Word study
War
11 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: war, wars, wares, warred, warring. 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 “war” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מִלְחָמָה milchâmâhbattle, wartranslated this way 109 times of its 298 uses · Strong’s H4421Noun · Translated: battle 135, war 96, fight 11, army 5Full study and all 289 verses →
Genesis 14:2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
Exodus 1:10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
- לָחַם lâchamfight, do battletranslated this way 15 times of its 175 uses · Strong’s H3898Verb · Translated: fight 77, fought 45, fighting 16, waged war 6Full study and all 170 verses →
Joshua 9:2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
Judges 11:5 and made war with them, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.
- צָבָא tsâbâarmy, war, warfaretranslated this way 9 times of its 468 uses · Strong’s H6635Noun · Translated: Hosts 286, army 66, host 23, divisions 21Full study and all 448 verses →
Numbers 31:3 So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them.
Deuteronomy 24:5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
- עִזָּבוֹן izzâbônwarestranslated this way 7 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H5801Noun · Translated: wares 7Full study and all 7 verses →
Ezekiel 27:12 Tarshish was your merchant because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares.
Ezekiel 27:14 The men of Beth-togarmah exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares.
- קְרָב qerâbbattle, wartranslated this way 5 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H7128Noun · Translated: war 5, battle 4Full study and all 9 verses →
Job 38:23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
Psalm 55:21 His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
- צָבָא tsâbâwage war, servetranslated this way 4 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H6633Verb · Translated: served 2, enlisted 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Numbers 31:7 Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
Isaiah 29:7 All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel— even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her— will be like a dream, like a vision in the night,
- שָׁלָל shâlâlprey, spoil, plunder, bootytranslated this way 4 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H7998Noun · Translated: plunder 42, spoil 13, spoils 5, like a spoil of war 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Jeremiah 21:9 Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.
Jeremiah 38:2 “This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 3 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
- תְּרוּעָה terûâhshout or blast of war, alarm, or joytranslated this way 3 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H8643Noun · Translated: shouting 4, short blasts 2, shout 2, shout of joy 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Job 39:25 At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor. He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shouts of captains and the cry of war.
Amos 1:14 So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
- חֶרֶב cherebswordtranslated this way 2 times of its 405 uses · Strong’s H2719Noun · Translated: sword 357, swords 27, knives 3, war 2Full study and all 368 verses →
Genesis 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!
- יָצָא yâtsâgo or come outtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,035 uses · Strong’s H3318Verb · Translated: brought 108, went 103, go 82, came 78Full study and all 975 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- πόλεμος pólemosa war, battle, strifetranslated this way 11 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G4171Noun · Translated: battle 6, wars 5, war 5, conflicts 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Mark 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
- πολεμέω poleméōI make war, contendtranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4170Verb · Translated: wage war 2, fought 2, fight 1, make war 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Revelation 2:16 Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Revelation 13:4 They worshiped the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?”
- στρατεύομαι strateúomaiI wage war, fighttranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4754Verb · Translated: war 2, soldiers 1, serves as a soldier 1, wage war 1Full study and all 7 verses →
2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
James 4:1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
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.
What the Bible says about war: passages by topic →
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.