milchama · war, battle

What it means

milchama (מִלְחָמָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “war, battle”.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A fight between armies, or a whole military campaign against an enemy.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

War, battle. From the same root is the verb לָחַם, “fight”.

• War Exodus 13:171 Samuel 17:47
• To draw up battle lines Genesis 14:8
• “A warrior”, said of YHWH Exodus 15:3
• “Nor will they learn war anymore” Isaiah 2:4

Historical and cultural background

Deuteronomy 20 gathers laws for war: who is exempt from going and how peace is offered to a city before it is attacked.

How we translate it

“War” 220 times, “battle” 78, “wars” 17. This edition prefers “war”, and translates עָרַךְ מִלְחָמָה “drew up battle lines”. אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה is translated “warrior” (Exodus 15:3).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• war ×220
• battle ×78
• wars ×17
• warriors ×2
• battles ×1
• warrior ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×2
• Exodus×5
• Numbers×12
• Deuteronomy×18
• Joshua×18
• Judges×20
• 1 Samuel×31
• 2 Samuel×29
• 1 Kings×23
• 2 Kings×10
• 1 Chronicles×32
• 2 Chronicles×32
• Job×4
• Psalms×10
• Proverbs×3
• Ecclesiastes×3
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×14
• Jeremiah×24
• Ezekiel×7
• Daniel×3
• Hosea×4
• Joel×4
• Amos×1
• Obadiah×1
• Micah×3
• Zechariah×5

• Genesis 14:2

  that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

• Genesis 14:8

  Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and drew up battle lines against them in the Valley of Siddim,

• Exodus 1:10

  Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will multiply, and if war breaks out, they too will join those who hate us and fight against us and go up from the land.”

• Exodus 13:17

  When Pharaoh let the people go, Elohim did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although it was near; for Elohim said, “Lest the people relent when they see war and return to Egypt.”

• Exodus 15:3

  YHWH is a warrior; YHWH is his name.

• Exodus 17:16

  and he said, “Because a hand was raised against the throne of Yah, YHWH will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

• Exodus 32:17

  When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”

• Numbers 10:9

  And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who harasses you, you shall sound an acclamation with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before YHWH your Elohim, and you will be saved from your enemies.

• Numbers 21:14

  Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of YHWH: “Waheb in Suphah, and the brooks of the Arnon,

• Numbers 21:33

  Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan; and Og king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, for battle at Edrei.

• Numbers 31:14

  Moses was angry with the appointed officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who came from the army of the war.

• Numbers 31:21

  Eleazar the priest said to the men of the army who had gone to the war, “This is the statute of the instruction that YHWH commanded Moses:

• Numbers 31:27

  And you shall divide in half the plunder between those who took up the war, who went out to the army, and between the whole community.

• Numbers 31:28

  And you shall set apart a tribute for YHWH from the men of war who went out to the army: one living being out of five hundred, of the people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep.

• Numbers 31:49

  and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the count of the men of war who are in our hand, and not a man is missing from us.

• Numbers 32:6

  Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here?

• Numbers 32:20

  Moses said to them, “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before YHWH for the war,

• Numbers 32:27

  but your servants will cross over, every armed man of the army, before YHWH to the war, as my lord says.”

• Numbers 32:29

  Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross with you the Jordan, every armed man for the war before YHWH, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

• Deuteronomy 1:41

  You answered and said to me, “We have sinned against YHWH. We will go up and fight, according to all that YHWH our Elohim commanded us.” Each of you girded on his weapons of war, and you considered it easy to go up into the hill country.

• Deuteronomy 2:9

  YHWH said to me, “Do not harass Moab or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of its land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.”

• Deuteronomy 2:14

  The days that we traveled from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi Zered were thirty-eight years, until the whole generation, the men of war, had come to an end from the midst of the camp, as YHWH had sworn to them.

• Deuteronomy 2:16

  When all the men of war had finished dying from among the people,

• Deuteronomy 2:24

  “Rise up, set out, and cross the Wadi Arnon. See, I have given into your hand Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and provoke him to war.

• Deuteronomy 2:32

  Sihon came out to meet us, he and all his people, for war at Jahaz.

• Deuteronomy 3:1

  Then we turned and went up by the way to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan came out to meet us, he and all his people, for war at Edrei.

• Deuteronomy 4:34

  Or has a god tried to come and take for himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that YHWH your Elohim did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

• Deuteronomy 20:1

  When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them, for YHWH your Elohim is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

• Deuteronomy 20:2

  And when you draw near to the war, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people

• Deuteronomy 20:3

  and say to them, “Hear, Israel: you are drawing near today to war against your enemies. Do not let your heart grow soft; do not be afraid, and do not panic, and do not be terrified before them,

• Deuteronomy 20:5

  And the supervisors shall speak to the people, saying, “Who is the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not die in the war and another man dedicate it.

• Deuteronomy 20:6

  And who is the man who has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use it? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not die in the war and another man begin to use it.

• Deuteronomy 20:7

  And who is the man who has become engaged to a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not die in the war and another man take her.”

• Deuteronomy 20:12

  But if it does not make peace with you but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.

• Deuteronomy 20:20

  Only a tree that you know that it is not a tree for food, it you may destroy and cut down, and build siegeworks against the city that is making war with you, until it falls.

• Deuteronomy 21:10

  When you go out to war against your enemies, and YHWH your Elohim gives them into your hand, and you take captives from them,

• Deuteronomy 29:7

  And you came to this place, and Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to meet us in battle, and we struck them down.

• Joshua 4:13

  About forty thousand armed men of the army crossed before YHWH for battle to the plains of Jericho.

• Joshua 5:4

  And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised: all the people who came out of Egypt, the males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way when they came out of Egypt.

• Joshua 5:6

  For forty years the sons of Israel walked in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, had come to an end, who did not listen to the voice of YHWH; to whom YHWH swore that he would not let them see the land that YHWH had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And 279 more times.