נִלְחֹ֥ם
𐤍𐤋𐤇𐤌
lâcham
fight
To engage in battle or wage war; to fight in armed conflict, either as an individual or a group. In rarer contexts, the verb can connote struggle, contend, or engage in conflict of a non-military nature. The sense of 'feed on' or 'devour' is not attested in Biblical Hebrew for this root, and likely arises from confusion with similar roots.
Judges 11:25 · Word #15
Lexicon H3898
| Lemma | לָחַם |
| Lemma (Paleo) | 𐤋𐤇𐤌 |
| Transliteration | lâcham |
| Strong's | H3898 |
| Definition | To engage in battle or wage war; to fight in armed conflict, either as an individual or a group. In rarer contexts, the verb can connote struggle, contend, or engage in conflict of a non-military nature. The sense of 'feed on' or 'devour' is not attested in Biblical Hebrew for this root, and likely arises from confusion with similar roots. |
Morphology HVNa
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | V — Verb — An action or state |
| Binyan | N — Niphal — Simple passive or reflexive |
| Conjugation | a — Infinitive Absolute — Emphasizes the verb |
Common Translation
| Phrase | fight |
SIBI-P1 Translation H3898-19
to engage in battle
| Morphological Notes | Verb; Niphal stem (middle/reflexive); infinitive absolute. |
| Rendering Rationale | The Niphal stem of לחם functions as a middle/reflexive form meaning to enter into or engage in warfare. As an infinitive absolute, it expresses the verbal action in its pure form: to engage in battle. |
View full lexicon entry for H3898 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
to contend in battle
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | P1 'to engage in battle' is generally accurate, but the nuance here is a contrast with verbal contention, so 'to contend in battle' better fits the context per SILEX. |