Greek word · G4170

πολεμέω

polemeō

to fight

Polemos means war, a battle or a campaign between organised forces. Polemeō means to wage war or to fight as a combatant. In biblical Greek, polemeō meta + a person ('fight with') is a Hebrew-style idiom (from Hebrew nilḥam ʿim) meaning to fight against someone.

Appears 7 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

πολεμέω, -ῶ

(πόλεμος), [in LXX chiefly for לָחַם ni. ;]

to make war, fight: Revelation 12:7 b Revelation 19:11; before μετά (2 Samuel 21:15 and see M, Pr., 106, 247), Revelation 2:16 12:7 a Revelation 13:4 17:14; hyperb., of private quarrels, James 4:2.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 12:7

Range of meaning: Polemos means war, a battle or a campaign between organised forces. Polemeō means to wage war or to fight as a combatant. In biblical Greek, polemeō meta + a person ('fight with') is a Hebrew-style idiom (from Hebrew nilḥam ʿim) meaning to fight against someone.
Against the English: 'Fought against' (KJV, NIV, BSB) gets the hostility right. A literal 'with' (as in NASB's 'waging war with') can sound like an alliance to an English ear, but the Greek idiom only means against. 'Fought back' (NIV, BSB) for the dragon's verb adds a sense of response that the Greek implies but does not state.
Used elsewhere in the period: LXX uses polemeō for Israel's wars and for God as warrior (Exod 14:14; Deut 1:30). Revelation uses the root for Christ against false teachers (2:16), the beast against the saints (11:7; 13:7), and the Lamb against the kings (17:14; 19:11). The Qumran War Scroll (1QM) imagines a final war fought together by angelic and human armies.

From the study of James 4:2

Range of meaning: To make war or fight, used of armies and also figuratively of bitter conflict between people. It is paired here with μάχομαι (machomai), 'to fight, quarrel, do battle'.
Against the English: KJV and WEB: 'fight and war / make war'; BSB: 'quarrel and fight'; NIV and ESV soften it to quarrel-and-fight language. The softer versions read naturally but lose the military image and the verbal link to 4:1.
Used elsewhere in the period: In 4:1 James asks 'Where do wars (polemoi) and fights (machai) among you come from?' and answers that they come from 'your pleasures that wage war (strateuomenōn, a military verb) in your members.' Here he turns both nouns into verbs. Greek philosophers made the same point: Plato says wars come from the desire for wealth driven by the body (Phaedo 66c).

From the study of Revelation 17:14

Range of meaning: To wage war, fight, or do battle. With meta ('with') followed by the opponent, it means 'fight against'. This copies Hebrew nilḥam ʿim, 'fight with' meaning 'fight against'.
Against the English: KJV and YLT keep 'make war with the Lamb', which modern readers can take to mean 'alongside the Lamb'. BSB, WEB, NIV and NASB say 'against'. ESV says 'make war on'.
How it drifted: In older English 'war with X' meant war against X, as it still does in 'at war with France'. But 'with' on its own now most often means 'together with', so the KJV wording can confuse.
Used elsewhere in the period: Greek 1 Samuel 17:33 ('to fight with him', meaning against Goliath). In Revelation: 2:16 ('I will make war with them with the sword of my mouth'), 12:7 (Michael and his angels fight 'with' the dragon), 13:4 ('who can make war with it?'). Ordinary Greek would normally use a different construction (the dative case or pros), so this is one of Revelation's many Hebrew-style turns of phrase.

Where it appears

James · 1

James 4:2 πολεμεῖτε· wrangle;

You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Here: To make war. It repeats the 'wars/conflicts' (polemoi) of 4:1. The community's internal strife is described with the vocabulary of a battlefield.

Revelation · 6

Revelation 2:16 πολεμήσω I will make war

Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Here: Future: 'I will make war'. This is battle language, not a scolding. Revelation uses the same verb for the dragon and the beast fighting God's people, and for the Lamb's victory (12:7; 13:4; 17:14; 19:11).
Revelation 12:7 πολεμῆσαι ἐπολέμησεν to war, warred [back]

Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

Here: An infinitive ('to fight') with a subject in the wrong case for normal Greek. It most likely copies a Hebrew way of speaking that means 'Michael and his angels were to fight' or 'set out to fight'. Michael's side starts the battle.
Revelation 13:4 πολεμῆσαι to make war

They worshiped the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?”

Here: To go to war, to take up arms against someone. Revelation uses the same verb for Michael's war on the dragon (12:7) and for the Lamb's war (17:14; 19:11).
Revelation 17:14 πολεμήσουσιν, war will make,

They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”

Here: Future tense, real military language. It looks ahead to the gathering for battle in 16:14–16 and the battle described in 19:19.
Revelation 19:11 πολεμεῖ· makes war;

Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.

Here: "He makes war." Also present tense, describing what he does. In Revelation the dragon and beast "make war" on the saints (12:17; 13:7), and now the rightful King makes war on them, with the sword that comes from his mouth (2:16; 19:15, 21).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.