Power and Authority
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Power
Power (Heb. ḥayil, hāzāq, yāḏ; Gk. dýnamis, exousía).† The actual or potential possession of control, authority, or influence over others. True power, which includes the effective exercise of authority, belongs only to God (1 Chr. 29:11–12; Jer. 10:6; Rev. 5:13; RSV “might”; 7:12).
In the Old Testament the power of God is revealed in nature (Ps. 65:5–13 [MT 6–14]), especially in creation (Jer. 10:10–12), and in history, particularly in God’s act of redemption at the Exodus (Exod. 15:6, 13; 32:11) and in his giving to Israel the promised land (Ps. 111:6). God’s intervention in history should remind people that human power is only delegated (Gen. 1:26, 28; Ps. 8:5–8 [MT 6–9]; 115:16) and, when compared to God’s power, it fades into insignificance (cf. Ps. 33:16–17).
The basic meaning of Heb. ḥayil is “strength,” from which come the derived meanings of “army” and “wealth.” When used of God, ḥayil may refer to strength from God (18:32 [MT 33]; cf. 2 Sam. 22:33) or to the power of God (Ps. 59:11 [MT 12]). The term is used more than eighty times in the Old Testament as an attribute of people in the sense of “strength,” “power,” or “might.” Wealth is often related to power, and ḥayil occurs with that meaning nearly thirty times.
The adjective hāzāq occurs fifty-seven times in the Old Testament, twenty-three of which refer to a “strong hand,” most frequently to God’s power, as in the Exodus. The term includes the idea of the power to resist (Ezek. 2:4; RSV “stubborn”; 3:7–8, lit. “hard of forehead”), and with reference to sickness (1 Kgs. 17:17) or famine (18:2) may mean “severe” (KJV “sore”). As a substantive the term means “mighty one” or “strong one” (Job 5:15; Ezek. 34:16).
While yāḏ is used literally of the human hand as performing normal work functions (e.g., Gen. 5:29), it frequently appears idiomatically in phrases that convey the idea of authority involving responsibility, care, and dominion over someone or something (e.g., 16:6 [RSV “in your power”], 9 [“submit”]; 39:3–8). The psalmist entrusts his heart and spirit into the care, sovereignty, and judgment of God (Ps. 31:5, 15 [MT 6, 16]); 89:13 (MT 14) states that power and might are in the hand of God. The term is also used with the derivative senses of possession (Gen. 39:1) and submission (1 Chr. 29:24; RSV “pledge … allegiance”).
In the New Testament the idea of power is rendered chiefly by Gk. exousía and dýnamis. Gk. exousía means either conferred or derived authority, indicating the warrant or right to do something (Matt. 21:23–27; RSV “authority”). From this basic meaning the term comes to denote one who bears authority on earth (Rom. 13:1–3) or in the spiritual realm (Col. 1:16). All authority was given to Christ by the Father (Matt. 28:19); with this authority Christ forgave sins (9:6) and cast out demons (10:1). To his disciples he gave authority to become children of God (John 1:12) and to carry on his work (Mark 3:15).
Gk. dýnamis implies ability (2 Cor. 8:3; RSV “means”) or strength (Eph. 3:16). It may also mean a powerful act (Acts 2:22; RSV “mighty works”). The Gospels affirm that Jesus began his ministry “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14) and that his power was operative in miracles of healing (Matt. 11:20). The power of the Spirit is seen as operative in the life of the Church (Acts 4:7, 33; 6:8). Paul views the resurrection of Jesus as the primary evidence of God’s power (Rom. 1:4; Eph. 1:19–20). He sees the gospel as God’s instrument by which that power comes to work in human lives (Rom. 1:16).
The plural of dýnamis, with the basic meaning “powers,” is used in the New Testament in a variety of ways. At Matt. 7:22; Luke 10:13; Acts 2:22 it is rendered “mighty works” and describes concrete manifestations of supernatural power, or miracles (8:13). At Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:25 some understand “the powers of/in the heavens” to be inherent forces in the celestial bodies by which they rule over the day and over the night (cf. Gen. 1:18); others interpret these heavenly powers as the starry hosts themselves, viewed either as the armies of the heavens or the actual beings that control them. The phrase “principalities and powers” (e.g., Eph. 3:10; 6:12; cf. 1:21, “power and dominion”; Col. 1:16) designates both good and evil angels, the identification of which is determined by the context (see Principality). At Rom. 13:1 civil magistrates (RSV “governing authorities”) are called “higher powers” (so KJV) because of their rank, authority, and influence as ones ordained by God to adminster justice among mankind. “The powers of the age to come” at Heb. 6:5 may be understood of all supernatural gifts and spiritual forces that belong to the age of the new covenant, of which Jesus is the mediator (9:15).
For the “power of keys” see Keys, Power of.
Bibliography. G. B. Caird, Principalities and Powers (Oxford: 1956); D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Authority (Chicago: 1958); C. H. Powell, The Biblical Concept of Power (London: 1964).1
1 Myers, A. C. (1987). In The Eerdmans Bible dictionary (pp. 844–845). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.