Great

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.