verb
polemamō
Strong’sG4170
I make war, contend
stem polem-7 times in the New Testamentin 2 of 27 books6 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
πολεμέω, -ῶ
(< πόλεμος), [in LXX chiefly for לחם ni.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4170 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpol-em-eh'-o
to be (engaged) in warfare, i.e. to battle (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G4171;
King Jamesfight, (make) war.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Ionic dialect Iterat. πολεμέεσκε Refs 5th c.BC+: future -ήσωRefs 5th c.BC+: perfect πεπολέμηκα Refs 4th c.BC+ —middle, aorist ἐπολεμησάμην (κατ-) Refs 2nd c.BC+:—passive, πολεμηθήσομαι Refs; πολεμήσομαι in passive sense, Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐπολεμήθην Refs 5th c.BC+perfect πεπολέμημαι (κατα-) Refs: (πόλεμος):— to be at war or make war, Refs; opposed to εἰρήνην ἄγειν, Refs; τινι with one, Refs 5th c.BC+; μετά τινος or σύν τινι in conjunction with.., Refs 5th c.BC+
2 fight, do battle, ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀπὸ [καμήλων] Refs 5th c.BC+; but ἀφ᾽ ὅτου πολεμήσωμεν what our means of war are, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 generally, quarrel, wrangle with one, Refs 5th c.BC+
II later with accusative, make war upon, τὴν πόλιν LXX+4th c.BC+:—passive, also in early writers, have war made upon one, to be treated as enemies, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 with accusative cognate, πόλεμον π. Refs 5th c.BC+, Arist.[same place], etc.:—passive, [πολέμους] τοὺς ἐπὶ Θησέως πολεμηθέντας Refs 5th c.BC+; ὅσα ἐπολεμήθη whatever hostilities took place, Refs 5th c.BC+ —The form used by Poets is πολεμίζω.
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| polematōπολεμεῖ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | makes war | 1× |
| polemavōπολεμεῖτε | happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural | quarrel | 1× |
| polemamiπολεμήσω | will happen · Ifuture active indicative 1st person singular | fight | 1× |
| polemaliπολεμήσουσιν | will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural | make war | 1× |
| polemataἐπολέμησεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | fought back | 1× |
| polemaraπολεμῆσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | fought | 2× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 5 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | polemamō | polemame | polemami1×πολεμήσω | polemama | polemamē | polemamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | polemasō | polemase | polemasi | polemasa | polemasē | polemaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | polematō1×πολεμεῖ | polemate | polemati | polemata1×ἐπολέμησεν | polematē | polematelē |
| we 1st person plural | polemanō | polemane | polemani | polemana | polemanē | polemanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | polemavō1×πολεμεῖτε | polemave | polemavi | polemava | polemavē | polemavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | polemalō | polemale | polemali1×πολεμήσουσιν | polemala | polemalē | polemalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | polemameiō | polemameia | polemameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | polemaseiō | polemaseia | polemaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | polemateiō | polemateia | polemateiē |
| we 1st person plural | polemaneiō | polemaneia | polemaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | polemaveiō | polemaveia | polemaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | polemaleiō | polemaleia | polemaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | polemasōr | polemasar | polemasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | polematōr | polematar | polematēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | polemavōr | polemavar | polemavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | polemalōr | polemalar | polemalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | polemamoiō | polemamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | polemasoiō | polemasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | polematoiō | polematoia |
| we 1st person plural | polemanoiō | polemanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | polemavoiō | polemavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | polemaloiō | polemaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | polemarō | polemari | polemara2×πολεμῆσαι | polemarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | polemarōntos | polemarintos | polemarantos | polemarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
polem is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
7 occurrences, every one of them listed
polematō“makes war”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Revelation 19:11“makes war”… alēthinos, kai en dikaiosuna krinatō kai polematō.… Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.
polemavō“quarrel”happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural1×
James 4:2… kai ouk dunovō epitunchanara; machovō kai polemavō. ouk echavō dia tem mē aitorō …… are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have …
polemami“fight”will happen · Ifuture active indicative 1st person singular1×
Revelation 2:16“fight”… de mē, erchomō si tachu, kai polemami meta autoiu en ta romfaia teu …… I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My …
polemali“make war”will happen · theyfuture active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Revelation 17:14houtois meta teu arnieu polemali, kai tem arniem nikati autoin, hoti …They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb …
polemata“fought back”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Revelation 12:7… meta tou drakontou. kai tos drakontos polemata kai tois angelois autou,… and the dragon and his angels fought back.
polemara“fought”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive2×
Revelation 12:7… Michaēl kai tois angelois autou teu polemara meta tou drakontou. kai tos drakontos …… in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon …
Revelation 13:4“make war”… homoios te thēre, kai tinos dunotō polemara meta auteu?… Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?”