What does πόλεμος (pólemos) mean in the Bible?
Polemos means war, armed conflict, or a sustained struggle. Jesus says disciples will hear of wars and rumors of wars but must not be alarmed or treat them as the immediate end.
Greek · G4171
πόλεμος
Warfare (literally or figuratively; a single encounter or a series)
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πόλεμος G4171
Pronunciation pólemos
What does πόλεμος (pólemos) mean in the Bible?
Polemos means war, armed conflict, or a sustained struggle. Jesus says disciples will hear of wars and rumors of wars but must not be alarmed or treat them as the immediate end.
Reader summary
Full entry for πόλεμος (G4171) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4171?
The BSB source-word alignment has 18 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include battle (6), war (3), wars (3), of wars (2), a war (1).
Where does πόλεμος (pólemos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 24:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (9), Luke (2), Mark (2), Matthew (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Polemos means war, armed conflict, or a sustained struggle. Jesus says disciples will hear of wars and rumors of wars but must not be alarmed or treat them as the immediate end. He uses a king considering war to illustrate counting the cost of discipleship. Paul compares unclear speech to a trumpet that fails to prepare anyone for battle. Hebrews remembers faithful people who became mighty in war and put armies to flight.
The noun can denote literal warfare or serve an analogy, but it does not make war holy, supply a political timetable, or transfer military methods into church life. Genre and argument must control every application.
How the Bible Uses It
Polemos refers to actual wars in eschatological warning and Israel's history, while Jesus and Paul also use warfare for analogies about cost and clear communication. Each passage selects a limited feature of conflict rather than celebrating violence.
- Matt.24.6
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Matthew 24:6 says disciples will hear of wars and rumors of wars but should not be alarmed; such things must happen, but the end is not yet. Conflict is a sign of a troubled age, not a date code.
- Mark.13.7
When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Mark 13:7 repeats the warning in Jesus' temple discourse. His command against alarm prepares disciples for endurance and witness rather than speculation.
- Luke.14.31
Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
Luke 14:31 pictures a king considering whether ten thousand troops can meet twenty thousand in war. The analogy emphasizes sober calculation before claiming discipleship.
- 1Cor.14.8
Again, if the trumpet sounds a muffled call, who will prepare for battle?
First Corinthians 14:8 asks who will prepare for battle if a trumpet gives an indistinct sound. Paul selects the need for intelligible signals to govern speech in worship.
- Heb.11.34
Quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
Hebrews 11:34 remembers faithful people who became mighty in war and routed foreign armies. The summary honors God's deliverance in Israel's history within a chapter that also honors sufferers who were not rescued.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It battle 6× 1 Corinthians 14:8, Hebrews 11:34, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:9
war 3× Revelation 11:7, Revelation 12:17, Revelation 19:19
wars 3× Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7, Luke 21:9
of wars 2× Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7
a war 1× Revelation 12:7
conflicts 1× James 4:1
to wage war 1× Revelation 13:7
to war 1× Luke 14:31
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 24:6 πολέμους to wars Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural Matthew 24:6 πολέμων to of wars Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural Mark 13:7 πολέμους to wars Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural Mark 13:7 πολέμων to of wars Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural Luke 14:31 πόλεμον to to war Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Luke 21:9 πολέμους to wars Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 1 Corinthians 14:8 πόλεμον to battle Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Hebrews 11:34 πολέμῳ to battle Noun - Dative Masculine Singular James 4:1 πόλεμοι to conflicts Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Revelation 9:7 πόλεμον to battle Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 24:6
Aligned rows 18
Books represented 7
Matthew 2 Mark 2 Luke 2 1 Corinthians 1 Hebrews 1 James 1 Revelation 9
Source forms
πόλεμον 10x polemon Luke 14:31, 1 Corinthians 14:8, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:9
πολέμους 3x polemous Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7, Luke 21:9
πολέμων 2x polemōn Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7
πόλεμοι 1x polemoi James 4:1
πόλεμος 1x polemos Revelation 12:7
πολέμῳ 1x polemō Hebrews 11:34
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 10x Luke 14:31, 1 Corinthians 14:8, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:9
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 3x Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7, Luke 21:9
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural 2x Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 1x Hebrews 11:34
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x James 4:1
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x Revelation 12:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use wars or rumors of wars to set dates or claim certainty beyond Jesus' words.
