to be firm and strong, or to make someone firm: physical might, inner resolve, and the courage to hold steady
At its core this word is about firmness. Something or someone is solid, sturdy, able to hold its ground and not give way. From that single idea the word reaches in several directions depending on who is doing the firming and to what end.
When it simply describes how things stand, it means to be the stronger of two, to prevail. When it is a command, it becomes the famous summons "be strong and courageous," a call to steady the will for a hard task. When someone strengthens another, it means to shore them up, brace their weakness, give them backing, whether that is God holding up his servant, a builder reinforcing a wall, or a friend bracing a discouraged person.
The striking thing is that the word carries no built-in moral charge. The same act of making a heart firm can be the gift of courage to a leader or the setting of an enemy in his stubbornness, so that he will not turn back. The word does not decide whether the firmness is good or bad. The situation does. That is why the same firming that steadies Joshua can also harden a hostile king against mercy.
Finally, when a person braces their own self, the word means to steel oneself, to dig in and persist, sometimes admirably (a loyal resolve) and sometimes stubbornly (digging in against authority).
Nuances
Whether the oracle's wording itself specifies which of the two peoples prevails, or is deliberately open.
- majorityIt predicts that one people (Israel over Edom) will be the stronger and prevail.; C. Westermann, Genesis 12-36 (Fortress 1985); G. Wenham, Genesis 16-50 (WBC 2; Word 1994)
- minorityThe wording is deliberately ambiguous and does not state which people prevails.; E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB 1; Doubleday 1964); R. E. Friedman, Commentary on the Torah (HarperOne 2001)
Disputed
Whether the paired command "be strong (חזק) and courageous (אמץ)" sets two distinct kinds of strength side by side, or is a fixed pair of near-synonyms used together for emphasis.
- majorityThe two are a fixed word-pair functioning together, not to be split into separate nuances.; N. Lohfink, Scholastik 37 (1962): 32-44; R. D. Nelson, Deuteronomy (OTL; Westminster John Knox 2002)
- minorityThe two carry distinct nuances: outer strength for war versus inner resolve for discipline (a distinction in the medieval Jewish tradition).; Rashi and Abarbanel on Joshua 1:6