δύναμις, -εως, ἡ; [from Homer down]; Sept. for חַיִל, גְּבוּרָה, עֹז, כֹּחַ, צָבָא (an army, a host); strength, ability, power;
a. universally, inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth: Luke 1:17; Acts 4:7; 1 Corinthians 4:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ἡ δύναμις ἐν ἀσθένείᾳ τελεῖται [R G τελειοῦται]); 2 Cor 13:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 7:16; Hebrews 11:34; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 17:13; ἰδίᾳ δυνάμει, Acts 3:12; μεγάλῃ δυνάμει, Acts 4:33; ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν δύναμιν, Matthew 25:15; ὑπὲρ δύναμιν, beyond our power, 2 Corinthians 1:8; ἐν δυνάμει namely, ὤν, endued with power, Luke 4:36; 1 Corinthians 15:43; so in the phrase ἔρχεσθαι ἐν δυνάμει, Mark 9:1; powerfully, Colossians 1:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; contextually, equivalent to evidently, Romans 1:4; ἐν δυνάμει σημείων κ. τεράτων, through the power which I exerted upon their souls by performing miracles, Romans 15:19; δύν. εἴς τι, Hebrews 11:11; δύν. ἐπὶ τὰ δαιμόνια καὶ νόσους θεραπεύειν, Luke 9:1; ἡ δύναμις τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νόμος, sin exercises its power (upon the soul) through the law, i. e. through the abuse of the law, 1 Corinthians 15:56; τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, the power which the resurrection of Christ has, for instructing, reforming, elevating, tranquilizing, the soul, Philippians 3:10; τῆς εὐσεβείας, inhering in godliness and operating upon souls, 2 Timothy 3:5; δυνάμεις μέλλοντος αἰῶνος (see αἰών, 3), Hebrews 6:5; τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς δυνάμεως (see πνεῦμα, 5), 1 Peter 4:14 Lachmann; 2 Timothy 1:7; δύναμις is used of the power of angels: Ephesians 1:21 [cf. Meyer at the passage]; 2 Peter 2:11; of the power of the devil and evil spirits, 1 Corinthians 15:24; τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, i. e. of the devil, Luke 10:19; τοῦ δράκοντος, Revelation 13:2; angels, as excelling in power, are called δυνάμεις [cf. (Philo de mutat. nora. § 8 δυνάμεις ἀσωματοι) Meyer as above; Bp. Lightfoot on Colossians 1:16; see ἄγγελος]: Romans 8:38; 1 Peter 3:22. ἡ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ, universally, the power of God: Matthew 22:29; Mark 12:24; Luke 22:69; Acts 8:10; Romans 1:20; Romans 9:17; 1 Corinthians 6:14; δύναμις ὑψίστου, Luke 1:35; ἡ δύναμις, especially in doxologies, the kingly power of God, Matthew 6:13 Rec.; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 7:12; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 12:10; Revelation 15:8; Revelation 19:1; and the abstract for the concrete (as הַגְּבוּרָה in Jewish writings; cf. Buxtorf, Lex. talm. col. 385 [p. 201f, Fischer edition]) equivalent to ὁ δυνατός, Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ is used of the divine power considered as acting upon the minds of men, 1 Corinthians 2:5; 2 Corinthians 6:7; Ephesians 3:7, 20; [2 Timothy 1:8; 1 Peter 1:5]; εἴς τινα, 2 Corinthians 13:4 [but WH in brackets]; Ephesians 1:19; ἐνδύεσθαι δύναμιν ἐξ υψους, Luke 24:49; by metonymy, things or persons in which God's saving power shows its efficacy are called δυνάμεις θεοῦ: thus, ὁ Χριστος, 1 Corinthians 1:24; ὁ λόγος τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1 Corinthians 1:18; τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, with the addition εἰς σωτηρίαν παντί, etc. Romans 1:16 [cf. Winer's Grammar, § 36, 3 b.]