noun · masculine
polemos
Strong’sG4171
a war, battle, strife
stem polem-18 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books6 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
War is the primary meaning of this word, referring to armed conflict between groups or nations 1234. It is also used for a battle or fight, a single engagement of combat rather than a whole war 13, and can even apply to single combat between two individuals 3.
The word can extend beyond military conflict to describe strife or quarreling, used in an exaggerated way for personal disputes among people 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
πόλεμος, -ον, ὁ,
[in LXX chiefly for מִלְחָמָה;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4171 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidpol'-em-os
warfare (literally or figuratively; a single encounter or a series)
Fromfrom πέλομαι (to bustle);
King Jamesbattle, fight, 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
and Epic dialect πτόλεμος, ὁ, war, Refs 8th c.BC+; also, battle, fight, Refs, etc.; even of single combat,Refs; π. καὶ δηϊοτῆτος Refs 8th c.BC+; ὁ τῶν βαρβάρων π. Refs 5th c.BC+; ὁ μέλλων καὶ ὅσον οὐ παρὼν π.Refs 5th c.BC+; Δωριακὸς π. Oracle texts cited in Refs 5th c.BC+; πόλεμον ἄρασθαι levy war, Refs 5th c.BC+; π. κινεῖν, ἐγεῖραι, Refs 5th c.BC+; π. ποιεῖν make war, Refs; π. ποιεῖσθαι carry it on, Refs 5th c.BC+; π. καταλύεσθαι put an end to it, Refs 5th c.BC+ i.e. that is good news, Refs 5th c.BC+
II personified, War, Battle, Ἀλαλὰ Πολέμου θύγατερ Refs 5th c.BC+; Π. πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς Refs 1st c.AD+
II.2 metaphorically of womankind, πολυτελὴς π. Refs 2nd c.AD+
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
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | polemos1×πόλεμος | polemois1×πόλεμοι |
| object accusative | polemon10×πόλεμον | polemoin3×πολέμους |
| direct address vocative | polemor | polemoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | polemou | polemoiu2×πολέμων |
| to, for dative | polemo1×πολέμῳ | polemoi |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
polemo 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.
18 occurrences, every one of them listed
polemos“war”subjectnominative singular1×
Revelation 12:7Kai geneta polemos en to ourano, tos Michaēl kai …Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and …
polemon“battle”objectaccusative singular10×
Luke 14:31“battle”… basilevos poreuorōntos hetero basilevo sumballara eis polemon ouchi kathizarantos prōtem bouleueti ei dunatos …Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten …
1 Corinthians 14:8… fōnan salpingas dōateia, tinos paraskeuazeti eis polemon?… muffled call, who will prepare for battle?
Revelation 9:7… taiu akridaiu homoieim hippoi hetoimazorēntoi eis polemon, kai epi tain kefalain autaiu hōs …… locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold …
Revelation 9:9… fōnas harmeiu hippoiu polloiu trecharōntoiu eis polemon;… many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
Revelation 11:7… ek tau abussau poiati meta autoiu polemon kai nikati autoin kai apoktenati autoin.… up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and …
Revelation 12:17… epi ta gunaika, kai aperchata poiara polemon meta toiu loipoiu teu spermeu autau, …… the woman and went to make war with the rest of her children …
Revelation 13:7kai dōita aute poiara polemon meta toiu hagioiu kai nikara autoin, …… the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer …
Revelation 16:14… oikoumenau holau, sunagara autoin eis ton polemon tau hēmerau tau megau tou theou …… the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God …
Revelation 19:19… teim strateumeim autoiu sunagorēnteim poiara ton polemon meta tou kathorōntou epi tou hippou …… with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the …
Revelation 20:8… kai Magōg, sunagara autoin eis ton polemon, hoiu tos arithmos autoiu hōs tas …… and Magog — to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand …
polemo“battle”to, fordative singular1×
Hebrews 11:34… dunamila apo astheniau, genila ischurois en polemo, parembolain klinala allotrioiu;… strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
polemois“conflicts”subjectnominative plural1×
James 4:1Pothen polemois kai pothen machais en vi? ouk …What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they …
polemoin“wars”objectaccusative plural3×
Matthew 24:6mellavi de akouarō polemoin kai akoain polemoiu; horavōr, mē throovōr; …You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see …
Mark 13:7hotan de akouaveia polemoin kai akoain polemoiu, mē throovōr; datō …When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not …
Luke 21:9hotan de akouaveia polemoin kai akatastasiain, mē ptoiveia; datō gar …When you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be alarmed …
polemoiu“wars”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
Matthew 24:6mellavi de akouarō polemoin kai akoain polemoiu; horavōr, mē throovōr; datō gar genera, …… hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you …
Mark 13:7hotan de akouaveia polemoin kai akoain polemoiu, mē throovōr; datō genera, alla oupō …… hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things …