THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

ad (chazaq, "to strengthen," "to aid"): A military term used only once in Old Testament in the King James Version (Jud 9:24) and displaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by the literal rendering, "who strengthened his hands." The men of Shechem supported Abimelech in his fratricidal crime, with money, enabling him to hire men to murder his brethren. The fundamental idea in the word, as used in the Old Testament, is "abounding strength."