📖 Biblical Definition
"The LORD is my strength and my song" (Ex 15:2). "The joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh 8:10). "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might" (Eph 6:10). Biblical strength is never autonomous; it is given, borrowed, renewed. "Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles" (Isa 40:31). Even physical strength comes from God: Samson's shoulders, David's sling, the Nazirite's hair. Paul's most counter-intuitive teaching: "When I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10). Strength in biblical register is God's power operating through a vessel, not the vessel's own horsepower.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
STRENGTH, n.
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STRENGTH, n. [Sax. strengthu.] The quality of being strong; force, vigor, might. In Scripture, strength is a divine attribute shared with God's people for His purposes. The LORD is the strength of His saints; His joy is their strength; His grace is the strength made perfect in their weakness. Autonomous self-confidence is not strength in the biblical register but pride; real strength is borrowed daily from the Fountain.
📖 Key Scripture
Ephesians 6:10 — "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might."
Isaiah 40:31 — "But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles."
2 Corinthians 12:10 — "For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Philippians 4:13 — "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern culture prizes self-strength. Scripture prizes borrowed strength. The first runs out; the second renews.
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Gym culture, grit culture, self-help strength — all valuable in their domain and all ultimately finite. Biblical strength is renewable because the source is infinite. "Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength." The daily Christian posture is dependent strength: pray for power, receive power, deploy power, return for more. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9). Weakness that drives you back to God becomes the channel for divine strength.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H5797 — oz. G1411 — dynamis.
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H5797 — oz (עֹז) — strength, might; frequently attribute of God.
H2428 — chayil (חַיִל) — strength, army, valor; used of the Proverbs 31 woman.
G1411 — dynamis (δύναμις) — power, strength; root of English "dynamite."
G2479 — ischys (ἰσχύς) — might, force.
Usage
"The joy of the LORD is your strength. When joy dries up, so does power. Feed the well."
"When I am weak, then I am strong. Paul's paradox is the Christian's power grid."