מַחֲנֶה
camp
‘camp’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Both
- Attested as both masculine and feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Dual
- Exactly two — for natural pairs and some measures of time.
32 verses where H4264 appears in the Absolute state in the Book of Numbers. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Numbers
- Numbers 2:17 מַחֲנֵ֥ה הַֽ/מַּחֲנֹ֑ת n c bs cs ptcl def.art + n c bp "Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps. As they encamp, so shall they set out, every man in his place, by their standards.
- Numbers 2:32 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֹת֙ ptcl def.art + n c bp These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses. All who were numbered of the camps according to their hosts were six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty.
- Numbers 4:5 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֔ה ptcl def.art + n c bs When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,
- Numbers 4:15 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶה֒ ptcl def.art + n c bs "When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 5:2 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֔ה ptcl def.art + n c bs "Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead.
- Numbers 5:3 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֖ה מַ֣חֲנֵי/הֶ֔ם prep det + n c bs n c bp cs + sfx pers 3mp Both male and female shall you put out, outside of the camp shall you put them; that they not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."
- Numbers 5:4 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֑ה prep det + n c bs The children of Israel did so, and put them out outside of the camp; as Yahweh spoke to Moses, so did the children of Israel.
- Numbers 10:2 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֽוֹת ptcl def.art + n c bp Make you two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shall you make them: and you shall use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps.
- Numbers 10:5 הַֽ/מַּחֲנ֔וֹת ptcl def.art + n c bp When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey.
- Numbers 10:6 הַֽ/מַּחֲנ֔וֹת ptcl def.art + n c bp When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
- Numbers 10:25 מַחֲנֵ֣ה הַֽ/מַּחֲנֹ֖ת n c bs cs ptcl def.art + n c bp The standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rearward of all the camps, set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
- Numbers 10:34 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה ptcl def.art + n c bs The cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.
- Numbers 11:1 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה ptcl def.art + n c bs The people were as murmurers, [speaking] evil in the ears of Yahweh: and when Yahweh heard it, his anger was kindled; and the fire of Yahweh burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.
- Numbers 11:9 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֖ה ptcl def.art + n c bs When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
- Numbers 11:26 בַּֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֡ה בַּֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה prep det + n c bs prep det + n c bs But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested on them; and they were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.
- Numbers 11:27 בַּֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה prep det + n c bs There ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
- Numbers 11:30 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֑ה ptcl def.art + n c bs Moses got him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
- Numbers 11:31 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֜ה הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֑ה ptcl def.art + n c bs ptcl def.art + n c bs There went forth a wind from Yahweh, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.
- Numbers 11:32 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה ptcl def.art + n c bs The people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails: he who gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
- Numbers 12:14 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֔ה prep det + n c bs Yahweh said to Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn't she be ashamed seven days? let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.
- Numbers 12:15 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֖ה prep det + n c bs Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days: and the people didn't travel until Miriam was brought in again.
- Numbers 13:19 הַ/בְּ/מַֽחֲנִ֖ים ptcl inter + prep + n c bp and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;
- Numbers 14:44 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה ptcl def.art + n c bs But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn't depart out of the camp.
- Numbers 15:35 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה prep det + n c bs Yahweh said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.
- Numbers 15:36 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֔ה prep det + n c bs All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Numbers 19:3 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֔ה prep det + n c bs You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face:
- Numbers 19:7 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֑ה ptcl def.art + n c bs Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
- Numbers 19:9 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֖ה prep det + n c bs A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside of the camp in a clean place; and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water for impurity: it is a sin-offering.
- Numbers 31:12 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֑ה ptcl def.art + n c bs They brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
- Numbers 31:13 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה prep det + n c bs Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside of the camp.
- Numbers 31:19 לַֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֖ה prep det + n c bs Encamp you outside of the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
- Numbers 31:24 הַֽ/מַּחֲנֶֽה ptcl def.art + n c bs You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“camp” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun מחנה (machăneh). One archaism survives in the King James Version — “host” — where modern Bibles read “camp”; see the renderings breakdown. It appears 190 verses across 20 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its common vocabulary. First canonically at Genesis 32:2, it enters the text early. Its meaning spans more than one sense — see its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4264 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 190
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 190 distinct verses.
