חַ֫יִל
strength
also: might, efficiency, wealth, army fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
69 distinct verses where H2428 appears in the Construct state, across 21 books. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 1 verse
Exodus 5 verses
- Exodus 14:4 חֵיל֔/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh." They did so.
- Exodus 14:9 וְ/חֵיל֑/וֹ conj + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
- Exodus 14:17 חֵיל֔/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.
- Exodus 14:28 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them.
- Exodus 15:4 וְ/חֵיל֖/וֹ conj + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Pharaoh's chariots and his host has he cast into the sea; His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
Numbers 1 verse
Deuteronomy 2 verses
- Deuteronomy 11:4 לְ/חֵ֨יל prep + n c ms cs and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day;
- Deuteronomy 33:11 חֵיל֔/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Bless, Yahweh, his substance, Accept the work of his hands: Smite through the loins of those who rise up against him, Of those who hate him, that they not rise again.
1 Kings 1 verse
2 Kings 3 verses
- 2 Kings 25:1 חֵיל֛/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
- 2 Kings 25:5 חֵיל חֵיל֔/וֹ n c ms cs n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
- 2 Kings 25:10 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs All the army of the Chaldeans, who were [with] the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
1 Chronicles 1 verse
Esther 2 verses
- Esther 1:3 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs in the third year of his reign, he made a feast to all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him;
- Esther 8:11 חֵ֨יל n c ms cs in which the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, [their] little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
Job 4 verses
- Job 5:5 חֵילָֽ/ם n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp Whose harvest the hungry eats up, And take it even out of the thorns; The snare gapes for their substance.
- Job 15:29 חֵיל֑/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.
- Job 20:18 כְּ/חֵ֥יל prep + n c ms cs That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.
- Job 31:25 חֵילִ֑/י n c ms cs + sfx pers 1cs If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;
Psalms 6 verses
- Psalms 33:17 חֵ֝יל֗/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms A horse is a vain thing for safety, Neither does he deliver any by his great power.
- Psalms 49:6 חֵילָ֑/ם n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp Those who trust in their wealth, And boast in the multitude of their riches--
- Psalms 49:10 חֵילָֽ/ם n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp For he sees that wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless perish, And leave their wealth to others.
- Psalms 59:11 בְ֭/חֵילְ/ךָ prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Don't kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.
- Psalms 110:3 חֵ֫ילֶ֥/ךָ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.
- Psalms 136:15 וְ/חֵיל֣/וֹ conj + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; For his loving kindness endures forever:
Proverbs 2 verses
Isaiah 6 verses
- Isaiah 8:4 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.
- Isaiah 10:14 לְ/חֵ֣יל prep + n c ms cs and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped.
- Isaiah 30:6 חֵֽילֵ/הֶ֗ם n c mp cs + sfx pers 3mp The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit [them].
- Isaiah 60:5 חֵ֥יל n c ms cs Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
- Isaiah 60:11 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.
- Isaiah 61:6 חֵ֤יל n c ms cs But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men shall call you the ministers of our God: you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.
Jeremiah 18 verses
- Jeremiah 15:13 חֵילְ/ךָ֧ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Your substance and your treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.
- Jeremiah 17:3 חֵילְ/ךָ֥ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a spoil, [and] your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.
- Jeremiah 32:2 חֵ֚יל n c ms cs Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.
- Jeremiah 34:1 חֵיל֡/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of it, saying:
- Jeremiah 34:7 וְ/חֵ֣יל conj + n c ms cs when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these [alone] remained of the cities of Judah [as] fortified cities.
- Jeremiah 34:21 חֵ֚יל n c ms cs Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have gone away from you.
- Jeremiah 35:11 חֵ֣יל חֵ֣יל n c ms cs n c ms cs But it happened, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we dwell at Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 37:5 וְ/חֵ֥יל conj + n c ms cs Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 37:7 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Thus shall you tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
- Jeremiah 37:10 חֵ֤יל n c ms cs For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
- Jeremiah 37:11 חֵ֣יל חֵ֥יל n c ms cs n c ms cs It happened that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,
- Jeremiah 38:3 חֵ֥יל n c ms cs Thus says Yahweh, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
- Jeremiah 39:1 חֵיל/וֹ֙ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;
- Jeremiah 39:5 חֵיל n c ms cs But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgment on him.
