FW-H6635 (army)
צָבָא(ṣāḇā)
A root, the verb ṣᵊḇā (H6633), is less prevalent than ṣāḇā, the noun form. It is often rendered as the archaic “host” after the KJV popularized it, and another common English translation is “army.” But this creates some issues with consistency. Clarity might be found in the fact that between ṣᵊḇā and ṣāḇā in Strong’s Concordance is ṣᵊḇâ (H6634), a verb that means to call forth or desire. A few dictionaries suggest “serve/servant,” but it may be best to think of it as “assemble/assembly.”
Occurrences
The first occurrence describes “the heavens and the earth, and all their ṣāḇā.” (Gen.2:1) Another, with the verb, is applied to “the ṣᵊḇā women who ṣᵊḇā at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” (Ex.38:8) The verb only appears in twelve verses, but the noun occurs almost 500 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Numbers uses it more than 50 times, many in reference to the Israelite clans and their organization. Another concentration can be found in the prophetic literature, Isaiah and Zechariah in particular. In Joshua, despite what is considered a military campaign, the word appears just five times. Some noteworthy examples include:
Exodus 12:17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your ṣāḇā out of the land of Egypt.
Numbers 8:24 This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall ṣᵊḇā in the service of the tent of meeting.
Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the ṣāḇā or be liable for any other public duty.
Conclusion
Some translators go so far as to render ṣāḇā as “war,” but this is not borne out by the text, which reserves milḥāmâ for that purpose. (see FW-H4421) The word denotes, rather, the act of assembling, whether for war, civil service, census, or other civic duties. The modern “All Volunteer Force” is a historical anomaly, and armies have usually been little more than the sum total of those citizens eligible for service.
More H6633 & H6635
Exodus
6:26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their ṣāḇā.”
7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my ṣāḇā, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
12:41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the ṣāḇā of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
12:51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their ṣāḇā.
Numbers
2:32 These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers’ houses. All those listed in the camps by their ṣāḇā were 603,550.
26:2 Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all in Israel who are able to ṣāḇā.
31:42 From the people of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had ṣᵊḇā…
Deuteronomy
4:19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the ṣāḇā of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
17:3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the ṣāḇā of heaven, which I have forbidden,
20:9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then ṣāḇā shall be appointed at the head of the people.
Joshua
4:13 About 40,000 ready for ṣāḇā passed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho.
5:14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the ṣāḇā of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”
22:12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make ṣāḇā against them.
