It appears to me that חיל is from the root חל, which is a member
of the root family
גל, הל, חל, כל, קל
essentially meaning 'include, amass, accumulate, garner'. Notice the
related word XEL of Isaiah 26:1.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
On Nov 2, 2010, at 6:03 PM, fred burlingame wrote: