Fight (To) - Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament Words
Usage Number: 1
Part Of Speech: Verb
Strong's Number: H3898
Original Word: laham
Usage Notes: "to fight, do battle, engage in combat." This word is found in all periods of Hebrew, as well as in ancient Ugaritic. It occurs in the text of Hebrew Bible more than 170 times. Laham appears first in Exod. 1:10, where the Egyptian pharaoh expresses his fears that the Israelite slaves will multiply and join an enemy "to fight" against the Egyptians.
While the word is commonly used in the context of "armies engaged in pitched battle" against each other (Num. 21:23; Josh. 10:5; Judg. 11:5), it is also used to describe "single, hand-to-hand combat" (1 Sam. 17:32-33). Frequently, God "fights" the battle for Israel (Deut. 20:4). Instead of swords, words spoken by a lying tongue are often used "to fight" against God's servants (Psa. 109:2).
In folk etymology, laham is often connected with lehem, the Hebrew term for "bread," on the contention that wars are fought for bread. There is, however, no good basis for such etymology.
Usage Number: 2
Part Of Speech: Noun
Strong's Number: H4421
Original Word: milhamâ
Usage Notes: "battle; war." This noun occurs more than 300 times in the Old Testament, indicating how large a part military experience and terminology played in the life of the ancient Israelites. Gen. 14:8 is an early occurrence of milhamâ: "And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah,… and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim."