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 a WOMAN OF VALOUR. 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). The plural anshei chayil is Jethro's own opening criterion for the judges Moses is told to appoint (Exodus 18:21, repeated at v25 of Moses' actual choice) — the same word applied not to one exceptional person but to an entire pool of candidates, first of four qualifications in a list otherwise made of character (fearing God, truthful, hating unjust gain) rather than pedigree. ⚠ Proverbs 31 is where the English tradition does the most damage to the word. It occurs twice in that chapter and once in its preamble, and the three uses point in different directions: v3 warns a king not to give his CHAYIL to women; v10 praises an eshet chayil; v29 says many daughters have DONE chayil. The shelf splits five ways at v10 — KJV 'virtuous', ASV 'worthy', NWT 'capable', TNM 'competente' — and only RV 1909 keeps the force, with 'Mujer fuerte'. The KJV's own margin at v29 admits the alternative: 'or, have gotten riches'. → first discussed at 1 Kings 1:52