What Does 1 Chronicles 11:26 Mean?

Also the mighty men of the army were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

1 Chronicles 11:26 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

Also the valiant men of the armies were, Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,

THE KEY

The “valiant” are named from the root for prevailing, and this roster places that force inside human relationships and a home.

THE MEANING

The verse meets you with strength embodied in names, kinship, and place, rather than as a quality floating free of life. Asahel (⁨עֲשָׂה־אֵל⁩, ʿAsaʾel: “God has made”) is a brother; Elhanan (⁨אֶלְחָנָן⁩, ʾElḥanan: “God is gracious”) is a son; Dodo (⁨דּוֹדוֹ⁩, Dodo: “his beloved”) is his father; and Bethlehem (⁨בֵּית־לֶחֶם⁩, Bēṯ-Leḥem: “house of bread”) is home.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that strength is self-contained and self-made does not fit this line: the men are identified through a brother, a father, and a home.

THE ROOT

גִּבּוֹרֵי

gibborey

GROWS FROM

גבר

g-b-r

To be strong, prevail, overcome.

English can make “valiant” sound like a settled character trait. Hebrew keeps the word tied to prevailing: the verse names a capacity that exerts force, not merely a temperament.

ALSO GROWS

gavar: To prevail; to grow strong.

גָּבַר

This verb describes the waters that prevail in Genesis 7:18, showing that the root names active force, not only a human virtue.

gevurah: Might, strength.

גְּבוּרָה

This noun names the strength carried by the mighty men in the verse.

gibbor: Mighty one, warrior.

גִּבּוֹר

This is the singular noun behind the verse’s plural, naming a person by the capacity to prevail.

THE PATTERN

Scripture presents might as a power to prevail that can surge in creation, be recognized in a person, or be found in the Lord.

And the waters grew mighty and multiplied greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 7:18 · SDVThe same root behind “valiant” describes water that prevails, showing that the word family can name force itself, not only courageous people.

And the messenger of the LORD let himself be seen by him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of strength.

Judges 6:12 · SDVThe same word-family names a person as mighty, echoing the roster’s description of its fighters.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the grip of his strength.

Ephesians 6:10 · SDVThis verse locates strength in the Lord, presenting might as a power with a source rather than an isolated trait.

THE THREAD

And the messenger of the LORD let himself be seen by him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of strength.

Judges 6:12 · SDV

Judges 6:12 uses ⁨גִּבּוֹר⁩ (gibbor, “mighty one”) for “mighty man of valour,” echoing the same root that names these men “valiant.” It joins the strength-word to “The LORD is with thee,” placing might beside presence rather than leaving it as a free-standing label.

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