Greek word · G497
ἀντιστρατεύομαι
antistrateuomai
to wage war against
"To take the field against, wage a campaign against." It is built from anti (against) and strateuomai (to serve as a soldier, go on campaign). The word is rare, and this is its only use in the New Testament.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
"To take the field against, wage a campaign against." It is built from anti (against) and strateuomai (to serve as a soldier, go on campaign). The word is rare, and this is its only use in the New Testament.
- Against the English
"Warring against" (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) and "waging war" (ESV, NASB, NIV) are accurate. The Greek is more specifically about an army campaigning, not just a quarrel.
- Used elsewhere in the period
BDAG cites Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.8.26, for the military sense. The simple verb strateuomai is used of desires in James 4:1 and 1 Peter 2:11 ("fleshly desires, which wage war against the soul"), so early Christian writers shared the picture of desire as an army.
Where it appears
Romans · 1
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Romans 7:23 ἀντιστρατευόμενον warring against
But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
Here: "Campaigning against, marching out against." This is a soldier's word for an army in the field against an enemy. The present participle shows the campaign still going on.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.