What does πολεμέω (poleméō) mean in the Bible?
πολεμέω (poleméō) is a Greek word meaning "to fight".
Greek · G4170
πολεμέω
To fight
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πολεμέωG4170
Pronunciationpoleméō
What does πολεμέω (poleméō) mean in the Bible?
πολεμέω (poleméō) is a Greek word meaning "to fight".
Full entry for πολεμέω (G4170) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4170?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include wage war (2), fight (1), fought (1), fought [back] (1), wages war (1).
Where does πολεμέω (poleméō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at James 4:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (6), James (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itwage war2×Revelation 2:16, Revelation 13:4
fight1×James 4:2
fought1×Revelation 12:7
fought [back]1×Revelation 12:7
wages war1×Revelation 19:11
will make war1×Revelation 17:14
Show sample aligned rows
James 4:2πολεμεῖτεtofightVerb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person PluralRevelation 2:16πολεμήσωtowage warVerb - Future Indicative Active - 1st Person SingularRevelation 12:7πολεμῆσαιtofoughtVerb - Aorist Infinitive ActiveRevelation 12:7ἐπολέμησενtofought [back]Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularRevelation 13:4πολεμῆσαιtowage warVerb - Aorist Infinitive ActiveRevelation 17:14πολεμήσουσινtowill make warVerb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person PluralRevelation 19:11πολεμεῖtowages warVerb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowJames 4:2
Aligned rows7
Books represented2
James1Revelation6
Source forms
πολεμῆσαι2xpolemēsaiRevelation 12:7, Revelation 13:4
ἐπολέμησεν1xepolemēsenRevelation 12:7
πολεμεῖ1xpolemeiRevelation 19:11
πολεμεῖτε1xpolemeiteJames 4:2
πολεμήσουσιν1xpolemēsousinRevelation 17:14
πολεμήσω1xpolemēsōRevelation 2:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active2xRevelation 12:7, Revelation 13:4
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xRevelation 12:7
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular1xRevelation 2:16
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural1xRevelation 17:14
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural1xJames 4:2
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xRevelation 19:11
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to fight
Strong'sG4170
Lexical occurrences7 versesGreek text appearances7 timesWord forms2 forms7 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
to fight
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
James 4:2Verb Second Person Plural Present Active Indicative
πολεμεῖτε,polemeite
I make war, contend
Read verseRevelation 2:16Verb First Person Singular Future Active Indicative
πολεμήσωpolemhsw
I make war, contend
Read verseRevelation 12:7Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπολέμησανepolemhsan
I make war, contend
Read verseRevelation 12:7Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπολέμησε,epolemhsen
I make war, contend
Read verseRevelation 13:4Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
πολεμῆσαιpolemhsai
I make war, contend
Read verseRevelation 17:14Verb Third Person Plural Future Active Indicative
πολεμήσουσι,polemhsousin
I make war, contend
Read verseRevelation 19:11Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
πολεμεῖ.polemei
I make war, contend
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups2Aligned forms7TensesAorist, Present, FutureVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Infinitiveverbal noun — the action in abstract2×
Aorist ActiveRev 12:7 · Rev 13:42×
Indicativestates a fact or reality5×
Present ActiveJas 4:2 · Rev 19:112×
Future ActiveRev 2:16 · Rev 17:142×
Aorist ActiveRev 12:71×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist3future2present1
Voice
active6
Mood
indicative4infinitive2
NT Occurrences
James 4:2πολεμεῖτεpresent active indicativeongoingRevelation 2:16πολεμήσωfuture active indicativeprospectiveRevelation 12:7πολεμῆσαιaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveRevelation 12:7ἐπολέμησενaorist active indicativecompletedRevelation 13:4πολεμῆσαιaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveRevelation 17:14πολεμήσουσινfuture active indicativeprospective
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Origins
πολεμέω is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.