- Jeremiah 46:2 חֵ֨יל n c ms cs Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 52:4 חֵיל/וֹ֙ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
- Jeremiah 52:8 חֵיל חֵיל֔/וֹ n c ms cs n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
- Jeremiah 52:14 חֵ֣יל n c ms cs All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Ezekiel 7 verses
- Ezekiel 26:12 חֵילֵ֗/ךְ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2fs They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters.
- Ezekiel 27:10 בְ/חֵילֵ֔/ךְ prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 2fs Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, your men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in you; they set forth your comeliness.
- Ezekiel 28:5 חֵילֶ֑/ךָ בְּ/חֵילֶֽ/ךָ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms by your great wisdom [and] by your traffic have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches;-
- Ezekiel 29:18 חֵיל֜/וֹ וּ/לְ/חֵיל/וֹ֙ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms conj + prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
- Ezekiel 29:19 לְ/חֵילֽ/וֹ prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
- Ezekiel 32:31 חֵיל֔/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 38:4 חֵילֶ֜/ךָ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
Daniel 1 verse
Joel 2 verses
- Joel 2:22 חֵילָֽ/ם n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp Don't be afraid, you animals of the field; For the pastures of the wilderness spring up, For the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
- Joel 2:25 חֵילִ/י֙ n c ms cs + sfx pers 1cs I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, My great army, which I sent among you.
Obadiah 2 verses
- Obadiah 1:11 חֵיל֑/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.
- Obadiah 1:13 בְ/חֵיל֖/וֹ prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms Don't enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don't look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity.
Micah 1 verse
Habakkuk 1 verse
Zephaniah 1 verse
Zechariah 2 verses
- Zechariah 9:4 חֵילָ֑/הּ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3fs Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, And he will strike her power in the sea; And she will be devoured with fire.
- Zechariah 14:14 חֵ֨יל n c ms cs Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and clothing, in great abundance.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“strength” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun חיל (chayil). Where the King James Version says “army,” newer translations reach for “valor” (unfoldingWord Literal Text); the renderings breakdown has the detail. It appears 221 verses across 31 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its common vocabulary. First canonically at Genesis 34:29, it enters the text early. Beyond “strength” it also covers “might”, “efficiency”, and “wealth” — see its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2428 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 221
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 221 distinct verses.
- 31 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 31 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #204
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 204 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 221 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Jeremiah 29 verses 13%
- 1 Chronicles 26 verses 12%
- 2 Chronicles 21 verses 10%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 221 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 113 verses · 51%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 91 verses · 41%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 17 verses · 8%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Army 35×, Valour 31×, Host 18×
- American Standard Version†: Army 30×, Valor 30×, Forces 13×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Army 72×, Valor 50×, Wealth 26×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Valor 59×, Army 44×, Strength 28×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2428 across 238† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 47 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 5 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H2428 across 237† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 50 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H2428 across 233† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 32 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 10 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2428 across 217† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 18 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. strength, usually physical:
- a. seld. alone (chiefly poet.) 1 S 2:4 ψ 18:33, 40 = 2 S 22:33, 40; also גָּֽבְרוּ ח׳ Jb 21:7, cf. Ec 10:10; מֵחַיִל אֶל־חָ֑יִל ψ 84:8; בְּכֹחַ ח׳ 2 Ch 26:13; of virility Pr 31:3; of י׳’s power ψ 59:12; 110:3, cf. Hb 3:19; strength of horse ψ 33:17; fig. of product of vine and fig-tree Jo 2:22 (‖ פְּרִי). e.g. 1 Samuel 2:4
- b. of result or display of strength עשׂה ח׳ achieve might = do valiantly Nu 24:18 (JE), 1 S 14:48 ψ 60:14 = 108:14, 118:15, 16. e.g. Numbers 24:18
- c. often in phrases גִּבּוֹר(הַ)ח׳, גִּבּוֹרֵי(הַ)ח׳ hero(es) of strength, mighty man (men) of valour Jos 1:14 (D), 6:2; 8:3; 10:7 (all JE), Ju 6:12; 11:1; 1 S 9:1 16:18 1 K 11:28 2 K 5:1; 15:20; 24:14, 16 1 Ch 5:24; 7:2, 9; 8:40 + (very freq. in Ch), note especially הַגִּבּוֹרִים וכל גבורי ח׳ 28:1; also ג׳ ח׳ 2 Ch 13:3 (‖ ג׳ מלחמה); ג׳ (הַ)חֲיָלִים 1 Ch 7:5, 7, 11, 40; 11:26 (v. also גִּבּוֹר, p. 150); בֶּן־(הַ)ח׳, בְּנֵי(הַ)ח׳ Dt 3:18 Ju 18:2 + (v. בֵּן 8, p. 121); אִישׁ ח׳, אַנְשֵׁי ח׳ Ju 3:29; 20:44, 46 1 S 31:12; 2 S 11:16; 23:20; (Qr; Kt חי, on phr. בן־אישׁ חיל cf. Dr) = 1 Ch 11:22 (Kt חיל), 2 S 24:9 Na 2:4 Je 48:14 1 Ch 10:12 Ne 11:6 ψ 76:6; ironical א׳ ח׳ לִמְסֹךְ שֵׁבָר Is 5:22 (‖ גבורים לשׁתות יין); Ec 12:3 metaph. of legs. e.g. Joshua 1:14
- 2. ability, efficiency, often involving moral worth אַנְשֵׁי ח׳ Gn 47:6 (J), Ex 18:21, 25 (both E); of a woman אֵשֶׁת ח׳ Pr 12:4; 31:10 Ru 3:11; cf. 1 K 1:42, 52 (opp. רעה), and especially אַנְשֵׁי ח׳ יִרְאֵי אלהים אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת שׂנְאֵי בָּ֑צַע Ex 18:21 (E); עָשָׂה היל Pr 31:29 do worthily, efficiently, perhaps also Ru 4:11; late (with weakened meaning of גִּבּוֹר) גִּבּוֹרֵי חֵיל מְלֶאכֶת עֲבוֹדַת בֵּית הָאלהים 1 Ch 9:13, cf. אישׁ ח׳ בַּכֹּחַ לַעֲכֹדָה 26:8. So also 1 S 10:26 (read בְּנֵי ח׳, v. 𝔊 We Dr, men of worth, opp. בני בליעל v 27).for MT ח׳ force, band. e.g. Genesis 47:6
- 3. wealth Gn 34:29 Nu 31:9 (both P), Dt 8:17, 18; 33:11 Is 8:4; 10:14; 30:6 (‖ אוֹצְרֹתָם), 60:5 (‖ הֲמוֹן יָם), v 11; 61:6 Mi 4:13 Je 15:13; 17:3 (both ‖ אצרות), Zp 1:13 Ez 26:12; 28:4, 5(×2) Zc 14:14 Jb 5:5; 15:29; 20:15, 18; 31:25 ψ 49:7, 11; 62:11; 73:12 Pr 13:22. e.g. Genesis 34:29
- 4. force, army, very often Ex 14:4, 9, 17, 28 (all P), 15:4 (song), 1 S 17:20; 2 S 8:9 2 K 6:4, 15; 25:1, 5(×2), 10 2 Ch 13:3 (בְּחַיִל גִּבּוֹרֵי מלחמה), 14:7; 16:7; 23:14 +; so usually Jer.: Je 32:2; 34:1 +; freq. Ezek.: Ez 17:17; 27:10 +; Dn 11:7, 13, 25(×2), 26; = a band 1 S 10:26 (MT, but v. 2, ad fin.); of queen’s train ח׳ כָּבֵד 1 K 10:2 = 2 Ch 9:1; חֵיל כָּבֵד Is 36:2 = 2 K 18:17 (var. חַיִל) a powerful army (on form cf. Sta§ 194 c); also (late) חֵיל הַצָּבָא 1 Ch 20:1 2 Ch 26:13, חֵיל עָם Est 8:11; הֲמוֹן חֲיָלִים Dn 11:10; שַׂר־הח׳ 2 S 24:2 captain of the host, שָׂרֵי הח׳ v 4, 4; שָׂרֵי הַחֲיָלִים captains of armies (bands, divisions) 1 K 15:20 = 2 Ch 16:4, 2 K 25:23 Je 40:7, 13; 41:11, 13, 16; 42:1, 8; 43:4, 5; פִּקּוּדֵי החיל Nu 31:14 (P).—חֵילוֹ Ez 32:31 om. B Hi Co; for חֵילֵךְ Ez 27:11 read prob. a n.pr.loc., cf. Da; Co proposes חתלון (cf. 47:15; 48:1), HalMél. Epigr. 1874, 69 חלך = Cilicia, v. LagM i, 211. e.g. Exodus 14:4
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.m. 2 K 10:2 strength, efficiency, wealth, army;—abs. ח׳ Gn 47:6 +, חָ֑יִל ψ 60:14 +, חָ֑יִל ψ 60:14 +, חֵיל Is 36:2 2 K 18:17; cstr. חֵיל Ex 14:28 + (on ψ 10:10 v. חלכה); sf. חֵילִי Jb 31:25 + 2 times; חֵילְךָ Je 15:13 +; חֵילוֹ Ex 14:4 +, etc.; pl. חֲיָלִים 1 Ch 7:5 + 19 times; sf. חֵילֵיהֶם Is 30:6;—
I. v. sub I. II. חול supr.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from חול (chûwl) (H2342) — to writhe.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
חַיִל
- , v. חַיִיל.—בְּרוֹר חַ׳, v. בְּרוֹר.
