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 1Sa 14:52; 31:12; 2Sa 11:16, etc.; in some passages ben chayil, "a son of might" (Jg 21:10; 1Sa 18:17; 2Sa 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 (Heb 11:34, "valiant in fight"; the Revised Version (British and American) "mighty in war"). "Valiantly" is the translation of the same Hebrew word (Nu 24:18; Ps 60:12, etc.); in one case in the King James Version of chazaq (1Ch 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" (1Sa 16:18), "valiant" for "strong" (1Ch 26:7,9; Jer 48:14, etc.).
W. L. Walker