- 20 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 20 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #220
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 220 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 190 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 190 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 90 verses · 47%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 84 verses · 44%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 16 verses · 8%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Camp 121×, Host 42×, Camps 6×
- American Standard Version: Camp 128×, Host 23×, Camps 6×
- Berean Standard Bible: Camp 139×, Army 20×, Camps 11×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Camp 139×, Camp of 41×, Camps 15×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4264 across 216 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 25 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4264 across 215 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 31 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4264 across 206 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 20 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 9 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4264 across 218 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 18 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. camp, place of encampment:
- a. of caravan of travellers Gn 32:22 (J), especially of Isr. at Exod. and in wildern. Ex 16:13(×2) 19:16, 17 (all P; disting. from עַם); שַׁעַר מ׳ Ex 32:26 (JE); especially מִחוּץ המ׳ in connexion with uncleanness, etc., Ex 29:14; Lv 4:12 (P) + often, of position of tent of meeting Ex 33:7(×2) (JE), contr. Nu 2:17 (P), where of encampments of several tribes, cf. 1:52; 2:3; 10:2, 5, 6, 25 etc., (all P), already passing over to 3 (cf. הַחֹנִים 10:5, 6); e.g. Genesis 32:22
- b. specif. of camp of Levites, surrounding tabernacle, so that P can say אֹהֶל־מוֹעֵד מַחֲנֵה הַלְוִיִם Nu 2:17; and so (late) of temple הַשֹּׁעֲרִים לְמַחֲנוֹת בְּנֵי לֵוִי 1 Ch 9:18, as well as שַׁעֲרֵי מַחֲנוֹת י׳ 2 Ch 31:2; pl. (opp. מִבְצָרִים = fortresses) Nu 13:19. e.g. Numbers 2:17
- 2. camp of armed host Jos 6:11(×2), 14 (JE), 1 S 4:3, 5, 6(×2), 7; 17:53; 2 K 7:16 etc. e.g. Joshua 6:11
- 3.
- a. those who encamp Nu 10:5, 6; 1 Ch 11:5 ψ 27:3 (all c. vb. חנה), cf. (prob.) Is 37:36 = 2 K 19:35, etc. e.g. Numbers 10:5
- b. company, body of people; people and beasts Gn 32:8, 9(×2), 11; 33:8, funeral company of Jacob Gn 50:9; of Isr. on march Ex 14:19, 20 cf. Nu 10:5, 6. e.g. Genesis 32:8
- c. army, host Jos 8:13; 10:5; 11:4 Ju 4:15, 16(×2) 7:1, 8; 8:10(×2), 11(×2) 12 1 S 17:1, 46 2 K 3:9 even while in the thick of the fight; 1 K 22:34 = 2 Ch 18:33 etc. e.g. Joshua 8:13
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m. Gn 33:8 + 16 times and f. ψ 27:3; 1 Ch 11:15 (on Gn 32:9a v. Di) encampment, camp—abs. מ׳ Gn 32:9(×2) + 126 times (incl. Ez 1:24, del. Co); cstr. מַחֲנֵה Gn 32:3 + 56 times; sf. מַחֲנֵהוּ Nu 1:52 + 5 times; מַחֲנֶיךָ Dt 23:15; 29:10, מַחֲנֶךָ Dt 23:15, מַחֲנֵיכֶם Am 4:10, מַחֲנֵיהֶם Nu 5:3 Ju 8:10 (cf. infr., and on form of noun c. sf. vid. Ges§ 93, 3, R 3); pl. abs. מַחֲנוֹת Gn 32:8 + 9 times; cstr. 1 Ch 9:18 + 2 times, מַחֲנִים Nu 13:19; sf. (appar. pl. n.) מַחֲנֵיהֶם Jos 10:4 + 5 times;—on du. v. מ׳ n.pr. infr.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from חנה (chânâh) (H2583) — to encamp.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מַחֲנֶה
- camp, esp. the encampment of the Israelites in the desert (v. Num. II); transferred to the limits of graded sacredness in Jerusalem (v. מְחִיצָה II). Sifré Num. 1 מַחְנֵה ישראל the camp of the Israelites (from the gate of Jerusalem to the Temple mount); מ׳ לויה the camp of the attendants (priests and Levites, from the Temple mount to the Temple court); מ׳ שכינה the camp of the Divine Majesty (from the entrance of the court and further). Ib. מ׳ ארון the camp of the Ark in the desert (= מ׳ לויה); Y. Sot. VIII, 22ᵇ bot.; a. fr.—Pl. מַחֲנוֹת. Sifré l. c. שלש מ׳ הן there are three camps of graded sacredness (= מְחִיצוֹת). e.g. Numbers 2:25
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 78 distinct written forms H4264 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 18 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4264, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- חנות chânûwth H2588 cell
- חנית chănîyth H2595 spear
- חנן chânan H2603 to be gracious
- תחנה tachănâh H8466 encampment
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 9 — not the complete family. 3 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 183 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 190 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 32:2
- Exodus 14:19
- Leviticus 4:12
- Numbers 1:52
- Deuteronomy 2:14
- Joshua 1:11
- Judges 4:15
- 1 Samuel 4:3
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 16:16
- 2 Kings 3:9
- 1 Chronicles 9:18
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