חֵיל I
- (חוּל, v. חַיִיל) surrounding, esp. Ḥel, a place within the fortification of the Temple. Midd. I, 5. Snh. 88ᵇ. Par. III, 11; Targ. Y. Num. XIX, 9; a. fr.
חִיל
- , Pa. חַיֵּיל, חַיֵּל (denom. of חֵילָא)
- 1. to strengthen. Targ. Job IV, 4. Ib. XVI, 5 (incorr. ed. אאח׳); a. e.
- 2. to serve. Targ. Num. IV, 23; a. e.
- 1. to be strengthened. Targ. Job VI, 16; a. fr.
- 2. to move into war, to gather together. Targ. Num. XXXI, 7. Targ. Job X, 17 (some ed. מתייחל׳, corr. acc.).
חֵיל II
- (v. חַיִל)
- 1. (adj.) strong. Targ. Job VIII, 2 Ms. (ed. רַבָּא). Keth. 62ᵃ דחיל מר כולי האי Ar. ed. Koh. (Var. דחֵילָא דמר; ed. דהכי) that you are so strong (that such is your strength).
- 2. (noun) strength. Targ. Job XX, 11 (ed. Lag. חִיּוּל׳; some ed. חֲיָיל׳). Targ. Prov. V, 10; a. fr.—Keth. 62ᵃ, v. supra. Y. B. Mets. IV, beg. 9ᶜ עד דהוה חֵילָךְ עלך while thou wast yet in thy strength (of manhood). Y. Yeb. IV, 6ᵇ לית בחֲיָילִי I cannot do it. B. Mets. 84ᵃ חילך לאורייתא give thy physical strength to the study of the Law; a. fr.—Trnsf. logical support, evidence, argument. Y. Pes. V, 32ᵃ top נסיב חֲיָילֵיה מן וכ׳ borrowed his argument from &c. Y. Maasr. I, 49ᵇ top; a. e.
- 3. army, host; service. Targ. Num. I, 3; a. fr.—Targ. Ps. LXVIII, 12 Ms. (ed. חֵילְוַת).—Pl. חֵילַיָּא, constr. חֵילֵי; חֵילְוָתָא, constr. חֵילְוַת. Targ. Ex. XII, 41. Targ. I Kings XXII, 19; a. fr.—Targ. Ps. XXXIII, 16; a. fr. Targ. II Esth. I, 4 ed. Amst. חֶלְוָתָא. Targ. Ps. XLIV, 10 ed. Lag. חֵילְוָתָנָא (oth. ed. חֵילְוָנָא, חַלְוָנָא).—Ḥull. 60ᵃ נפישן חֵילְוָותֵיה (not נפישי) his troops are too numerous.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 99 distinct written forms H2428 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 39 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2428, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- חוילה Chăvîylâh H2341 Havilah
- חול Chûwl H2343 Hul
- חלחול Chalchûwl H2478 Halhul
- חילם Chêylâm H2431 Helam
- חילן Chîylên H2432 Hilen
- חלן Chêlôn H2497 Helon
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 15 — not the complete family. 6 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 207 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 221 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 34:29
- Exodus 14:4
- Numbers 24:18
- Deuteronomy 3:18
- Joshua 1:14
- Judges 3:29
- Ruth 2:1
- 1 Samuel 2:4
- 2 Samuel 2:7
- 1 Kings 1:42
- 2 Kings 2:16
- 1 Chronicles 5:18
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
