ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – STRENGTH, POWER –  CHAYL  חיל  

Ephesians 6:10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”

Ok, maybe I am being a little Aspie here but is not strength, power and might all the same thing?  Obviously not.   We are to be strong, using the power of the might of God.  Curious, what is the power of the might of God.  What is the might that has power?  How does that give us strength?

I believe the Book of Ephesians was originally written in Aramaic and that inspired version is Aramaic. However, I will concede that many disagree with me and will argue that it was written in Greek and the inspired version is Greek.  I am not here to argue a point so I will share with you the Greek words for strength, power and might that are used here and then the Aramaic words and I will let you decide for yourself.

The word for strength or strong is endynamousthe in Greek from the root en donamoo where you are familiar with the preacher’s reference to dynamite. It can mean power and might.  In this context, it is to grow stronger.  The word power is kratel in Greek which is might, strength and power and has the idea of establishing dominion. The word might is ischyos from the root is which is a force to overcome immediate resistance.   The Greek does play out nicely as Paul is exhorting us to become strong in the ability of God to establish dominion over an immediate problem or attack. 

But suppose this was written in Aramaic.  What would we have? We would have something similar but with some interesting caveats. The word strength and power are basically the same word from the same root – chayl. It means to tremble or shake in the Hebrew and Aramaic.  It comes from an Akkadian word chalu which is a word used for a woman in labor, giving birth to a child.  In other words, the Aramaic is drawing a picture of being strong in the Lord like a woman giving birth to a child.  The following verse talks about putting on the whole armor of God so there is a military motif.  A woman does battle when she is giving birth, it is extremely painful and yet she endures it in love, knowing that her child that she carried for nine months will be born making the pain all worthwhile.  Yet, lookie here, the same word is used for God’s might.  In other words, God too is going through the pain as you go through yet experiencing the same joy knowing that the outcome will be worth it all.   But look at this word for power, it is the word toqpa which means an immensity or superpower like the winds of a hurricane that has to ability to overcome any obstacle. 

In other words, Paul is saying that just as a woman goes through the dichotomy of great pain or struggle and great joy in childbirth so too must we be willing to go through great pain or struggle but with great joy when we go into spiritual warfare.  But soft, it is in the immense overcoming power of God’s chay that will win the day.  God will share the pain or struggle and joy of your battle with you.