Hebrew word · H4634

מַעֲרָכָה

ma'arakhah

rank

'Something set in order, a row or arrangement.' Most often it means a battle line, an army drawn up in formation. It comes from the verb ʿārak, 'to arrange, set in order, draw up', which is also used of laying out wood on the altar or setting out the bread of the Presence.

Appears 19 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) row, rank, battle-line

1a) battle-line

1b) rank

1c) row

Also means: ma.a.rah (מַעֲרָה "army" H4630)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Samuel 17:10

Range of meaning

'Something set in order, a row or arrangement.' Most often it means a battle line, an army drawn up in formation. It comes from the verb ʿārak, 'to arrange, set in order, draw up', which is also used of laying out wood on the altar or setting out the bread of the Presence. The noun can also mean the row of lamps 'set in order' in the sanctuary (Exod 39:37).

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'armies', while BSB, YLT and many modern versions say 'ranks'. 'Armies' suggests a whole military organisation. The Hebrew pictures something more concrete: soldiers standing in lines, facing the enemy.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is concentrated in the battle stories of 1 Samuel 4 and 17. In this chapter the verb and noun appear together: Israel and the Philistines 'drew up, battle line against battle line' (17:21; cf. 17:2, 8). The Septuagint uses parataxis, 'battle array'.

From the study of 1 Samuel 17:26

Range of meaning

Something arranged in order; in war, a battle line or rank of troops drawn up for combat. It comes from the root 'arakh, "to set in order, lay out". The same root is used for setting the bread in rows in the sanctuary (Lev 24:6–8) and laying wood on the altar (Gen 22:9).

Against the English

"Armies" (KJV, BSB, NIV, ESV) is acceptable, but it loses the picture of two lines facing each other across the valley. YLT's "ranks" is closer.

Used elsewhere in the period

The root runs through the chapter: the Philistines and Israel "drew up" their lines (17:2, 8); "Israel and the Philistines drew up line against line" (17:21); David runs "to the battle line" (17:22, 48). Goliath's taunt in 17:10 names "the ranks of Israel" (ma'arkhot Yisra'el).

From the study of 1 Samuel 17:36

Range of meaning

Something set out in order: a row or arrangement. In war, a battle line or a drawn-up rank of soldiers. It comes from the verb ʿārak, 'to arrange, set in order', which is also used for drawing up for battle (v. 8) and, in worship, for laying out rows of bread or wood on the altar (Lev 24:6; Gen 22:9).

Against the English

KJV, NIV, ESV, BSB and WEB say 'armies'; YLT 'ranks'. 'Armies' is not wrong, but it loses the visible picture of men standing in formation and suggests a large abstract force or even heavenly hosts.

How it drifted

English Bibles since the KJV have made it general ('armies'), and the phrase 'armies of the living God' has sometimes been heard in hymns and sermons as a spiritual or angelic army.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 17:8, 10, 21 ('Israel and the Philistines drew up battle line against battle line'), 17:26, 45; 4:2; 1 Chr 12:38.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 39:37 הַמַּֽעֲרָכָ֖ה the row

    the pure gold lampstand with its row of lamps and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light;

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 6:26 בַּמַּֽעֲרָכָ֑ה in the row

    Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”

1 Samuel · 16

  1. 1 Samuel 4:2 בַמַּֽעֲרָכָה֙ in the battle line

    The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

  2. 1 Samuel 4:12 מֵהַמַּ֣עֲרָכָ֔ה from the battle line

    That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

  3. 1 Samuel 4:16 הַמַּעֲרָכָ֔ה הַמַּעֲרָכָ֖ה the battle line

    “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

  4. 1 Samuel 17:8 מַעַרְכֹ֣ת [the] battle lines of

    And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.

  5. 1 Samuel 17:10 מַעַרְכ֥וֹת [the] battle lines of

    Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

    Here: The lines of soldiers 'set in order' for battle, here Israel's troops drawn up on their hillside facing the Philistine line across the valley (vv. 2–3, 21). The plural is the whole formation. David picks up the same word when he calls them 'the ranks of the living God' (vv. 26, 36).

  6. 1 Samuel 17:20 הַמַּ֣עֲרָכָ֔ה the battle line

    So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry.

  7. 1 Samuel 17:21 מַעֲרָכָ֖ה מַעֲרָכָֽה׃ battle line

    And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other.

  8. 1 Samuel 17:22 הַמַּעֲרָכָ֑ה the battle line

    Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing.

  9. 1 Samuel 17:23 מִמַּעַרְכ֣וֹת from [the] battle lines of

    And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the ranks of the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard.

  10. 1 Samuel 17:26 מַעַרְכ֖וֹת [the] battle lines of

    David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

    Here: The ranks drawn up in order across the valley. The word means the lined-up formations rather than "armies" in general.

  11. 1 Samuel 17:36 מַעַרְכֹ֖ת [the] battle lines of

    Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

    Here: 'The battle lines of': the actual drawn-up ranks of Israel's men on the slope facing the Philistines across the valley (v. 21).

  12. 1 Samuel 17:45 מַעַרְכ֥וֹת [the] battle lines of

    But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

    Here: The ranks drawn up in order for battle. These are the actual Israelite lines facing the Philistines across the valley, the ones Goliath had mocked for forty days.

  13. 1 Samuel 17:48 הַמַּעֲרָכָ֖ה the battle line

    As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

  14. 1 Samuel 23:3 מַֽעַרְכ֖וֹת [the] battle lines of

    But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 12:38 מַעֲרָכָה֒ a battle line

    All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

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