מִלְחָמָה
battle
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.
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
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Page 2 of 2 — showing verses 201–287 of 287 distinct verses where H4421 appears in the Absolute state, across 27 books. 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.
2 Chronicles 25 verses
- 2 Chronicles 22:5 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֛ה prep det + n c fs He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.
- 2 Chronicles 25:8 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֑ה prep det + n c fs But if you will go, do [valiantly], be strong for the battle: God will cast you down before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to cast down.
- 2 Chronicles 25:13 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much spoil.
- 2 Chronicles 26:11 מִלְחָמָ֜ה n c fs Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, who went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.
- 2 Chronicles 26:13 מִלְחָמָ֖ה n c fs Under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
- 2 Chronicles 32:2 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֖ה prep det + n c fs When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
- 2 Chronicles 32:6 מִלְחָמ֖וֹת n c fp He set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the broad place at the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them, saying,
Job 4 verses
- Job 5:20 וּ֝/בְ/מִלְחָמָ֗ה conj + prep + n c fs In famine he will redeem you from death; In war, from the power of the sword.
- Job 38:23 וּ/מִלְחָמָֽה conj + n c fs Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?
- Job 39:25 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha!' He smells the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
- Job 41:8 מִ֝לְחָמָ֗ה n c fs Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.
Psalms 10 verses
- Psalms 18:34 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֑ה prep det + n c fs He teaches my hands to war; So that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
- Psalms 18:39 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֑ה prep det + n c fs For you have girded me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
- Psalms 24:8 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs Who is the King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle.
- Psalms 27:3 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, Even then I will be confident.
- Psalms 46:9 מִלְחָמוֹת֮ n c fp He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
- Psalms 76:3 וּ/מִלְחָמָ֣ה conj + n c fs There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, The shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.
- Psalms 89:43 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, And haven't supported him in battle.
- Psalms 120:7 לַ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs I am for peace, But when I speak, they are for war.
- Psalms 140:2 מִלְחָמֽוֹת n c fp Those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war.
- Psalms 144:1 לַ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, Who teaches my hands to war, And my fingers to battle:
Proverbs 3 verses
- Proverbs 20:18 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs Plans are established by advice; By wise guidance you wage war!
- Proverbs 21:31 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs The horse is prepared for the day of battle; But victory is with Yahweh.
- Proverbs 24:6 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs For by wise guidance you wage your war; And victory is in many advisors.
Ecclesiastes 3 verses
- Ecclesiastes 3:8 מִלְחָמָ֖ה n c fs A time to love, And a time to hate; A time for war, And a time for peace.
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָ֑ה prep det + n c fs There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֗ה ptcl def.art + n c fs I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
Song of Solomon 1 verse
Isaiah 12 verses
- Isaiah 2:4 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs He will judge between the nations, And will decide concerning many peoples; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war any more.
- Isaiah 3:2 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs The mighty man, The man of war, The judge, The prophet, The diviner, The elder,
- Isaiah 3:25 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs Your men shall fall by the sword, And your mighty in the war.
- Isaiah 7:1 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֖ה prep det + n c fs It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
- Isaiah 13:4 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people! the noise of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Hosts is mustering the host for the battle.
- Isaiah 21:15 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle.
- Isaiah 22:2 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
- Isaiah 27:4 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs Wrath is not in me: would that the briers and thorns were against me in battle! I would march on them, I would burn them together.
- Isaiah 28:6 מִלְחָמָ֖ה n c fs and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
- Isaiah 36:5 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֑ה prep det + n c fs I say, [your] counsel and strength for the war are but vain words: now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?
- Isaiah 42:13 מִלְחָמ֖וֹת n c fp Yahweh will go forth as a mighty man; he will stir up [his] zeal like a man of war: he will cry, yes, he will shout aloud; he will do mightily against his enemies.
- Isaiah 42:25 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs Therefore he poured on him the fierceness of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire round about, yet he didn't know; and it burned him, yet he didn't lay it to heart.
Jeremiah 23 verses
- Jeremiah 4:19 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
- Jeremiah 6:4 מִלְחָמָ֔ה n c fs Prepare you war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! for the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
- Jeremiah 6:23 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.
- Jeremiah 8:6 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs I listened and heard, but they didn't speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.
- Jeremiah 18:21 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men struck of the sword in battle.
- Jeremiah 21:4 הַ/מִּלְחָמָה֮ ptcl def.art + n c fs Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
- Jeremiah 28:8 לְ/מִלְחָמָ֖ה prep + n c fs The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
- Jeremiah 38:4 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֜ה ptcl def.art + n c fs Then the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray you, be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn't seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
- Jeremiah 39:4 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֗ה ptcl def.art + n c fs It happened that, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.
