What does מַחֲנֶה (maḥăneh) mean in the Bible?
מַחֲנֶה (maḥăneh): Ordered gathering of people or forces; ranges from literal military camp to figurative assembly of celestial or earthly hosts.
Hebrew · H4264
מַחֲנֶה
An encampment (of travellers or troops); hence, an army , whether literal (of soldiers) or figurative (of dancers, angels, cattle, locusts, stars; or even the sacred courts)
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מַחֲנֶה H4264
Pronunciation maḥăneh
What does מַחֲנֶה (maḥăneh) mean in the Bible?
מַחֲנֶה (maḥăneh): Ordered gathering of people or forces; ranges from literal military camp to figurative assembly of celestial or earthly hosts.
Full entry for מַחֲנֶה (H4264) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H4264?
The BSB source-word alignment has 215 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the camp (81), in the camp (16), camp (14), of the camp (12), army (7).
Where does מַחֲנֶה (maḥăneh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 32:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Numbers (49), Judges (27), 1 Samuel (22), Exodus (19).
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 the camp 81× Exodus 14:19, Exodus 16:13, Exodus 19:17, Exodus 29:14
in the camp 16× Genesis 32:21, Exodus 19:16, Leviticus 17:3, Leviticus 24:10
camp 14× Genesis 32:8, Joshua 8:13, Judges 7:13, Judges 7:14
of the camp 12× Numbers 2:9, Numbers 2:16, Numbers 2:24, Numbers 10:14
army 7× Judges 4:16, Judges 8:12, 1 Samuel 17:46, 1 Samuel 28:5
. . . 6× Exodus 14:20, Exodus 33:7, Numbers 2:3, Deuteronomy 23:9
camps 4× Genesis 32:7, Genesis 32:10, Ezekiel 4:2, Zechariah 14:15
are to camp 3× Numbers 2:10, Numbers 2:18, Numbers 2:25
the army 3× Exodus 14:24, Judges 7:22, 1 Samuel 28:19
the camps 3× Exodus 14:20, Numbers 10:5, Numbers 10:6
their forces 3× 1 Samuel 17:1, 1 Samuel 28:1, 1 Samuel 29:1
to the camp 3× Exodus 32:26, Joshua 6:11, Joshua 6:14
- 2× Exodus 14:24, Deuteronomy 23:10
in the army 2× 1 Samuel 29:6, 1 Kings 22:36
the battle 2× 1 Kings 22:34, 2 Chronicles 18:33
their armies 2× Joshua 10:5, Joshua 11:4
their army 2× Judges 8:10, Judges 8:11
their camp 2× Numbers 5:3, 1 Samuel 4:7
your camp 2× Deuteronomy 23:14
[is] in the camp 1× Exodus 32:17
[taking them] 1× Judges 8:11
against the camp 1× Judges 7:9
an army 1× Psalms 27:3
and army 1× Judges 4:16
and for having the camps 1× Numbers 10:2
and His army 1× 2 Chronicles 14:13
And the camp 1× Judges 7:1
apart the camp 1× Joshua 6:18
as soon as the camp 1× Numbers 4:15
company 1× Genesis 33:8
dwelling 1× 2 Chronicles 31:2
for their army 1× 2 Kings 3:9
from the camp 1× 1 Chronicles 9:18
his army 1× Judges 4:15
his attendants 1× 2 Kings 5:15
His camp 1× Joel 2:11
his own camp 1× Numbers 1:52
in the camps 1× Numbers 2:32
into the camp 1× 2 Chronicles 22:1
into the surrounding camps 1× 1 Samuel 14:21
is the camp 1× Genesis 32:2
like the army 1× 1 Chronicles 12:22
Midianite army 1× Judges 7:21
of [it] 1× Leviticus 17:3
of an army 1× Ezekiel 1:24
of Mahanaim 1× Song Of Solomon 6:13
of the camps 1× Numbers 2:17
of their camp 1× Psalms 78:28
of your camp 1× Amos 4:10
open camps 1× Numbers 13:19
procession 1× Genesis 50:9
So there in the camp 1× 1 Kings 16:16
the armies 1× Judges 8:10
the army of 1× 1 Chronicles 14:16
The camp was intact 1× 2 Kings 7:7
their camps 1× 1 Samuel 17:53
through the camp 1× Exodus 32:27
throughout the camp 1× Exodus 36:6
to battle 1× 1 Samuel 28:1
to the dwelling 1× 1 Chronicles 9:19
units 1× Numbers 10:25
Whenever the camp 1× Numbers 4:5
while a company 1× 1 Chronicles 11:15
with the camp 1× Numbers 2:17
your camps 1× Deuteronomy 29:11
