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Bible Dictionaries
War, Fighting
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or The words πόλεμος and μάχη are translated 'fight,' or 'fighting.' They both occur in James 4:1; "From whence come wars (πό.) and fightings (μά.)?" and in the next verse occur the verbs to which these words belong: "Ye fight (μάχομαι) and war (πολεμέω)." These passages show the distinction between the words, and they may be said to correspond to the English words 'war' (πόλεμος), and actual fighting (μάχη, compare the Hebrew makkah, slaughter), though the war may be moral, and the fighting be by word of mouth, as "strifes of words" (λογομαχία), 1 Timothy 6:4 , and the "strivings (μά.) about the law," Titus 3:9 . Besides the above quoted passages the word μάχη occurs only in 2 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Timothy 2:23 .
πόλεμος is found nine times in the Revelation: in Revelation 9:7,9; Revelation 16:14; Revelation 20:8 , it is in the A.V. translated 'battle;' and in Revelation 11:7; Revelation 12:7,17; Revelation 13:7; Revelation 19:19 , it is 'war.' It would be more correct to render it 'war' in all the places, while μάχη is rather the actual shock of 'battle.'
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'War, Fighting'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/3/39-war-fighting.html. 1897.
