Lexical Summary lachem: Bread, food Original Word: לָחֶם Strong's Exhaustive Concordance war From lacham, battle -- war. see HEBREW lacham NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom lacham Definition perhaps war NASB Translation war (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs לָחֶם noun [masculine] only in אָז לָחֶ֣ם שְׁעָרִים Judges 5:8 (so Masora; Manuscripts לָחֵ֣ם, לָחֶ֣ם), usually translated then was there war of ( = at) the gates, but improbable; text and meaning dubious; A ᵐ5L read is ὡς ἄρτον κρίθινον, whence BuRS 103 אָז לֶחֶם שְׂעֹרִים then they used to eat barley bread; but BuComm. {abbrev}שׂ ׳אָזַל ל the barley bread was exhausted; Mayer LambertRŠJ xxx, 115 אז לחמשׁ ערים then for (in) 5 citiesno shield was seen, etc.; other conjectures in KauAT; compare GFMon the passage Topical Lexicon Hebrew form and sense The noun לָחֶם (Strong’s 3901) names the clash of armed forces—battle, war, a confrontation that tests covenant loyalty. Derived from the root “to fight,” it points to organized conflict rather than individual skirmish, highlighting both the danger and the moral stakes of warfare. Sole Old Testament occurrence Judges 5:8 lodges the word inside Deborah’s victory hymn: “When they chose new gods, then war was at the gates. Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel”. The setting is the Canaanite oppression overturned by Deborah and Barak. Israel’s apostasy leads to battle “in the gates,” the very place that should have been secure. Historical and theological backdrop 1. Covenant cause and effect. Warfare is never merely political; it is covenantal. Faithfulness brings protection (Deuteronomy 28:7); idolatry invites לָחֶם inside the walls (Judges 2:14-15). Spiritual reflection • Idolatry breeds conflict. Modern substitutes for God—materialism, self-reliance—still open the gates. See 1 John 5:21. Ministry significance Preaching: Expose how spiritual compromise ushers in conflict. Discipleship: Train believers as soldiers of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Worship: Celebrate God’s past deliverances, nurturing faith amid present battles. Community life: Guard the “gates” of doctrine and practice; unity in truth deters spiritual assault (Philippians 1:27-28). Related terms מִלְחָמָה (Strong’s 4421) war, warfare לָחַם (Strong’s 3898) to fight צָבָא (Strong’s 6635) host, army Though לָחֶם appears only once, its placement in Judges 5:8 flashes a warning light across Scripture: when the heart turns from God, battle is inevitable; when the heart trusts Him, He fights for His people and assures final victory (Romans 8:37; Revelation 19:11-16). Forms and Transliterations לָחֶ֣ם לחם lā·ḥem laChem lāḥemLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Judges 5:8 HEB: חֲדָשִׁ֔ים אָ֖ז לָחֶ֣ם שְׁעָרִ֑ים מָגֵ֤ן NAS: Then war [was] in the gates. KJV: gods; then [was] war in the gates: INT: New Then war the gates A shield |