3901. lachem
Lexical Summary
lachem: Bread, food

Original Word: לָחֶם
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: lachem
Pronunciation: lah-khem
Phonetic Spelling: (law-khem')
NASB: war
Word Origin: [from H3898 (לָחַם - To fight), battle]

1. war

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
war

From lacham, battle -- war.

see HEBREW lacham

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from 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).
2. Divine Warrior motif. Exodus 15:3 calls the LORD “a warrior.” He can both stir up and still the battle. The rare noun underscores that the real contest is between faithfulness and rebellion.
3. Corporate responsibility. Judges 5 contrasts tribes that volunteered (Naphtali and Zebulun) with those that stayed home. God’s people rise and fall together.

Spiritual reflection

• Idolatry breeds conflict. Modern substitutes for God—materialism, self-reliance—still open the gates. See 1 John 5:21.
• Readiness is essential. The lament “not a shield or spear was seen” anticipates Paul’s call to “put on the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11).
• Victory is the Lord’s. David’s confession, “The battle is the LORD’s” (1 Samuel 17:47), and the cross where Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities” (Colossians 2:15) anchor Christian confidence.

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 lāḥem
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Englishman'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

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 3901
1 Occurrence


lā·ḥem — 1 Occ.

3900
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