H3898a H3898a
Nifal: to fight, wage war; Qal: to fight; (ptc.) fighter, combatant
Senses
1. Nifal: to fight, wage war — The standard Nifal (reciprocal-reflexive) sense of לחם meaning to fight, engage in battle, or wage war against an enemy; this covers the vast majority of occurrences across all inflections (perfect, imperfect, imperative, infinitive, participle) and includes both human-initiated combat and divine warfare on behalf of Israel. All target languages confirm a single undifferentiated military sense: Arabic حارَبَ (ḥāraba, Form III reciprocal 'to wage war'), Korean 싸우다 (ssauda, 'to fight'), Swahili -pigana (reciprocal of -piga, 'to fight one another'), Spanish pelear/luchar, uniformly rendering every Nifal occurrence without semantic variation. 167×
AR["أَنْ-يُحَارِبَ","أُحَارِبَ","لِ-أُحارِبَ","لِ-تُحارِبوا","لِ-تُحارِبَ","لِ-يُحارِبوا","لِ-يُحارِبَ","لِتُحَارِبَ","لِتُحَارِبَهَا","لِـ-تُحَارِبَ","لِـ-يُحَارِبُوا","لِيُحَارِبَ"]·ben["যুদ্ধ-করতে","যুদ্ধ-করে","লড়তে","লড়াই-করতে"]·DE["zu-kaempfe","zu-kaempfen"]·EN["to-fight"]·FR["à-combats","à-combattre"]·heb["ל-הילחם","ל-הלחם"]·HI["के-लिए-लड़ने","लड़ना","लड़ने","लड़ने-के-लिए","लड़ने-को","लड़नेकेलिए","लधने"]·ID["untuk-berperang"]·IT["a-combattere","a-combatti"]·jav["kangge-nglawan","kangge-perang","kanggé-perang","nempuh-perang"]·KO["싸우기-위하여","싸우기를","싸우기를-","싸우기위해","싸우는-것-에","싸우다-","싸우러","싸우려고","에게-싸우려고"]·PT["a-lutar","lutar","para-lutar"]·RU["воевать","воюя","сражаться","чтобы-воевать"]·ES["para-luchar","para-pelear","pelear"]·SW["kupigana"]·TR["-savaşmak-için","için-savaşmak","savaşmak","savaşmak-a","savaşmak-için","savaşmaya","ve-tartıştılar"]·urd["لڑ-کے","لڑنے","لڑنے-کو","لڑنے-کے-لیے"]
Exod 17:8, Exod 17:10, Num 21:1, Num 21:23, Num 22:11, Deut 20:4, Deut 20:10, Deut 20:19, Josh 9:2, Josh 10:29, Josh 10:31, Josh 10:38 (+38 more)
2. Qal: to fight; (ptc.) fighter, combatant — The rare Qal stem of לחם, occurring only in imperative and participial forms, meaning to fight or (as a substantivized participle) a fighter or combatant; the Qal participle construct in Psalm 35:1 (לֹחֲמַי 'my fighters / those who fight against me') and Psalm 56:3 functions as an agentive noun denoting adversaries in personal lament. Arabic مُحارِب (muḥārib, 'combatant/warrior'), Korean 싸우는 자 (ssaunŭn ja, 'one who fights'), and Swahili wanapigana ('those fighting') all confirm the same combative meaning as the Nifal, but the distinct Qal stem and predominant participial-substantive usage warrant a separate lexicographic entry. 4×
AR["حارِبْ","مُحارِبونَ","مُحارِبيَّ","مُحارِبٌ"]·ben["আমার-যুদ্ধকারীদের","যুদ্ধ-করে","যুদ্ধকারী","লড়াই-কর"]·DE["fighting","kämpfen","mein-fighters"]·EN["fight","fighting","my-fighters"]·FR["à-Ham","à-combattre"]·heb["לוחם","לוחמי-י","לוחמים","לחם"]·HI["लड़","लड़ता-हुआ","लड़नेवाले","लड़नेवालों-मेरे"]·IT["combatte'"]·jav["ingkang-merangi-kula","manungsa","mugi-perang"]·KO["싸우는-자-가","싸우는-자-들-이","싸우는-자들-과","싸우소서"]·PT["lutando","os-que-lutam","os-que-pelejam-comigo","peleja"]·RU["воюй","воюющие","воюющими-со-мной","воюя"]·ES["combatiendo","los-que-pelean-contra-mí","pelea"]·SW["akipigana","pigana","wanaonipiga","wanapigana"]·TR["savaş","savaşan","savaşanlar","savaşanlarla-bana"]·urd["لڑ","لڑنے-والا","لڑنے-والے","میرے-لڑنے-والوں"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
I. [לָחַם171] vb. fight, do battle (NH Hithp.; ואלתחם MI11.15.19; perhaps = order the battle, cf. NöZMG xl. 1886, 721; Arabic لَحَمَ fit close together, so NH לחם Pi., Syriac ܠܚܡ Pa. unite, ܠܳܚܶܡ fit; also threaten; GerberVerb. Denom. 59 thinks vb. in Heb. denom. from מִלְחָמָה battle-line, but dub.);— †Qal (poet.) only Imv. ms. and Pt. act.—fight, do battle with, rare, only ψψ, appar. later…