📖 Biblical Definition
A battle cry is the shout raised by an army at the moment of engagement. Israel's battle cries were sung: Jericho's walls fell at the shout (Josh 6); Gideon's 300 cried the sword of the LORD, and of Gideon; Jehoshaphat's singers preceded the army into battle. The kingdom's battle cry is in our hymns; the saints have always sung at the engagement.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Composite.) The shout raised by an army at the moment of engagement; a rallying call.
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Webster: cry — “to call earnestly; to exclaim; to shout.”
Israel's battle cries were typically theological: the sword of the LORD, and of Gideon (Judg 7:20); the shout at Jericho (Josh 6:20); Jehoshaphat's singers (2 Chron 20:21-22) led the army — the battle was prefaced by song.
📖 Key Scripture
Joshua 6:20 — "So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets... and the wall fell down flat."
Judges 7:20 — "And they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon."
2 Chronicles 20:21 — "He appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army."
Psalm 47:1 — "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often whispers when it should shout; Scripture commands the battle cry as part of holy war and the worship that wins it.
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2 Chronicles 20 is the great template: Jehoshaphat sets singers before the army, praising the beauty of holiness, and the LORD ambushes the enemies. The battle cry was sung; the praise itself was the engagement.
The Christian household's hymns are battle cries. A Mighty Fortress, Onward Christian Soldiers, How Firm a Foundation — these are not decorations. They are the shouts the saints raise on the morning of engagement. Sing them out.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew teru'ah (a great shout) and rua (to raise a war-cry) are the foundational terms.
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Hebrew teru'ah — battle-shout, war-cry, also festal blast of the trumpet.
Hebrew rua — to raise a shout; the verb at Jericho.
Usage
"The battle cry was sung; the praise itself was the engagement."
"Christian hymns are battle cries; sing them out."
"The wall fell when the people shouted."