. δύναμις is ascribed to Christ, now in one sense and now in another: a power to heal disease proceeds from him, Mark 5:30; Luke 5:17; Luke 6:19; Luke 8:46 the kingly power of the Messiah is his, Matthew 24:30; [Mark 13:26]; Luke 21:27; 2 Peter 1:16; Revelation 5:12; ἄγγελοι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ (see ἄγγελος, 2), ministering to his power, 2 Thessalonians 1:7 [Winer's Grammar, § 34, 3 b. note]; metaphysical [or essential] power, viz. that which belongs to him as ὁ θεῖος λόγος, in the expression τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς δυνάμ. αὐτοῦ, the word uttered by his power, equivalent to his most powerful will and energy, Hebrews 1:3; moral power, operating on the soul, 2 Corinthians 12:9 R G; and called ἡ θεῖα αὐτοῦ δύναμις in 2 Peter 1:3; ἡ δύναμις τοῦ κυρίου, the power of Christ invisibly present and operative in Christian church formally assembled, 1 Corinthians 5:4. δύναμις τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος: Acts 1:8 [Winer's Grammar, 125 (119)]; πν. ἅγιον κ. δύναμις, Acts 10:38; ἀπόδειξις πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως (see ἀπόδειξις, b.), 1 Corinthians 2:4; ἐν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πνεύματος, under or full of the power of the Holy Spirit, Luke 4:14; ἐν δυνάμει πνεύματος ἁγίου, by the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, Romans 15:13; by the power which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, I exerted upon their souls, Romans 15:19.
b. specifically, the power of performing miracles: Acts 6:8; πᾶσα δύναμις, every kind of power of working miracles (with the addition of καὶ σημείοις κ. τέρασι), 2 Thessalonians 2:9; plural: [Matthew 13:54; Matthew 14:2; Mark 6:14]; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Galatians 3:5; ἐνεργήματα δυνάμεων, 1 Corinthians 12:10; by metonymy, of the cause for the effect, a mighty work [cf. Winers Grammar, 32; Trench, § xci.]: δύναμιν ποιεῖν, Mark 6:5; Mark 9:39; so in the plural, Mark 6:2; Luke 19:37; joined with σημεῖα, Acts 8:13; with σημεῖα κ. τέρατα, Acts 2:22; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:4 [?]; ποιεῖν δυνάμεις, Matthew 7:22; [Matthew 13:58]; Acts 19:11; γίνονται δυνάμεις, Matthew 11:20f, 23; Luke 10:13.
c. moral power and excellence of soul: 1 Corinthians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 4:7; Ephesians 3:16; Colossians 1:11.
d. the power and influence which belong to riches; (pecuniary ability), wealth: τοῦ στρήνους, 'riches ministering to luxury' (Grotius), Revelation 18:3; κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ ὑπὲρ [others, παρὰ] δύναμιν, according to their means, yea, beyond their means, 2 Corinthians 8:3; (in this sense, for חַיִל, Sept. Deuteronomy 8:17; Ruth 4:11; not infrequent in Greek writings, as Xenophon, Cyril 8, 4, 34; an. 7, 7, 21 (36)).
e. power and resources arising from numbers: Revelation 3:8.
f. power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts, (so, both in singular and in plural, often in Greek writings from Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, on; in the Sept. and in Apocrypha); hence, δυνάμεις τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, the hosts of heaven, Hebraistically the stars: Matthew 24:29; Luke 21:26; and δ. ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, Mark 13:25; equivalent to הַשָּׁמַיִם צְבָא, 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings 23:4; Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah 8:2; Daniel 8:10, etc. [cf. σαβαώθ].
g. Like the Latin vis and potestas, equivalent to the (force i. e.) meaning of a word or expression: 1 Corinthians 14:11; (Plato, Crat., p. 394 h.; Polybius 20, 9, 11; Dionysius Halicarnassus 1, 68; Dio Cuss. 55, 3; others).

BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's