- Jeremiah 41:3 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה ptcl def.art + n c fs Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, [to wit], with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
- Jeremiah 41:16 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֗ה ptcl def.art + n c fs Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, [to wit], the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:
- Jeremiah 42:14 מִלְחָמָ֔ה n c fs saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
- Jeremiah 46:3 לַ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs Prepare you the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
- Jeremiah 48:14 לַ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs How say you, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?
- Jeremiah 49:2 מִלְחָמָ֗ה n c fs Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who did possess him, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 49:14 לַ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
- Jeremiah 49:26 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֤ה ptcl def.art + n c fs Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 50:22 מִלְחָמָ֖ה n c fs A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
- Jeremiah 50:42 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon.
- Jeremiah 51:20 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs You are my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms;
- Jeremiah 51:32 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֖ה ptcl def.art + n c fs and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened.
- Jeremiah 52:7 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֡ה ptcl def.art + n c fs Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about;) and they went toward the Arabah.
- Jeremiah 52:25 הַ/מִּלְחָמָ֗ה ptcl def.art + n c fs and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.
Ezekiel 4 verses
- Ezekiel 7:14 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֑ה prep det + n c fs They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all the multitude of it.
- Ezekiel 13:5 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָ֖ה prep det + n c fs You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 17:17 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.
- Ezekiel 39:20 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh.
Daniel 3 verses
- Daniel 9:26 מִלְחָמָ֔ה n c fs After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
- Daniel 11:20 בְ/מִלְחָמָֽה prep + n c fs Then shall stand up in his place one who shall cause a tax collector to pass through the kingdom to maintain its glory; but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
- Daniel 11:25 לַ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him.
Hosea 4 verses
- Hosea 1:7 וּ/בְ/מִלְחָמָ֔ה conj + prep + n c fs But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen."
- Hosea 2:18 וּ/מִלְחָמָה֙ conj + n c fs In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, And with the birds of the sky, And with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, And will make them lie down safely.
- Hosea 10:9 מִלְחָמָ֖ה n c fs "Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn't overtake them in Gibeah.
- Hosea 10:14 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, And all your fortresses will be destroyed, As Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
Joel 3 verses
- Joel 2:5 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, Like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, As a strong people set in battle array.
- Joel 2:7 מִלְחָמָ֖ה n c fs They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don't swerve off course.
- Joel 3:9 מִלְחָמָ֑ה הַ/מִּלְחָמָֽה n c fs ptcl def.art + n c fs Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war. Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.
Amos 1 verse
Obadiah 1 verse
Micah 3 verses
- Micah 2:8 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs But lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by without a care, returning from battle.
- Micah 3:5 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, "Peace!" and whoever doesn't provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:
- Micah 4:3 מִלְחָמָֽה n c fs And he will judge between many peoples, And will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, Neither will they learn war any more.
Zechariah 5 verses
- Zechariah 9:10 מִלְחָמָ֔ה n c fs I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem; And the battle bow will be cut off; And he will speak peace to the nations: And his dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.
- Zechariah 10:3 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָֽה prep det + n c fs My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah, And will make them as his horse in the battle that he is proud of.
- Zechariah 10:4 מִלְחָמָ֑ה n c fs From him will come forth the corner-stone, From him the nail, From him the battle bow, From him every ruler together.
- Zechariah 10:5 בַּ/מִּלְחָמָ֔ה prep det + n c fs They shall be as mighty men, Treading down muddy streets in the battle; And they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; And the riders on horses will be confounded.
- Zechariah 14:2 לַ/מִּלְחָמָה֒ prep det + n c fs For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
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.
The Hebrew noun מלחמה centers on the idea of “battle.” Debuting at Genesis 14:2, it then recurs through the corpus. It appears 308 verses across 27 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its common vocabulary. It shares a root with לחם, לחום and לחם. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4421 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 →
- 308
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 308 distinct verses.