- Do not direct warfare metaphors toward violence, dehumanization, or hatred of human opponents.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not use wars or rumors of wars to set dates or claim certainty beyond Jesus' words.
- Do not direct warfare metaphors toward violence, dehumanization, or hatred of human opponents.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. War as organized military conflict, distinct from individual fights or personal quarrels.
Strong's G4171
Lexical occurrences 18 verses Greek text appearances 18 times 16 shown below Word forms 6 forms 18 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 14:25-35 Source Gloss
warfare (literally or figuratively; a single encounter or a series)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 18 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 24:6 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
πολέμους polemouv
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Matthew 24:6 Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
πολέμων· polemwn
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Mark 13:7 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
πολέμους polemouv
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Mark 13:7 Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
πολέμων, polemwn
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Luke 14:31 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Luke 21:9 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
πολέμους polemouv
a war, battle, strife
Read verse 1 Corinthians 14:8 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον; polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Hebrews 11:34 Noun Dative Singular Masculine
πολέμῳ, polemw
a war, battle, strife
Read verse James 4:1 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
πόλεμοι polemoi
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 9:7 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον, polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 9:9 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον. polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 11:7 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 12:7 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
πόλεμος polemov
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 12:17 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 13:7 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον polemon
a war, battle, strife
Read verse Revelation 16:14 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
πόλεμον polemon
a war, battle, strife
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 6 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 6 Aligned forms 18 Case pattern Accusative (13) Number pattern Singular (12)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine Jas 4:1 1×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Rev 12:7 1×
Genitive · Plural · Masculine Matt 24:6 · Mark 13:7 2×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Heb 11:34 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Luke 14:31 · 1 Cor 14:8 · Rev 9:7 · Rev 9:9 · Rev 11:7 · Rev 12:17 · Rev 13:7 · Rev 16:14 · Rev 19:19 · Rev 20:8 10×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Matt 24:6 · Mark 13:7 · Luke 21:9 3×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Military conflict in parable about counting costs before engagement
Literal warfare and military conflict as divine judgment against nations
Military strategy and planning essential before entering into actual conflict
Preparation and readiness for battle under divine providence and sovereignty
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 18 lexical occurrence verses.
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Polemos is grave language because war destroys bodies, homes, and communities. Jesus does not deny conflict's reality, but He refuses panic and premature end-time certainty. His king-at-war illustration asks potential disciples to reckon honestly with cost, not to endorse conquest. Paul borrows one narrow feature, the need for a clear trumpet signal, to demand intelligible worship.
Hebrews honors acts of deliverance in Israel's story while the same chapter remembers faithful people tortured and killed. Christian teaching should lament war, pray for peace and justice, care for those harmed, and resist prophetic sensationalism. Spiritual struggle never authorizes hatred or violence against human image-bearers. The church's weapons and mission are governed by Christ's cross, truth, prayer, and faithful witness.
Anchor passage
Matt.24.6
Doctrinal connections
- Eschatology: wars belong to the troubled age but do not by themselves identify the end's date.
- Providence: conflict remains under God's sovereign purpose without becoming morally good.
- Discipleship: following Jesus requires sober reckoning with cost and allegiance.
- Church worship: intelligible speech serves preparation and edification.
- Faith and history: God has granted military deliverance in Israel's story while also sustaining unrescued sufferers.
- Peace and witness: Christ's church responds to conflict through endurance, truth, prayer, mercy, and peacemaking.
Polemos denotes war or conflict and can refer to literal armed struggle or function within an analogy. Related terms for battle, fighting, hostility, and quarrel overlap but are not interchangeable.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's Scriptures recount wars, condemn unjust violence, praise God as deliverer, and anticipate a kingdom where weapons become tools of cultivation. The Messiah's people pursue peace while awaiting final justice.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain