Greek word · G6070

παρεμβάλλω

paremballō

to encamp

To put in beside, insert. In military use: to draw up in battle order, to set up camp, to encamp. In the Greek Old Testament it is the usual verb for an army 'encamping' (translating Hebrew ḥānāh), often 'encamping against' a city.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

1. to put in beside, insert, interpolate, interpose , τι (Aristophanes Comicus); π. ὑποψίας to insinuate suspicions, (Aeschines Orator)

2. to put the auxiliaries in line with the legionaries, (Polybius Historicus)

3. intransitive to fall into line, to encamp , (Polybius Historicus) (ML)

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 Luke 19:43

Range of meaning

To put in beside, insert. In military use: to draw up in battle order, to set up camp, to encamp. In the Greek Old Testament it is the usual verb for an army 'encamping' (translating Hebrew ḥānāh), often 'encamping against' a city.

Against the English

English versions render it 'set up', 'throw up' or 'build'. These are accurate, but they lose the overtone of an army arriving and settling in for a long stay. KJV 'cast' translates a different verb (περιβάλλω) found in later manuscripts.

Used elsewhere in the period

Very common in the Greek Old Testament for armies encamping (e.g. 1 Sam 4:1; 2 Kgs 25:1 of Nebuchadnezzar 'encamping against' Jerusalem). The related noun παρεμβολή means 'camp' or 'barracks' (Acts 21:34; Heb 13:11). The extended Strong's number G6070 exists because the original Strong's, keyed to the Textus Receptus, listed only περιβάλλω (G4016) here.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 19:43 παρεμβαλοῦσιν will cast around

    For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

    Here: 'They will throw up'. The verb is related to παρεμβολή, 'army camp', and in the Greek Old Testament it often means 'to encamp' against a city. It pictures an army settling in and building.

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