What Does 2 Chronicles 26:17 Mean in the King James?
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse’s courage is not one priest standing alone but Azariah entering after the king with eighty priests beside him.
THE MEANING
Azariah moves after the king, and eighty priests move with him; courage takes the shape of a gathered presence. They are called men of chayil, a word of strength and capacity, while Azariah’s name carries the meaning “Yah has helped.” The verse presents a community acting together when authority enters a sacred space.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that courage belongs to one exceptional person: the verse names Azariah and eighty priests acting together.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי־חָיִל
bĕnê-ḥāyil
GROWS FROM
חיל
Force, strength, and capacity; the noun can also refer to wealth or an army.
“valiant men” in this verse is bĕnê-ḥāyil. “Valiant” can sound like a personality trait, but the Hebrew calls them men of chayil: people with strength and capacity. The same word describes the capable woman in Proverbs 31, so the shared idea reaches beyond battlefield courage.
ALSO GROWS
ḥayil: Strength, capacity, resources, or wealth.
חַיִל
This is the word behind “valiant,” bringing material and collective force into the description.
ʾēshet ḥayil: A woman of strength or capability; rendered “a virtuous woman” in Proverbs 31:10.
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל
The same root names capability in a woman as well as the priests, revealing a shared kind of strength.
ḥēl: An army or host.
חֵיל
The root’s military sense makes the priests’ gathered presence feel like an organized force, not a lone display of bravery.
עֲזַרְיָהוּ
ʿAzaryāhû
GROWS FROM
עזר
Help, aid, or support; the name means “Yah has helped.”
Azariah’s name carries “Yah has helped,” and he leads the priests who enter after the king. Help appears here as a person at the front of a gathered group, not as an abstract idea.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēzer: Help or aid.
עֵזֶר
The noun makes explicit the help compressed into Azariah’s name.
ʿōzēr: One who helps; a helper.
עֹזֵר
This form links help to a person who acts, fitting Azariah’s place at the head of the priests.
THE PATTERN
Courage gathers around a boundary when human authority crosses it.
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.THE THREAD
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.The same word, chayil, describes the priests as “valiant” and the woman as “virtuous.” English separates their qualities, while Hebrew names a shared strength and capacity.
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