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 32:2 מַחֲנֵ֥ה to is the camp Noun - common singular construct Genesis 32:7 מַחֲנֽוֹת׃ to camps Noun - common plural Genesis 32:8 הַמַּחֲנֶ֥ה to camp Article | Noun - common singular Genesis 32:8 הַמַּחֲנֶ֥ה to camp Article | Noun - common singular Genesis 32:10 מַחֲנֽוֹת׃ to camps Noun - common plural Genesis 32:21 בַּֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ to in the camp Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular Genesis 33:8 הַמַּחֲנֶ֥ה to company Article | Noun - common singular Genesis 50:9 הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה to procession Article | Noun - common singular Exodus 14:19 מַחֲנֵ֣ה to the camp Noun - common singular construct Exodus 14:20 מַחֲנֵ֣ה to the camps Noun - common singular construct
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 32:2
Aligned rows 215
Books represented 20
Genesis 8 Exodus 19 Leviticus 18 Numbers 49 Deuteronomy 10 Joshua 17 Judges 27 1 Samuel 22 2 Samuel 4 1 Kings 3 2 Kings 15 1 Chronicles 8 2 Chronicles 5 Psalms 3 Song Of Solomon 1 Isaiah 1 Ezekiel 2 Joel 1 Amos 1 Zechariah 1
Source forms
מַחֲנֵ֣ה 18x ma·ḥă·nêh Exodus 14:19, Exodus 14:20, Exodus 14:24, Numbers 10:25
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה 13x ham·ma·ḥă·neh Exodus 32:19, Exodus 32:26, Exodus 33:7, Exodus 33:11
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה 12x ham·ma·ḥă·neh Exodus 16:13, Exodus 19:17, Leviticus 14:8, Numbers 11:30
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה 11x ham·ma·ḥă·neh Genesis 50:9, Numbers 11:9, Joshua 9:6, Joshua 10:15
מַחֲנֵ֥ה 10x ma·ḥă·nêh Genesis 32:2, Exodus 14:24, Numbers 2:3, Numbers 2:17
הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ 9x ham·ma·ḥă·neh Leviticus 16:26, Leviticus 16:28, Numbers 11:1, Numbers 11:32
לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה 9x lam·ma·ḥă·neh Exodus 29:14, Leviticus 8:17, Leviticus 10:5, Leviticus 14:3
לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה 8x lam·ma·ḥă·neh Leviticus 4:21, Leviticus 6:11, Leviticus 24:14, Leviticus 24:23
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - common singular 68x Genesis 32:8, Genesis 33:8, Genesis 50:9, Exodus 16:13
Noun - common singular construct 34x Genesis 32:2, Exodus 14:19, Exodus 14:20, Exodus 14:24
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - common singular 32x Exodus 16:13, Exodus 29:14, Exodus 33:7, Leviticus 4:12
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular 22x Genesis 32:21, Exodus 19:16, Exodus 32:17, Exodus 32:27
Preposition-b | Noun - common singular construct 9x Judges 7:13, 1 Samuel 4:6, 1 Samuel 14:19, 2 Samuel 5:24
Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine plural 7x Numbers 5:3, Joshua 10:5, Joshua 11:4, 1 Samuel 17:1
Article | Noun - common plural 6x Numbers 2:17, Numbers 2:32, Numbers 10:2, Numbers 10:5
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular 6x Numbers 1:52, 2 Kings 5:15, 2 Kings 6:24, 2 Chronicles 14:13
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Ordered gathering of people or forces; ranges from literal military camp to figurative assembly of celestial or earthly hosts.
Source Gloss
an encampment (of travellers or troops); hence, an army , whether literal (of soldiers) or figurative (of dancers, angels, cattle, locusts, stars; or even the sacred courts)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Ordered gathering of people or forces; ranges from literal military camp to figurative assembly of celestial or earthly hosts.
an encampment (of travellers or troops); hence, an army, whether literal (of soldiers) or figurative (of dancers, angels, cattle, locusts, stars; or even the sacred courts) BDB: encampment Usage: army, band, battle, camp, company, drove, host, tents.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
An encampment of travelers or people, Jacob encounters God's angelic host
The sacred encampment or assembly of Israel, figurative reference to the community
The camp as the gathered assembly or host of the Israelite people
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 216 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
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.
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