- 27 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 27 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #156
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 156 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 308 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 1 Chronicles 31 verses 10%
- 1 Samuel 29 verses 9%
- 2 Samuel 29 verses 9%
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 308 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 187 verses · 61%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 84 verses · 27%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 37 verses · 12%
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: Battle 125×, War 125×, Was war 8×
- American Standard Version: Battle 109×, War 106×, Was war 6×
- Berean Standard Bible: Battle 134×, War 90×, Fight 11×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Battle 171×, War 106×, Battles 7×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4421 across 315 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 37 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 4 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4421 across 312 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 60 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 H4421 across 298 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 29 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 21 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4421 across 310 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in BDB
The 1 sense BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- battle, war
Word origin
n.f. battle, war;—abs. מ׳ Gn 14:2, 8 Ex 1:10 +; cstr. מִלְחֶ֫מֶת 1 S 13:22 (מ׳ מִכְמָשׁ 𝔊 Th We Bu HPS Ew§ 188 c Köii 182 > abs. Thes al.); sf. מִלְחַמְתִּי 2 Ch 35:21; מִלְחַמְתְּךָ 2 S 11:25; מִלְחַמְתֶּ֑ךָ Is 41:12, etc.; pl. מִלְחָמוֹת Is 42:13 + 7 times Ch ψψ; cstr. מִלְחֲמוֹת Ju 3:1 +, etc.;—battle, Gn 14:8 1 S 17:1, 2, 8; 31:3 1 K 20:14, 18, 29, 39 + often; war, Gn 14:2 Ex 1:10 Dt 20:12 Jos 11:23; 14:15 2 S 3:1 (וַתְּהִי הַמִּלְחָמָה אֲרֻכָּה) +; מִלְחֲמוֹת כְּנָ֑עַן Ju 3:1; סֵפֶר מִלְחֲמֹת י׳ Nu 21:14 (JE); acc. cogn. c. נלחם †1 S 8:20 2 Ch 32:8 and (מִלְחֲמוֹת י׳) 1 S 18:17; 25:28†; = art of war, למד מ׳ Is 2:4 learn war = Mi 4:3; למּד מ׳ Ju 3:2 teach war, fighting; מְלַמֵּד יָדַי לַמּ׳ 2 S 22:35 = ψ 18:35, cf. ψ 144:1; לְמוּדֵי מ׳ 1 Ch 5:18, מְלֻמְּדֵי מ׳ Ct 3:8 instructed in war; once = battlefield וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד הַמּ׳ 1 S 14:20 (so KitKauAT). The most freq. phrases are: †אִישׁ מ׳ Is 3:2 1 S 16:18; 17:33 2 S 17:8 Ez 39:20 Jos 17:1 (P), also (coll.) Ju 20:17, of י׳ Ex 15:3 (poem); אַנְשֵׁי הַמּ׳ Jos 6:3; 10:24 (both JE), Dt 2:14, 16 Jos 5:4, 6 (all D), Je 38:4; 39:4; 41:3, 16; 49:26; 51:32; 52:7, 25, also 1 K 9:22 2 K 25:4 Nu 31:28, 49 (P), Jo 4:9; late אַנְשֵׁי מ׳ Jo 2:7 1 Ch 12:39 (v 38 van d. H) 2 Ch 8:9; 17:13; אִישׁ מִלְחָמוֹת Is 42:13 1 Ch 28:3; אַנְשֵׁי מִלְחַמְתָּהּ Je 50:30 her men of war, cf. Is 41:12 Ez 27:10, 27; אִישׁ מִלְחֲמוֹת תֹּעִי 2 S 8:10 a man of battles of Toi, i.e. his frequent opponent (v. Dr), = 1 Ch 18:10; seldom גִּבּוֹר מ׳ ψ 24:8 (of י׳), גִּבּוֹרֵי מ׳ 2 Ch 13:3; שָׂרֵי מִלְחָמוֹת 2 Ch 32:6; עַם הַמּ׳ Jos 8:1, 3; 10:7; 11:7, cf. 8:11 (all JE), cf. also 1 S 13:16 add. 