Machaira denotes a weapon used or carried for striking and killing, and in several passages frames conflict, threat, or figurative division.

The term most often denotes a carried or used weapon: it is drawn, wielded, carried by arresting crowds, or associated with killing and armed conflict. A smaller group of passages uses it within figurative statements about division, the word of God, peril, or governing punishment, while Revelation 13:14 refers to a wound associated with such a weapon.

1. Weapon in armed action, killing, or arrest · dominant

   The noun occurs in clauses of armed action: in Acts 16:27 the APB renders the jailer as drawing it before intending self-killing, and in John 18:10 it renders Peter as drawing it, striking a slave, and cutting off an ear. Plural forms identify weapons carried by crowds in Mark 14:43 and Matthew 26:47, while Acts 12:2 and Hebrews 11:37 place the singular in killing clauses.

   Acts 12:2Acts 16:27John 18:10Mark 14:43Matthew 26:47Hebrews 11:37
2. Figure of division, penetrating speech, or danger · occasional

   In Matthew 10:34 the accusative singular stands in the contrast between bringing peace and bringing a sword. In Hebrews 4:12 the APB renders the word of God as sharper than a double-edged sword and penetrating to division; Ephesians 6:17 similarly joins the accusative singular to “the word of God.” Romans 8:35 includes the nominative singular among hardships posed as possible threats.

   Matthew 10:34Hebrews 4:12Ephesians 6:17Romans 8:35
3. Emblem of punitive or violent power · occasional

   Romans 13:4 uses the accusative singular in the statement that God's servant does not bear it in vain and acts as an avenger against evil. In Revelation 6:4 a great sword is given to the rider in a scene where peace is taken from the earth and people slaughter one another; Revelation 13:10 places it in the repeated clause about being killed with the sword.

   Romans 13:4Revelation 6:4Revelation 13:10
4. Weapon-associated wound · rare

   In Revelation 13:14, the genitive singular occurs in the description of the wild animal “which has the wound of the sword and lived.” The clause associates the noun with the kind of wound, rather than with someone carrying or using the weapon.

   Revelation 13:14

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB consistently presents the noun with “sword” language, whether it is drawn, carried, used in killing, or named in a figurative comparison. Its surrounding wording confirms the clause-level setting rather than establishing every nuance of the term.