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Bible Dictionaries
Great
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
or is used (a) of external from, size, measure, e.g., of a stone, Matthew 27:60; fish, John 21:11; (b) of degree and intensity, e.g., of fear, Mark 4:41; wind, John 6:18; Revelation 6:13 , RV, "great" (AV, "mighty"); of a circumstance, 1 Corinthians 9:11; 2 Corinthians 11:15; in Revelation 5:2,12 , the RV has "great" (AV, "loud"), of a voice; (c) of rank, whether of persons, e.g., God, Titus 2:13; Christ as a "great Priest," Hebrews 10:21 , RV; Diana, Acts 19:27; Simon Magus, Acts 8:9 "(some) great one;" in the plural, "great ones," Matthew 20:25; Mark 10:42 , those who hold positions of authority in gentile nations; or of things, e.g., a mystery, Ephesians 5:32 . Some mss. have it in Acts 8:8 , of joy (see No. 2). See also Note (2) below. See GREATEST , HIGH , LOUD , MIGHTY , STRONG.
"much, many, great," is used of number, e.g., Luke 5:6; Acts 11:21; degree, e.g., of harvest, Matthew 9:37 [See Note (8)]; mercy, 1 Peter 1:3 , RV , "great" (AV, "abundant"); glory, Matthew 24:30; joy, Philemon 1:7 , RV , "much" (AV, "great"); peace, Acts 24:2 . The best mss. have it in Acts 8:8 (RV, "much"), of joy. See ABUNDANT , COMMON , Note (1), LONG , MANY , MUCH , OFT , SORE , STRAITLY.
lit., "reaching to" (from hikano, "to reach"), denotes "sufficient, competent, fit," and is sometimes rendered "great," e.g., of number (of people), Mark 10:46; of degree (of light), Acts 22:6 . See ABLE , ENOUGH , GOOD , LARGE , LONG , MANY , MEET , MUCH , SECURITY , SUFFICIENT , WORTHY.
primarily denotes "as big as, as old as (akin to helikia, "an age"); then, as an indirect interrogation, "what, what size, how great, how small" (the context determines the meaning), said of a spiritual conflit, Colossians 2:1 , AV, "what great (conflict) I have;" RV, "how greatly (I strive);" of much wood as kindled by a little fire, James 3:5 (twice in the best mss.), "how much (wood is kindled by) how small (a fire)," RV, said metaphorically of the use of the tongue. Some mss. have No. 4 in Galatians 6:11; the most authentic have No. 5.
primarily a direct interrogative, "how large? how great?" is used in exclamations, indicating magnitude, like No. 4 (No. 6 indicates quantity), in Galatians 6:11 , of letter characters (see No. 4, Note); in Hebrews 7:4 , metaphorically, of the distinguished character of Melchizedek.
an adjective of number, magnitude, degree etc., is rendered "how great" in Matthew 6:23 . See MANY , MUCH.
"how much, how many," is used in the neuter plural to signify how great things, Mark 5:19,20; Luke 8:39 (twice); Acts 9:16 , AV (RV, "how many things"); in Revelation 21:16 (in the best mss.), "as great as," RV (AV, "as large as," said of length). See ALL , MANY , No. 5, WHATSOEVER.
"so great, so many, so much," of quantity, size, etc., is rendered "so great," in Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:9 , of faith; Matthew 15:33 , of a multitude; Hebrews 12:1 , of a cloud of witnesses; Revelation 18:17 , of riches. See LARGE , LONG , MANY , MUCH.
"so great," is used in the NT of things only, a death, 2 Corinthians 1:10; salvation, Hebrews 2:3; ships, James 3:4; an earthquake, Revelation 16:18 , AV, "so mighty," corrected in the RV to "so great." See MIGHTY.
Notes: (1) In Mark 7:36 , "so much the more a great deal" translates a phrase lit. signifying "more abundantly;" in Mark 10:48 , "the more a great deal" translates a phrase lit. signifying "more by much." (2) For the noun megistan, in the plural, rendered "Lords" in the AV of Mark 6:21 , see Lord; in Revelation 6:15; 18:23 , see PRINCE. (3) In Luke 1:58 , the verb megaluno, "to magnify, make great" (akin to No. 1), is rendered "had magnified (His mercy)," RV [AV, "had shewed great (mercy)"]. (4) In Luke 10:13 , the adverb palai, "of old, long ago," is so rendered in the RV (AV, "a great while ago"). (5) In 2 Peter 1:4 , megistos, the superlative of megas (No. 1), said of the promises of God, is rendered "exceeding great." (6) In Matthew 21:8 , pleistos, the superlative of polus (No. 2), said of a multitude, is rendered "very great" in the AV (RV, "the most part"). (7) In Revelation 21:10 , the most authentic mss. omit "that great" [RV, "the holy (city)"]. (8) In Luke 10:2 , the RV renders polus by "plenteous" (AV, "great"). (9) In Mark 1:35 , the adverb lian, exceedingly (see GREATLY), is rendered "a great while." See DAY , B. (10) In Luke 1:49 some texts have megaleia, "great things;" the best have No. 1.These files are public domain.
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Great'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/g/great.html. 1940.
