Secular Usage

In a secular sense, the Hebrew word for “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod) primarily means “weight,” referring to something substantial (e.g., Isa 22:24). In this sense, the term connotes honor and fame as coming from a social status that includes greatness, wealth, or power, and the acknowledgment of others. Two passages in Isaiah include wordplays that capture this sense (Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 1–39, 301–02):

1. Isaiah 17:3–4 plays on the transition from loss of glory to loss of weight.

2. Isaiah 22:22–24 plays on the transition from honor to weight (compare “weight of glory,” 2 Cor 4:17).

Several passages include dichotomies that provide insight into the sense of the term in that context. Psalm 4:2 casts the term (כָּבוֹד, kavod) as the opposite of shame, indicating “honor” is a suitable rendering (see also Hos 4:7; 9:10–11; 10:5–6). Isaiah 16:14 and Habakkuk 2:16 both cast glory as the opposite of contempt. The context of Gen 31:1 indicates that the precise rendering of “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod), in that context, is “wealth” (Gen 31:1 NRSV; compare Gen 31:1 KJV).

Glory is often associated with kings. For example, 2 Chronicles 32:33 states that Hezekiah’s subjects “did him honor (כָּבוֹד, kavod) at his death” (2 Chr 32:33 NRSV). Isaiah 14:18 states that the kings of the nations “lie in glory (כָּבוֹד, kavod)” (Isa 14:18) in their tombs. In Isaiah 8:7, the “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod) belonging to the Assyrian king is likely his army (see also Isa 10:16, 18).

Occasionally the biblical authors use the term “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod) as a metonym—an associated substitute. In Isaiah 5:13 it means “honorable men” (Isa 5:13) or “nobles” (Isa 5:13), like the English “nobility” (see also Mic 1:15; Waltke, Micah, 85). In references to the human self, the Hebrew term could be revocalized as “liver” (כָּבֵד, kaved) as reflected in the Septuagint translation of Gen 49:6. In these cases the term is used psychologically, like the heart (Pss 16:9; 30:12 [13]; 57:8 [9]; 108:1 [2]).