G4171 — πόλεμος (polemos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4171
Original: πόλεμος
Transliteration: polemos
Pronunciation: pol'-em-os
Part of Speech: Masculine noun (n-m)
Root: πέλομαι (pelomai) — to bustle
Occurrences: 16 unique verses (18 tokens)
Books: 7
First Occurrence: Mat 24:6 — "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From πέλομαι (pelomai, "to bustle"); warfare (literally or figuratively; a single encounter or a series): — battle, fight, war.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 39.005: Strife, Struggle
Domain 55.002: To Fight
Other words in 39.005: ἀγών (G73), ἀγωνίζομαι (G75), ἄμαχος (G269), ἀνταγωνίζομαι (G464), διαμάχομαι (G1264), ἐπαγωνίζομαι (G1864), ἔρις (G2054), θεομάχος (G2314), θηριομαχέω (G2341), μάχαιρα (G3162)
Other words in 55.002: ἐγείρω (G1453), μάχαιρα (G3162), πολεμέω (G4170), ῥομφαία (G4501), στρατεία (G4752), στρατεύω (G4754), ὑπαντάω (G5221)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[039] Hostility, Strife
[055] Military Activities

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
war	6	37.5%
battle	3	18.8%
of wars	3	18.8%
the battle	2	12.5%
fight	1	6.2%
wars	1	6.2%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	9	2.2
James	1	0.9
Hebrews	1	0.3
Luke	2	0.2
1 Corinthians	1	0.2
Matthew	1	0.1
Mark	1	0.1

Revelation dominates with 9 of 18 tokens (50%), far exceeding any other book. The Synoptic uses (Mat, Mar, Luk) all appear in the Olivet Discourse. The remaining occurrences are scattered across epistolary and wisdom literature. The word is absent from John's Gospel, Acts, and the Pauline epistles (except 1 Corinthians once).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Eschatological Sign — Wars as Harbingers¶

Mat 24:6 — "ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled"
Mar 13:7 — "when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled"
Luk 21:9 — "when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified"

2. Cosmic / Heavenly Warfare¶

Rev 12:7 — "there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon"
Rev 19:19 — "the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse"
Rev 20:8 — "shall go out to deceive the nations... to gather them together to battle"

3. The Beast's War Against the Saints¶

Rev 11:7 — "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them"
Rev 12:17 — "the dragon... went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God"
Rev 13:7 — "it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them"

4. Demonic Mobilization for Battle¶

Rev 9:7 — "the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle"
Rev 9:9 — "the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle"
Rev 16:14 — "spirits of devils... go forth unto the kings of the earth... to gather them to the battle of that great day"

5. Practical / Illustrative Use¶

Luk 14:31 — "what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth"
1Co 14:8 — "if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"
Heb 11:34 — "waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens"

6. Inner / Interpersonal Conflict¶

Jas 4:1 — "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ποιέω (poieo)	G4160	5x (31%)	"make war" (ποιῆσαι πόλεμον) — Rev 11:7; 12:17; 13:7; 19:19
γίνομαι (ginomai)	G1096	5x (31%)	"there was war" / "there shall be wars" — Rev 12:7; Mat 24:6
ἀκούω (akouo)	G191	3x (19%)	"ye shall hear of wars" — Olivet Discourse formula
βασιλεύς (basileus)	G935	3x (19%)	kings gathered for battle — Luk 14:31; Rev 16:14; 19:19
ἵππος (hippos)	G2462	3x (19%)	horses prepared for battle — Rev 9:7, 9:9 imagery
συνάγω (synago)	G4863	3x (19%)	"gather together to battle" — Rev 16:14; 19:19; 20:8
τέλος (telos)	G5056	3x (19%)	"the end is not yet" — eschatological context of wars
δεῖ (dei)	G1163	3x (19%)	"these things must come to pass" — divine necessity of wars
θηρίον (therion)	G2342	2x (12%)	the beast making war — Rev 11:7; 13:7
δράκων (drakon)	G1404	2x (12%)	the dragon's war — Rev 12:7, 12:17
νικάω (nikao)	G3528	2x (12%)	war leading to overcoming — Rev 11:7; (cf. 17:14 with G4170)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4170 πολεμέω (polemeo) — verb: to wage war, to fight (6x in NT)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G4171.

Antonyms¶

G5198 ὑγιαίνω (hygiainō) — returned by search_relationships.py as a contrast term

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
μάχαιρα (machaira)	G3162	both in military contexts	machaira = the weapon (sword); polemos = the event (war/battle)
στρατεύομαι (strateuomai)	G4754	"war"	strateuomai = to serve as a soldier / campaign; polemos = the conflict itself
μάχη (mache)	G3163	"fightings" alongside polemos (Jas 4:1)	mache = individual quarrels/disputes; polemos = organized warfare
μάχομαι (machomai)	G3164	"fight" / "strive"	machomai = to fight (verb, personal scale); polemos = war (noun, larger scale)

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 039.005 — Strife, Struggle)¶

Word	Strong's	Verses	Primary KJV	Key Difference
ἀγών (agon)	G73	5	conflict, fight	athletic/personal struggle, not military
ἔρις (eris)	G2054	6	strife, contentions	verbal dispute, not armed conflict
μάχαιρα (machaira)	G3162	20	sword, swords	instrument of war, not the event
μάχη (mache)	G3163	4	fightings, strifes	personal quarrels vs. organized warfare
μάχομαι (machomai)	G3164	3	strive, strove	individual fighting vs. collective war

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
מִלְחָמָה (milchamah)	H4421	219	32.66
עָרַךְ (arak)	H6186	19	13.70
קְרָב (qerab)	H7128	6	11.46
קֶשֶׁת (qesheth)	H7198	13	10.84
חֶרֶב (chereb)	H2719	23	7.93

The overwhelming LXX source is H4421 milchamah (219 co-occurrences, PMI 32.66). The secondary sources are contextual collocates of warfare scenes (setting in array, bow, sword) rather than true synonyms.