What Does 1 Chronicles 26:30 Mean?
And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of strength, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward, in all the work of the LORD, and in serving the king.
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
And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.THE KEY
The verse places the LORD’s work and the king’s service within one field of entrusted responsibility.
THE MEANING
Your strength can become trusted capacity, placed into work that serves others. The verse holds the LORD’s work and service to the king within one life of responsibility, where devotion and public duty meet in actual labor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that work devoted to God and work in public life belong in sealed-off parts of life: the verse names them together within one charge.
THE ROOT
עֲבֹדַת
ʿavodat
GROWS FROM
עבד
To serve, work, or labor.
“serving” in this verse is ʿavodat. עֲבֹדָה (ʿavodah, service or work) comes from עבד (ʿavad, serve or work), a root that joins a person’s service with the labor they perform. The verse uses it for service to the king, placing public work beside the LORD’s work within one field of responsibility.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: Servant
עֶבֶד
This branch makes service a lived role, not just an abstract duty.
ʿavodah: Work, labor, or service
עֲבֹדָה
Its range keeps the king’s service connected to practical work.
פְּקִידִים
peqidim
GROWS FROM
פקד
To attend to, appoint, muster, or visit.
The officers are called פְּקִידִים (peqidim), from פקד (paqad), a root whose range includes attending to a charge and appointing or mustering people. Alongside the sense of rank, the word carries the work of being assigned to attend to what has been entrusted.
ALSO GROWS
paqīd: Officer or overseer
פָּקִיד
The singular form names the person appointed to attend to a responsibility.
paqad: Attend to, appoint, or muster
פָּקַד
The verb reveals the active work beneath the title: attending to people and their charge.
חַיִל
ḥayil
GROWS FROM
חיל
Strength, capacity, or force; also valor, wealth, or military force.
“men of strength” in this verse is ḥayil. The phrase בְּנֵי־חַיִל (benei ḥayil, people of strength or capability) can name more than combat courage: the same word appears in descriptions of strength and capability across different kinds of life. Here, that capacity is placed in service to a people and its shared work.
ALSO GROWS
ʾeshet ḥayil: Woman of strength or valor
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל
Proverbs uses the same word for a woman’s capability, showing that ḥayil is not limited to a warrior’s courage.
ḥayyāl: Soldier
חַיָּל
This related form shows the root’s connection to organized force and capacity.
THE PATTERN
Strength and entrusted gifts take shape as service within a larger shared good.
Moreover, you shall look out from all the people for men of strength, who stand in awe of God, men of truth, who hate plunder; and set such over them as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his face with a ringing cry.As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.THE THREAD
Moreover, you shall look out from all the people for men of strength, who stand in awe of God, men of truth, who hate plunder; and set such over them as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.Exodus uses the same phrase בְּנֵי־חַיִל (benei ḥayil, able or capable people) for those appointed to carry responsibility. Here, that capacity is entrusted with both the LORD’s work and the king’s service; in both verses, strength takes form as a defined charge.
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