Strong's Number: H4264
Original Word: mahaneh
Usage Notes: "camp; encampment; host." This noun derived from the verb hanâ occurs 214 times in the Bible, most frequently in the Pentateuch and in the historical books. The word is rare in the poetical and prophetic literature.
Those who travel were called "campers," or in most versions (kjv, rsv, nasb) a "company" or "group" (niv), as in Gen 32:8. Naaman stood before Elisha "with all his company" (2Kings 5:15 nasb, neb, "retinue"). Travelers, tradesmen, and soldiers spent much time on the road. They all set up "camp" for the night.
Jacob "encamped" by the Jabbok with his retinue (Gen 32:10). The name Mahanaim (Gen 32:2, "camps") owes its origin to Jacob's experience with the angels. He called the place Mahanaim in order to signify that it was God's "camp" (Gen 32:2), as he had spent the night "in the camp" (Gen 32:21) and wrestled with God (Gen 32:24). Soldiers also established "camps" by the city to be conquered (Ezek 4:2).
Usage of mahaneh varies according to context. First, it signifies a nation set over against another (Exod 14:20). Second, the word refers to a division concerning the Israelites; each of the tribes had a special "encampment" in relation to the tent of meeting (Num 1:52). Third, the word "camp" is used to describe the whole people of Israel: "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled" (Exod 19:16).
God was present in the "camp" of Israel: "For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he See no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee" (Deut 23:14). As a result, sin could not be tolerated within the camp, and the sinner might have to be stoned outside the camp (Num 15:35).
The Septuagint translated mahaneh by the Greek parembole ("camp; barracks; army") 193 times. Compare these Old Testament occurrences with the use of "camp" in Hebrews 13:11: "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp."
In the English versions, the word is variously translated "camp; company; army" (kjv, rsv, nasb, niv); "host" (kjv); "attendances; forces" (niv).
