val'-yant, val'-yant-li (chayil; ischuros): "Valiant" in the Old Testament is for the most part the translation of chayil, "power," or "might," and is applied to the courageous and to men of war ("mighty men of valor"), as in 1 Samuel 14:52; 31:12; 2 Samuel 11:16, etc.; in some passages ben chayil, "a son of might" (Judges 21:10; 1 Samuel 18:17; 2 Samuel 2:7, etc.). A few other Hebrew words (gibbor, etc.) are thus rendered. In the New Testament the word occurs once in the King James Version (Hebrews 11:34, "valiant in fight"; the Revised Version (British and American) "mighty in war"). "Valiantly" is the translation of the same Hebrew word (Numbers 24:18; Psalms 60:12, etc.); in one case in the King James Version of chazaq (1 Chronicles 19:13, the American Standard Revised Version "play the man," the English Revised Version "men"). In some instances the Revised Version (British and American) has variations, as "man of valor" for "valiant man" (1 Samuel 16:18), "valiant" for "strong" (1 Chronicles 26:7,9; Jeremiah 48:14, etc.).

W. L. Walker

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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