What Does 1 Chronicles 11:10 Mean?
These also are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who held fast with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.THE KEY
Kingship here is a shared act: the mighty become strong beside David, the “beloved”, and their strength helps bring the king into being.
THE MEANING
Strength is relational: these people make themselves strong alongside David, and the whole community’s force gives his kingship public form. The ruler’s authority is measured against the LORD’s word concerning Israel, not only against the ruler’s own power.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that a ruler creates authority alone; kingship here is carried by companions and measured against a word concerning the people.
THE ROOT
הַמִּתְחַזְּקִים
hammitḥazzəqîm
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be or become strong, firm, able to prevail.
“held fast” in this verse is hammitḥazzəqîm. The form is reflexive: these chiefs strengthen themselves, and they do it עִמּוֹ (ʿimmô, with him), not in isolation. The same root can describe being strong, prevailing, or making something firm, so the Hebrew presents strength as something enacted beside another person.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong; prevail.
חָזַק
This basic form shares the same seed as “strengthened,” linking the chiefs’ action to the wider idea of becoming strong enough to stand or prevail.
ḥizzēq: Strengthen; make firm; repair.
חִזֵּק
The root can also describe reinforcing what is weak, showing strength as support that helps something hold together.
דָּוִד
dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved; the name carries the sense “beloved.”
David’s name is connected to the Hebrew family of belovedness. The mighty ones’ strength gathers with the “beloved,” so the verse places kingship within a bond of attachment and allegiance.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved; also uncle.
דּוֹד
This noun makes the name’s sense audible: David is more than a label in the line; his name carries the undertone “beloved.”
dōdîm: Love; expressions of affection.
דּוֹדִים
This related form appears for love and affection, extending the name’s connection from a person to a bond between people.
לְהַמְלִיכוֹ
lehamlikhô
GROWS FROM
מלך
To reign or be king; in a causative form, to make someone king.
“Make him king” and “his kingdom” share the same מלך root. English separates the act of making a king from the realm that follows, while Hebrew holds them in one word-family: kingship takes shape through an act that establishes rule.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King.
מֶלֶךְ
This is the person named by the act in the verse: the mighty men join Israel to make David king.
malkût: Kingship; kingdom; rule.
מַלְכוּת
This branch names the realm or rule that grows from the same root as “make him king,” joining the ruler and his public authority.
THE PATTERN
A common purpose becomes visible when many people bring their strength to sustain it.
But Moses' hands were heavy. And they took a stone and set it under him, and he sat upon it. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on this side and the other on that side, and his hands were steady until the sun went down.In the loosing of locks in Israel, when the people freely give themselves, bless the LORD.For as the body is one, and has many limbs, and all the limbs of the body, though many, are one body, so also is the Anointed One.THE THREAD
Hold fast and be firm. Do not fear, and do not quake before them. For the LORD your God is the one who walks with you. He will not release you, nor leave you.“Be strong” is חִזְקוּ (ḥizqû, be strong), from the same חזק (ḥ-z-q, be strong or prevail) root as “strengthened” here. In Deuteronomy the word addresses a people; here that same strength gathers beside David as shared allegiance.
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