𝔊 We Dr, cf. Klo; אַנְשֵׁי חַיִל לַמּ׳ Je 48:14; צְבָא מ׳ battle-host Is 13:4, so צ׳ הַמּ׳ Nu 31:14 (P); also גְּדוּדֵי צְבָא מ׳ 1 Ch 7:4, יֹצְאֵי צ׳ לַמּ׳ v 11, אַנְשֵׁי צָבָא לַמּ׳ 1 Ch 12:9 (v 8 van d. H)†; weapons of war, כְּלֵי (ה)מ׳ Ju 18:11, 17 Je 21:4; 51:20 1 Ch 12:34 (v 33 van d. H), also fig. 2 S 1:27 (‖ גִּבּוֹרִים); כְּלֵי צְבָא מ׳ 1 Ch 12:38 (v 37 van d. H.); קֶשֶׁת מ׳ Zc 9:10; 10:4; כְּלֵי מִלְחַמְתּוֹ his weapons of war 1 S 8:12 Dt 1:41, cf. Ju 18:16 Ez 32:37; דִּבְרֵי הַמּ׳ = the news of the battle 2 S 11:18, 19 + v 22 add. 𝔊 The We Klo Dr Bu. Freq. combin. with vbs. are: עָרַךְ מ׳ draw up battle-line Ju 20:22 +, sq. אֵת with = against Gn 14:8 Ju 20:20, sq. עִם 2 Ch 13:3; אסר המּ׳ i.e. begin the battle 1 K 20:14, cf. 2 Ch 13:3; וַתִּקְרַב הַמּ׳ 1 K 20:29 and the battle was joined; עָשָׂה מ׳ make war Pr 20:8; 24:6 1 Ch 22:8, sq. אֵת with Gn 14:2 Jos 11:18 (D), sq. עִם Dt 20:12, 20 1 Ch 5:10, 19; †יָצָא לַמּ׳ עִם Ju 20:14, 20, 28, c. עַל 1 K 8:44 2 Ch 6:34; הָלַךְ לַמּ׳ עִם 2 K 8:28; נגשׁ לַמּ׳ עִם Ju 20:23, c. בְּ 1 S 7:10 2 S 10:13, abs. Je 46:3†; וַתְּהִי הַמּ׳ עִם 2 S 21:18, 19, c. בֵּין 2 S 3:1, cf. v 6 +; †קִדַּשׁ מ׳ consecrate war, i.e. open a campaign (with sacred rites, Che) Mi 3:5 Je 6:4 (both c. על), Jo 4:9; cf. †וְהַמּ׳ הִדְבִּיקָתְהוּ Ju 20:42 and the battle clung to them; וַתַּעֲלֶה הַמּ׳ 22:35 and the battle rose (high) = 2 Ch 18:34; וַתִּטּשׁ הַמּ׳ 1 S 4:2, read וַתֵּט הַמּ׳ (𝔊 We Klo Bu, cf. Dr) and the battle inclined (in favour of one side); נָפוֹצֶת הַמּ׳ 2 S 18:8 Qr the battle was spread (extended), so read 1 S 14:24 add. 𝔊 The We Klo Dr; תָּקוּם עָלַי מ׳ ψ 27:3 if war rise against me†; הַמּ׳ כָּבֵ֑דָה Ju 20:34 the battle was severe, cf. וַתִּכְבַּד הַמּ׳ אֶל־שָׁאוּל 1 S 31:3 = 1 Ch 10:3 (על for אל); so וַתְּהִי הַמּ׳ חֲזָקָה 1 S 14:52, חָזַק מִמֶּנּוּ הַמּ׳ 2 K 3:26; וַתְּהִי הַמּ׳ קָשָׁה 2 S 2:17: cf. כֹּבֶד מ׳ Is 21:15, עֱזוּז מ׳ 42:25.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from לחם (lâcham) (H3898) — to fight.
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.
מִלְחָמָה
- war, contest. Sot. VIII, 1, a. fr. משוח מ׳ chaplain of the army (Deut. XX, 2), v. מָשַׁח I. Ib. 7 מִלְחֶמֶת הרשות (Bab. ed. 44ᵇ, pl.) secular (political) warfare; מ׳ מצוה a war for religious causes; מ׳ חובה וכ׳ a war of duty. Ib. 44ᵇ מ׳ יהושע וכ׳ the war of conquest under Joshua, all agree, is a war of duty &c.—Meg. 15ᵇ מִלְחַמְתָּהּ של תורה disputes about the Law; a. fr.—Pl. מִלְחָמוֹת. Sot. l. c. מִלְחֲמוֹת בית דוד לרווחה the wars of the house of David for extending the dominion. M. Kat. 25ᵇ (in a eulogy) גזע … ועמו ספר מ׳ an offspring of worthies came up from Babylonia and with him came the book of wars (allegorically for knowledge of the Law; oth. interpret. R. Hamnuna who came with Rabbah). Snh. 97ᵃ בשביעית מ׳ in the seventh Messianic year there will be wars; a. fr. e.g. Deuteronomy 20:2
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 84 distinct written forms H4421 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; 24 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4421, 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
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 294 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 308 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 14:2
- Exodus 1:10
- Numbers 10:9
- Deuteronomy 1:41
- Joshua 4:13
- Judges 3:1
- 1 Samuel 4:1
- 2 Samuel 1:4
- 1 Kings 2:5
- 2 Kings 3:7
- 1 Chronicles 5:10
- 2 Chronicles 6:34
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.
