekiel 17:21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’
- חָלַץ châlatsdraw off or out, withdrawtranslated this way 4 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H2502Verb · Translated: armed 5, rescued 4, delivered 4, arm 4Full study and all 42 verses →
Joshua 4:13 About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.
Joshua 6:7 And he told the people, “Advance and march around the city, with the armed troops going ahead of the ark of the LORD.”
- צָבָא tsâbâarmy, war, warfaretranslated this way 3 times of its 468 uses · Strong’s H6635Noun · Translated: Hosts 286, army 66, host 23, divisions 21Full study and all 448 verses →
2 Samuel 3:23 When Joab and all his troops arrived, he was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, who sent him on his way in peace.”
1 Chronicles 7:4 In addition to them, according to their genealogy, they had 36,000 troops for battle, for they had many wives and children.
- 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 →
Exodus 14:9 The Egyptians— all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops— pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
- הָמוֹן hâmônsound, murmur, roar, crowd, abundancetranslated this way 2 times of its 81 uses · Strong’s H1995Noun · Translated: multitude 12, army 10, multitudes 8, many 6Full study and all 77 verses →
Judges 4:7 And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”
1 Samuel 14:16 Now when Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in Benjamin looked and saw the troops melting away and scattering in every direction,
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 →
Matthew 22:7 The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.
Acts 23:27 This man was seized by the Jews, and they were about to kill him when I came with my troops to rescue him. For I had learned that he is a Roman citizen,
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.