H7128 H7128
Battle, war, armed conflict; an Aramaic loanword used in poetic and late biblical texts.
An Aramaic loanword (cf. Syriac qrav) meaning 'battle' or 'war,' appearing in poetic and wisdom literature rather than historical narrative. It functions as a synonym of milchamah but carries a more literary register. Psalm 55:22 memorably declares 'his heart was war' (qerav), and Ecclesiastes 9:18 warns that 'one sinner destroys much good' with the phrase 'weapons of war' (kelei qerav). The Spanish 'batalla' and French 'bataille' straightforwardly capture the military sense, while German interestingly renders some occurrences as 'Mitte' (midst), reflecting the prepositional form.
Senses
1. battle, war — Battle, war, armed conflict -- an Aramaic loanword (cognate with Syriac qrav) used in elevated and poetic registers. Parallel to milchamah ('war') in Job 38:23 and Psalm 144:1, but favored in Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Zechariah rather than prose histories. The expression yom qerav ('day of battle,' Zech 14:3; Ps 78:9) denotes a decisive military engagement, while kelei qerav ('weapons of war,' Eccl 9:18) refers to armaments. Spanish 'batalla' and French 'bataille' uniformly confirm the military sense across all nine occurrences. 9×
AR["الَّذينَ-الحُروبَ", "الْقِتَالِ", "الْقِتَالِ.", "في-الْقِتالِ", "قِرَب", "لِـ-القِتَالِ", "مِن-قِتالٍ", "وَ-حَربٌ"]·ben["কিন্তু-যুদ্ধ-", "যুদ্ধ", "যুদ্ধগুলো", "যুদ্ধে", "যুদ্ধের", "যুদ্ধের-জন্য,", "হইতে-যুদ্ধ-"]·DE["Mitte", "Schlacht", "aber-Krieg-ist", "der-in-battles", "für-Schlacht", "hinein-der-Schlacht", "von-Schlacht"]·EN["battle", "but-war-is", "for-battle", "from-battle", "into-the-battle", "who-in-battles"]·FR["bataille", "dans-le-bataille", "de-ennemi", "ennemi", "et-ennemi", "à-ennemi", "קרב"]·heb["ב-קרב", "ו-קרב-", "ל-קרב", "מ-קרב-", "קרב", "קרבות"]·HI["युद्ध", "युद्ध-के", "युद्ध-के-लिए", "युद्ध-में"]·ID["dalam-pertempuran", "perang", "pertempuran", "pertempuran-pertempuran", "untuk-berperang"]·IT["[קרב]", "battle", "dentro-il-battaglia", "e-nemico", "nemico"]·jav["kanggo-perang", "lan", "nglawan", "perang", "wonten-perang"]·KO["그-전투에", "그러나-전쟁-이", "전쟁", "전쟁-의", "전쟁을-위하여", "전투", "전투-들-을", "전투-에서", "전투의"]·PT["batalha", "da-batalha", "guerra", "mas-guerra-é", "na-batalha", "para-a-batalha", "que-em-guerras"]·RU["а-сердце-", "битвы", "битвы;", "в-битве", "войны", "для-сражения", "от-битвы-"]·ES["batalla", "de-batalla-", "en-la-batalla", "guerra", "guerras", "para-la-batalla", "y-guerra-"]·SW["kutoka-vita", "lakini-vita", "vita", "vitani", "wapendao-vita", "ya-vita"]·TR["savasin", "savaş", "savaşa", "savaşlardan", "savaşmayı-", "savaştan-", "savaşın", "ve-savaş-"]·urd["جنگ", "جنگ-کے", "لِ-جنگ", "لڑائی-میں", "لڑائیاں", "مِن-جَنگ-", "وَ-جَنگ-"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† קְרָב n.[m.] battle, war (hostile approach; Aramaism = ܩܪܰܒ, קְרָב, cf. LagBN 175);—abs. ק׳ Zc 14:3 +; pl. קְרָבוֹת ψ 68:31;—‖ מִלְחָמָה Jb 38:23 ψ 144:1; יוֹם ק׳ Zc 14:3 ψ 78:9; כְּלֵי ק׳ Ec 9:18; his heart was war ψ 55:22 (v 19 v. √ Qal 1 a); pl. ψ 68:31 peoples that delight in battles.—2 S 17:11 read בְּקִרְבָּם 𝔊 𝔖 𝔙 Th Dr and most.