וַ/יִּלָּ֖חֶם
𐤅/𐤉𐤋𐤇𐤌
lâcham
and he fought
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.
Numbers 21:23 · Word #19
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 HC/VNw3ms
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | V — Verb — An action or state |
| Binyan | N — Niphal — Simple passive or reflexive |
| Conjugation | w — Sequential Imperfect — Imperfect with waw-consecutive, narrating past events |
| Person | 3 — 3rd person — Third person ("he/she/they") |
| Gender | m — Masculine — Masculine |
| Number | s — Singular — Singular |
Common Translation
| Phrase | and he fought |
SIBI-P1 Translation H3898-28
and he engaged in battle
| Morphological Notes | Verb, Niphal stem, sequential imperfect (wayyiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular. |
| Rendering Rationale | The Niphal sequential imperfect 3ms form conveys past narrative action with passive/reflexive nuance, indicating he entered into or engaged in battle. "Engaged in battle" preserves the warfare sense of the root while reflecting the stem’s nuance rather than a simple active "fought." |
View full lexicon entry for H3898 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
and he fought
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | Adjusted to 'and he fought' for more common and precise English in this context—the king engaged in battle, matching military connotation as per the SILEX definition. |