WG: War / Armed Conflict
Overview
The NT war/conflict vocabulary covers organized warfare (polemos), the act of fighting (polemeo, machomai), military service (strateuomai), weapons (machaira), personal disputes (mache), and the outcome of conflict (nikao). These words cluster most densely in Revelation and James 4.
Word Group Members
| Strong's |
Word |
Transliteration |
POS |
Occurrences |
Role in Concept |
Library Entry |
| G4171 |
πόλεμος |
polemos |
noun |
16 |
The conflict itself — war, battle |
G4171-polemos.md |
| G4170 |
πολεμέω |
polemeo |
verb |
6 |
The action of waging war |
TODO(need G4170 study) |
| G3162 |
μάχαιρα |
machaira |
noun |
26 |
The weapon — sword |
TODO(need G3162 study) |
| G3163 |
μάχη |
mache |
noun |
4 |
Individual disputes / fightings |
TODO(need G3163 study) |
| G3164 |
μάχομαι |
machomai |
verb |
4 |
Personal fighting / striving |
TODO(need G3164 study) |
| G4754 |
στρατεύομαι |
strateuomai |
verb |
7 |
Military service / campaigning |
TODO(need G4754 study) |
| G3528 |
νικάω |
nikao |
verb |
24 |
Outcome — overcoming, conquering |
G3528-nikao.md |
Relationships
Word Family (Shared Roots)
- πολεμ- family: polemos (G4171, noun) + polemeo (G4170, verb) — both from pelomai
- μαχ- family: machaira (G3162, weapon noun) + mache (G3163, conflict noun) + machomai (G3164, verb)
Co-occurrence (appear in same verses)
| Word A |
Word B |
Shared Verses |
Typical Context |
| polemos (G4171) |
nikao (G3528) |
2 |
The beast makes war and overcomes (Rev 11:7); the Lamb overcomes those who make war (Rev 17:14 via G4170) |
| polemos (G4171) |
polemeo (G4170) |
1 |
"There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought" (Rev 12:7) |
| polemos (G4171) |
machaira (G3162) |
1 |
"Waxed valiant in fight, escaped the edge of the sword" (Heb 11:34) |
| polemos (G4171) |
mache (G3163) |
1 |
"From whence come wars and fightings among you?" (Jas 4:1) |
| polemos (G4171) |
strateuomai (G4754) |
1 |
"Wars and fightings... your lusts that war in your members" (Jas 4:1) |
| polemeo (G4170) |
machomai (G3164) |
1 |
"Ye fight and war, yet ye have not" (Jas 4:2) |
| polemeo (G4170) |
nikao (G3528) |
1 |
"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them" (Rev 17:14) |
| mache (G3163) |
strateuomai (G4754) |
1 |
"Wars and fightings... lusts that war" (Jas 4:1) |
Shared Hebrew Sources (LXX Bridges)
| Hebrew Word |
Strong's |
Greek Members Connected |
Notes |
| מִלְחָמָה (milchamah) |
H4421 |
polemos (219x), polemeo (27x) |
Primary OT war noun maps to both the Greek noun and verb |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּי (Pelishtiy) |
H6430 |
polemos (25x), polemeo (17x) |
Philistine war narratives — contextual co-occurrence |
| אֲרָם (Aram) |
H758 |
polemeo (14x), polemos (13x) |
Syrian war narratives — contextual co-occurrence |
Roles in the Concept
- The conflict: polemos (πόλεμος) — war or battle as an event or condition
- Waging it: polemeo (πολεμέω) — the act of making war
- The weapon: machaira (μάχαιρα) — the sword, instrument of warfare and judgment
- Personal scale: mache (μάχη) — quarrels, disputes, fightings
- Personal action: machomai (μάχομαι) — to fight or strive at the individual level
- Military service: strateuomai (στρατεύομαι) — to serve as a soldier, to campaign
- The outcome: nikao (νικάω) — to overcome, to conquer — the resolution of conflict
Key Passages Where Multiple Group Words Appear Together
- Jas 4:1 — [polemos + mache + strateuomai] "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"
- Jas 4:2 — [polemeo + machomai] "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not"
- Rev 12:7 — [polemos + polemeo] "There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon"
- Rev 17:14 — [polemeo + nikao] "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them"
Generated from: gather_word_group_data.py, search_strongs.py
Last updated: 2026-04-10