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Hebrew

Strength

חַ֫יִלStrong’s H2428

chayil (cha-yil)

Appears in 231 verses of the Old Testament

In short

Chayil is the Hebrew word usually translated “strength”, “army of” and “ability”. It appears in 231 verses of the Old Testament.

“But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:”
Daniel 11:7 KJV
Meaning
  1. Strength, might, efficiency, wealth, armystrength · ability, efficiency · wealth · force, army
  2. § Helech = "your army"
How it's translated
  • strength 75
  • army of 24
  • ability 16
  • the armies 13
  • army his 12
  • an army 10
  • the army 9
  • wealth 9

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Jeremiah 29
  • 1 Chronicles 28
  • 2 Chronicles 23
  • Psalms 18
  • 2 Kings 16
  • Ezekiel 12

31 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 231 verses, by book
Genesis 2
34:2947:6
Ezra 1
8:22
Nehemiah 4
2:94:211:611:14
Esther 2
1:38:11
Ecclesiastes 2
10:1012:3
Obadiah 2
1:111:13
Micah 1
4:13
Nahum 1
2:3
Habakkuk 1
3:19
Zephaniah 1
1:13
Zechariah 3
4:69:414:14
Hebrew dictionary

חַ֫יִל chayil · strength

: soldiers/army 1) strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army 1a) strength 1b) ability, efficiency 1c) wealth 1d) force, army

חֵילֵךְ chelek · Helech

§ Helech = "your army" a place near Arvad and Gammad

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “strength” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

STRENGTH, noun

[See Strong.]

  1. That property or quality of an animal body by which it is enabled to move itself or other bodies.
  2. Firmness; solidity or toughness; the quality of bodies by which they sustain the application of force without breaking or yielding.
  3. Power or vigor of any kind.
  4. Power of resisting attacks; fastness; as the strength of a castle or fort.
All definitions and other forms of “strength”
  1. Support; that which supports; that which supplies strength; security.“God is our refuge and strength” Psalms 46:1
  2. Power of mind; intellectual force; the power of any faculty; as strength of memory; strength of reason; strength of judgment.
  3. Spirit; animation.
  4. Force of writing; vigor; nervous diction.
  5. Vividness; as strength of colors or coloring.
  6. Spirit; the quality of any liquor which has the power of affecting the taste, or of producing sensible effects on other bodies; as the strength of wine or spirit; the strength of an acid.
  7. The virtue or spirit of any vegetable, or of its juices or qualities.
  8. Legal or moral force; validity; the quality of binding, uniting or securing; as the strength of social or legal obligations; the strength of law; the strength of public opinion or custom.
  9. Vigor; natural force; as the strength of natural affection.
  10. That which supports; confidence.
  11. Amount of force, military or naval; an army or navy; number of troops or ships well appointed.
  12. Soundness; force; the quality that convinces, persuades or commands assent; as the strength of an argument or of reasoning; the strength of evidence.
  13. Vehemence; force proceeding from motion and proportioned to it; as the strength of wind or a current of water.
  14. Degree of brightness or vividness; as the strength of light.
  15. Fortification; fortress; as an inaccessible strength [Not in use.]
  16. Support; maintenance of power.

STRENGTH, verb intransitive

To strengthen. [Not in use.]

    Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

    Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.