Word Prompt – KOACH – Yonatan Milevsky

Koach is a word that strengthens my conviction that as long as a particular way of speaking about the Divine emerges from our sacred texts and flows from first principles, it should be part of our vocabulary. Koach, or a variation of it, appears over 120 times in Tanach. And when it is not referring to physical capability, military strength, wealth, or control, it means ability. When used in relation to humans, the context makes it clear that that ability is constrained – it functions within the given limits.

But that is not true of the word when it is related to G-d. In verses such as Nachum 1:3 and Iyov 36:22, the word means something along the lines of absolute potential. Based on these verses, we can join other faiths in declaring that all things are possible with G-d. As we approach the High Holidays, that may be a concept worth contemplating.