'Able' in the Bible

Then David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go after this band? will I be able to overtake them? And in answer he said, Go after them, for you will certainly overtake them, and get back everything.

And David, with four hundred men, went on: but two hundred of them were overcome with weariness, and not able to go across the stream.

Abner repeated again, “Turn away from following me. Why should I have to strike you to the ground? How would I be able to face Joab your brother [and look him in the eye]?”

And he is not able any more to turn back Abner a word, because of his fearing him.

Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son whose feet were damaged. He was five years old when news of the death of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and the woman who took care of him took him up and went in flight: and while she was getting him away as quickly as she was able, he had a fall and his feet were damaged. His name was Mephibosheth.

And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people of the land: and they said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the feeble-footed will keep you out; for they said, David will not be able to come in here.

And he said, While the child was still living I went without food and gave myself up to weeping: for I said, Who is able to say that the Lord will not have mercy on me and give the child life?

and now, he hath died, why is this -- I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'

Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the Angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you.”

But you will be able to counter the advice of Ahithophel if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king! Previously I was your father's servant, and now I will be your servant.'

And Jonathan and Ahimaaz are standing at En-Rogel, and the maid-servant hath gone and declared to them -- and they go and have declared it to king David -- for they are not able to be seen to go in to the city.

But the men said, “You should not go out [to battle with us]. For if in fact we retreat, they will not care about us; even if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. So now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city [of Mahanaim].”

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

“He makes my feet like the doe’s feet [firm and swift];He sets me [secure and confident] on my high places.

I have sent destruction on them and given them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet.

And Joab gave the king the number of all the people: there were in Israel eight hundred thousand fighting men able to take up arms; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand.

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

“You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of Yahweh his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

Jeroboam was a valiant soldier, and because Solomon observed that the young man was able to get things done, he set him in charge over all of the conscripted labor from the household of Joseph.

And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the word of the man of God that he calleth against the altar in Beth-El, that Jeroboam putteth forth his hand from off the altar, saying, 'Catch him;' and his hand is dried up that he hath put forth against him, and he is not able to bring it back unto him,

And he saith, 'I am not able to turn back with thee, and to go in with thee, nor do I eat bread or drink with thee water in this place,

And the wife of Jeroboam doth so, and riseth, and goeth to Shiloh, and entereth the house of Ahijah, and Ahijah is not able to see, for his eyes have stood because of his age.

And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah, so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah.

You will be able to drink from that brook, and I've commanded some crows to sustain you there."

And Ahab said to Obadiah, Come, let us go through all the country, to all the fountains of water and all the rivers, and see if there is any grass to be had for the horses and the transport beasts, so that we may be able to keep some of the beasts from destruction.

But when I leave you, the Lord's spirit will carry you away so I can't find you. If I go tell Ahab I've seen you, he won't be able to find you and he will kill me. That would not be fair, because your servant has been a loyal follower of the Lord from my youth.

The Lord's angelic messenger came back again, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, for otherwise you won't be able to make the journey."

And he saith to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, 'Say to my lord the king, All that thou didst send for unto thy servant at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do;' and the messengers go and take him back word.

Ben-hadad made this promise to Ahab: "I will restore the cities that my ancestors took from your ancestors. You'll be able to build streets named after yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." "With this promise I will release you," Ahab replied. So Ahab made a treaty with Ben-hadad and let him go.

and he saith, I go out, and have been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets; and He saith, Thou dost entice, and also thou art able; go out and do so.

Then they said to him, "Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys," but he said, "You must not send them."

And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.

And the king of Moab seeth that the battle has been too strong for him, and he taketh with him seven hundred men, drawing sword, to cleave through unto the king of Edom, and they have not been able,

But he replied, "There isn't even one pot left." Then the oil stopped flowing. After this, she went and told the man of God what had happened. So he said, "Go sell the oil, pay your debt, and you and your children will be able to live on the proceeds."

So let us make a little room on the wall; and put a bed there for him, and a table and a seat and a light; so that when he comes to us, he will be able to go in there.

and they pour out for the men to eat, and it cometh to pass at their eating of the pottage, that they have cried out, and say, 'Death is in the pot, O man of God!' and they have not been able to eat.

Then Naaman said, If you will not, then let there be given to your servant as much earth as two beasts are able to take on their backs; because from now on, your servant will make no offering or burned offering to other gods, but only to the Lord.

The king of Israel confirmed the matter about which the man of God had warned him. Having been forewarned, he was able to protect himself there on more than one or two occasions.

Then Elisha prayed, asking the LORD, "Please make him able to really see!" And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha!

He replied, "No! Since the LORD won't give you victory, how will I be able to deliver you? From the threshing floor? From the wine press?"

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.

Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure on the surface of the field in the plot of land at Jezreel so that no one will be able to say: This is Jezebel.’”

Then Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah came to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but were not able to conquer him.

Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:

And all the men of war, seven thousand of them, and a thousand expert workmen and metal-workers, all of them strong and able to take up arms, the king of Babylon took away as prisoners into Babylon.

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.

All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers houses , mighty men of valor, seventeen thousand and two hundred, that were able to go forth in the host for war.

And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

[They were] armed with [the] bow, [able to shoot] right-handed or left-handed, [slinging] stones or [shooting] arrows with the bow; [they were] kinsmen of Saul from Benjamin.

Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, with all manner of instruments of war, fifty thousand, and that could order the battle array, and were not of double heart.

And of Asher, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, forty thousand.

David was afraid of God that day and said, "How will I ever be able to bring the ark of God up here?"

Chenaniah, leader of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skilled.

And Joab gave David the number of all the people; all the men of Israel, able to take up arms, were one million, one hundred thousand men; and those of Judah were four hundred and seventy thousand men, able to take up arms.

and David is not able to go before it to seek God, for he hath been afraid because of the sword of the messenger of Jehovah.

And Shemaiah his son had sons, rulers over the family of their father, for they were able men.

These sons of Shemaiah included Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose brothers were valiant, able men, Elihu and Semachiah.

All these of the sons of Obededom: they and their sons and their brethren, able men for strength for the service, were threescore and two of Obededom.

Meshelemiah had sons and relatives, eighteen courageous men.

Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, seventeen hundred able men, were overseers of Israel on the other side of the Jordan, to the west, being responsible for all the work of the Lord's house and for the work done by the king's servants.

Of the Hebronites, Jerijah was the chief of all the Hebronites, in their generations by families. In the fortieth year of the rule of David a search was made, and able men were seen among them at Jazer of Gilead.

And his brothers were two thousand, seven hundred able men, heads of families, whom King David made overseers over the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in everything to do with God, and for the king's business.

To the extent that I have been able to do so, I have provided supplies for the Temple of my God, including gold for what is to be made of gold, silver for what is to be made of silver, bronze for what is to be made of bronze, iron for what is to be made of iron, wood for what is to be made of wood, and great quantities of onyx, precious stones, antimony, colored stones, all types of other semi-precious stones, and plenty of marble.

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

Now give me wisdom and discernment so I can effectively lead this nation. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours."

But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?

And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.

The priests were not able to enter the Lord’s temple because the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord.

Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

And certain foolish and good-for-nothing men were joined with him, and made themselves strong against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when he was young and untested and not able to keep them back.

"So now you think you'll be able to withstand the LORD's kingdom as controlled by David's descendants, just because you have a large crown and have brought with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

And Asa made prayer to the Lord his God and said, Lord, you only are able to give help against the strong to him who has no strength; come to our help, O Lord our God, for our hope is in you, and in your name we have come out against this great army. O Lord, you are our God; let not man's power be greater than yours.

And Asa and the people who were with him went after them as far as Gerar; and so great was the destruction among the Ethiopians that they were not able to get their army together again, for they were broken before the Lord and before his army; and they took away a great amount of their goods.

In the thirty-sixth year of the rule of Asa, Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah.

and he saith, I go out, and have become a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He saith, Thou dost entice, and also, thou art able; go out and do so.

And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much.

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

And he sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he had hid himself in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart. And in the house of Ahaziah there was no one who was able to hold the kingdom.

However, the king's daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the king's children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That's how King Jehoram's daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada's wife and Ahaziah's sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him.

Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend the king against his enemies.

After this, some men who were chosen by name took charge of the captives, clothed those who were naked with clothes appropriated from the war booty, gave them clothes and sandals, fed them, gave them something to drink, anointed them with oil, provided those who weren't able to walk with donkeys to ride on, and took them back to their relatives at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

However, since there were not enough priests, they weren’t able to skin all the burnt offerings, so their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests were.

because they were not able to observe it at the appropriate time. Not enough of the priests had consecrated themselves and the people hadn’t been gathered together in Jerusalem.

Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?

Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

And he sent letters, in addition, to put shame on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to say evil against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not been able to keep their people safe from my hands, no more will the God of Hezekiah keep his people safe from my hands.

It read: "This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: 'The Lord God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem in Judah. May the Lord your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!"

And these are those going up from Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsa, Cherub, Addan, Immer, and they have not been able to declare the house of their fathers, and their seed, whether they are of Israel:

As they were able, they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 drachmas of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly robes.

As a result, the priests, descendants of Levi, certain people, the singers, door-keepers, and the Temple Servants were able to settle in their original cities, with the rest of the Israelis in their cities.

"And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.

And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.