the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Power
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or Kôach (כּוֹחַ, Strong's #3581), “strength; power; force; ability.” This Hebrew word is used in biblical, rabbinic, and modern Hebrew with little change in meaning. The root is uncertain in Hebrew, but the verb is found in Arabic (wakaha, “batter down,” and kwch, “defeat”). Kôach, which occurs 124 times, is a poetic word as it is used most frequently in the poetic and prophetical literature.
The basic meaning of kôach is an ability to do something. Samson’s “strength” lay in his hair (Judg. 16:5), and we must keep in mind that his “strength” had been demonstrated against the Philistines. Nations and kings exert their “powers” (Josh. 17:17; Dan. 8:24). It is even possible to say that a field has kôach, as it does or does not have vital “powers” to produce and harvest: “When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength [i.e., crops] …” (Gen. 4:12—the first occurrence). In the Old Testament it is recognized that by eating one gains “strength” (1 Sam. 28:22), whereas one loses one’s “abilities” in fasting (1 Sam. 28:20); “And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God” (1 Kings 19:8).
The above definition of kôach fits well in the description of Daniel and his friends: “Children in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability [kôach] in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans” (Dan. 1:4). The “ability” is here not physical but mental. They were talented in having the intellectual acumen of learning the skills of the Babylonians and thus training for being counselors to the king. The internal fortitude was best demonstrated by the difficulties and frustrations of life. A strong man withstood hard times. The proverb bears out this important teaching: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (Prov. 24:10).
A special sense of kôach is the meaning “property.” The results of native “abilities,” the development of special gifts, and the manifestation of one’s “strength” led often to prosperity and riches. Those who returned from the Exile gave willingly out of their riches (kôach) to the building fund of the temple (Ezra 2:69). A proverb warns against adultery, because one’s “strength,” or one’s wealth, may be taken by others: “Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth [kôach]; and thy labors be in the house of a stranger” (Prov. 5:10).
In the Old Testament, God had demonstrated His “strength” to Israel. The language of God’s “strength” is highly metaphorical. God’s right hand gloriously manifests His “power” (Exod. 15:6). His voice is loud: “The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (Ps. 29:4). In His “power,” He delivered Israel from Egypt (Exod. 32:11) and brought them through the Red Sea (Exod. 15:6; cf. Num. 14:13). Even as He advances the rights of the poor and needy (Isa. 50:2), He brought the Israelites as a needy people into the Promised Land with His “power”: “He hath showed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen” (Ps. 111:6). He delights in helping His people; however, the Lord does not tolerate self-sufficiency on man’s part. Isaiah rebuked the king of Assyria for his arrogance in claiming to have been successful in his conquests (10:12-14), and he remarked that the axe (Assyria) should not boast over the one who chops (God) with it (v. 15). Likewise God had warned His people against pride in taking the land of Canaan: “And thou say in thine heart, My power [kôach] and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power [kôach] to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Deut. 8:17-18). The believer must learn to depend upon God and trust in Him: “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).
The Septuagint gives the following translations: ischus (“strength; power; might”) and dunamis (“power; might; strength; force; ability; capability”).
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Power'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/p/power.html. 1940.
