H4264 — מַחֲנֶה (machaneh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4264
Original: מַחֲנֶה
Transliteration: machaneh
Pronunciation: makh-an-eh
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: חָנָה (chanah, H2583) — to incline, encamp, pitch tent
Occurrences: 190 unique verses (220 tokens) across 20 books
First Occurrence: Gen 32:2 — "And when Jacob saw them, he said, This [is] God's host (machaneh): and he called the name of that place Mahanaim."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

An encampment (of travellers or troops); hence, an army, whether literal (of soldiers) or figurative (of dancers, angels, cattle, locusts, stars; or even the sacred courts): — army, band, battle, camp, company, drove, host, tents.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
camp (the camp, of the camp, in the camp, etc.)	131	69%
host (the host, in the host, of the host, etc.)	47	25%
armies/army	4	2%
company/companies	4	2%
tents	3	2%
bands	2	1%
drove	1	<1%
battle	1	<1%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Numbers	44	3.4
Judges	21	3.4
1 Samuel	20	2.5
Leviticus	17	2.0
Joshua	16	2.4
Exodus	14	1.2
2 Kings	14	1.9
Deuteronomy	8	0.8
Genesis	7	0.5
1 Chronicles	7	0.7
2 Chronicles	5	0.6
2 Samuel	4	0.6
Psalms	3	0.1
1 Kings	3	0.4
Ezekiel	2	0.2
Joel	1	1.4
Amos	1	0.7
Isaiah	1	0.1
Zechariah	1	0.5
Song of Solomon	1	0.0

Heavily concentrated in the Pentateuch and Former Prophets (Judges, Samuel, Kings, Joshua), where Israel's wilderness encampment and military campaigns dominate. Numbers alone accounts for 23% of all uses. Virtually absent from the writing prophets and wisdom literature.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Israel's Sacred Encampment (Wilderness Camp)¶

The dominant usage — the organized camp of Israel in the wilderness, with the tabernacle at its center and YHWH dwelling in its midst. - Num 2:17 — "Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp" - Num 5:3 — "without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell" - Deut 23:14 — "For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee" - Exo 19:16–17 — "the people that was in the camp trembled... Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God"

2. Ritual Removal — "Without the Camp"¶

A technical ritual formula: unclean persons and sacrificial remains are sent or carried "outside the camp" to preserve the camp's holiness. - Lev 4:12 — "Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place" - Lev 4:21 — "he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him" - Lev 13:46 — "he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be" - Lev 16:27 — "the bullock for the sin offering... shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire" - Num 5:2 — "Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper" - Num 19:3 — "he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her" - Num 19:9 — "lay them up without the camp in a clean place"

3. Military Host / Army in the Field¶

The camp of an army deployed for battle, whether Israelite or enemy. - Jdg 7:15 — "he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian" - 1 Sam 17:4 — "there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath" - 2 Ki 7:5–7 — "when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of the Syrians... the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise" - 2 Ki 19:35 — "the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians"

4. Patriarchal / Civilian Traveling Company¶

A group of people or animals traveling together, before the term took on its dominant military/cultic meaning. - Gen 32:7–8 — "he divided the people... and the flocks... into two bands [machanoth]" - Gen 32:10 — "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies... for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands" - Gen 33:8 — "What meanest thou by all this drove (machaneh) which I met?" - Gen 50:9 — "it was a very great company"

5. Divine / Angelic Host¶

The camp or army of God, angelic beings encountered by Jacob. - Gen 32:2 — "And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host (machaneh): and he called the name of that place Mahanaim" - Joel 2:11 — "the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great" - Psa 27:3 — "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear"

6. Figurative / Poetic Uses¶

Song 6:13 — "What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies" (dance imagery)
Ezek 1:24 — "the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty... as the noise of an host"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
בּוֹא (bo)	H935	46x	"come into the camp" / "come into the host"
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	39x	"camp of Israel"
אִישׁ (ish)	H376	35x	"every man in the camp"
יָצָא (yatsa)	H3318	31x	"go out of / carry forth without the camp"
חוּץ (chuts)	H2351	29x	"without the camp" (the ritual formula)
מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh)	H4872	21x	Mosaic legislation and narrative
עַם (am)	H5971	20x	"the people in the camp"
פְּלִשְׁתִּי (Pelishtiy)	H6430	20x	"camp of the Philistines"
נָסַע (nasa)	H5265	17x	"camp set forward / journeyed"
יָד (yad)	H3027	17x	"delivered into hand" (military context)

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2583 חָנָה (chanah) — root verb: to incline, encamp, pitch tent (135v)
H4266 מַחֲנַיִם (Machanayim) — place name: "two camps" (from dual form; 13v)

Synonyms¶

H6635 צָבָא (tsaba) — host, army, warfare (462v) — emphasizes organized military force or service obligation; machaneh emphasizes the physical encampment or camp site
H6951 קָהָל (qahal) — assembly, congregation (116v) — the people as a gathered body; machaneh is the spatial/physical location where they dwell
H5712 עֵדָה (edah) — congregation, assembly (149v) — the community as a constituted entity
H168 אֹהֶל (ohel) — tent, tabernacle (314v) — individual dwelling unit within the camp

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
צָבָא (tsaba)	H6635	"host" (29v vs. 32v)	tsaba = the organized army/military force; machaneh = the encampment or camp where troops are stationed
חַיִל (chayil)	H2428	"host" (2v vs. 4v)	chayil = strength, valor, capable force; machaneh = physical camp/location
גְּדוּד (gedud)	H1416	"bands" (2v vs. 2v)	gedud = raiding band, troop; machaneh = encampment, not the raiding party itself

Semantic Domains¶

[001002009011] Towns — spatial dwelling context
[001002007004] Groups — organized human assembly

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
παρεμβολή (parembole) G3925	165	34.66	Dominant equivalent — near one-to-one correspondence
ἔξω (exo) G1854	28	17.64	Translates the "outside" element in "without the camp" phrases
τάγμα (tagma) G5001	9	14.51	Orderly troop arrangement
ἐξαίρω (exairo) G1808	17	10.70	"Put out/remove" in expulsion passages
ἀλλόφυλος (allophylos) G246	20	10.41	"Foreigner" — replaces "Philistine" in LXX

The LXX maps machaneh to παρεμβολή with remarkable consistency (165 of ~190 occurrences), making this one of the strongest one-to-one Hebrew-Greek bridges in the OT.