STRENGTH, worth, capability — and depending on context: an army, wealth, valor, or plain competence. An ish chayil is a 'worthy man'; the eshet chayil of Proverbs 31 is the 'capable wife.' In 1 Kings 1 the same phrase is used twice within ten verses in opposite directions: Adonijah flatters the messenger as a worthy man (v42), and Solomon then makes Adonijah's life conditional on proving himself a 'son of chayil' (v52). → first discussed at 1 Kings 1:52