Meaning
is used (a) of external from, size, measure, e.g., of a stone, Mat 27:60; fish, Joh 21:11; (b) of degree and intensity, e.g., of fear, Mar 4:41; wind, Joh 6:18, Rev 6:13, RV, "great" (AV, "mighty"); of a circumstance, 1Co 9:11, 2Co 11:15; in Rev 1:5,12, the RV has "great" (AV, "loud"), of a voice; (c) of rank, whether of persons, e.g., God, Tit 2:13; Christ as a "great Priest," Heb 10:21, RV; Diana, Act 19:27; Simon Magus, Act 8:9 "(some) great one;" in the plural, "great ones," Mat 20:25, Mar 10:42, those who hold positions of authority in gentile nations; or of things, e.g., a mystery, Eph 5:32. Some mss. have it in Act 8:8, of joy (see No. 2). See also Note (2) below. See GREATEST, HIGH, LOUD, MIGHTY, STRONG.
<2,,4183, polus>
"much, many, great," is used of number, e.g., Luk 5:6, Act 11:21; degree, e.g., of harvest, Mat 9:37 [See Note (8)]; mercy, 1Pe 1:3, RV, "great" (AV, "abundant"); glory, Mat 24:30; joy, Phm 1:7, RV, "much" (AV, "great"); peace, Act 24:2. The best mss. have it in Act 8:8 (RV, "much"), of joy. See ABUNDANT, COMMON, Note (1), LONG, MANY, MUCH, OFT, SORE, STRAITLY.
<3,,2425, hikanos>
lit., "reaching to" (from hikano, "to reach"), denotes "sufficient, competent, fit," and is sometimes rendered "great," e.g., of number (of people), Mar 10:46; of degree (of light), Act 22:6. See ABLE, ENOUGH, GOOD, LARGE, LONG, MANY, MEET, MUCH, SECURITY, SUFFICIENT, WORTHY.
<4,,2245, helikos>
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, Col 2:1, AV, "what great (conflict) I have;" RV, "how greatly (I strive);" of much wood as kindled by a little fire, Jam 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 Gal 6:11; the most authentic have No. 5.
<5,,4080, pelikos>
primarily a direct interrogative, "how large? how great?" is used in exclamations, indicating magnitude, like No. 4 (No. 6 indicates quantity), in Gal 6:11, of letter characters (see No. 4, Note); in Heb 7:4, metaphorically, of the distinguished character of Melchizedek.
<6,,4214, posos>
an adjective of number, magnitude, degree etc., is rendered "how great" in Mat 6:23. See MANY, MUCH.
<7,,3745, hosos>
"how much, how many," is used in the neuter plural to signify how great things, Mar 1:5,20, Luk 8:39 (twice); Act 9:16, AV (RV, "how many things"); in Rev 21:16 (in the best mss.), "as great as," RV (AV, "as large as," said of length). See ALL, MANY, No. 5, WHATSOEVER.
<8,,5118, tosoutos>
"so great, so many, so much," of quantity, size, etc., is rendered "so great," in Mat 8:10, Luk 7:9, of faith; Mat 15:33, of a multitude; Heb 12:1, of a cloud of witnesses; Rev 18:17, of riches. See LARGE, LONG, MANY, MUCH.
<9,,5082, telikoutos>
"so great," is used in the NT of things only, a death, 2Co 1:10; salvation, Heb 2:3; ships, Jam 3:4; an earthquake, Rev 16:18, AV, "so mighty," corrected in the RV to "so great." See MIGHTY.
Notes: (1) In Mar 7:36, "so much the more a great deal" translates a phrase lit. signifying "more abundantly;" in Mar 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 Mar 6:21, see Lord; in Rev 6:15, Rev 18:23, see PRINCE. (3) In Luk 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 Luk 10:13, the adverb palai, "of old, long ago," is so rendered in the RV (AV, "a great while ago"). (5) In 2Pe 1:4, megistos, the superlative of megas (No. 1), said of the promises of God, is rendered "exceeding great." (6) In Mat 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 Rev 21:10, the most authentic mss. omit "that great" [RV, "the holy (city)"]. (8) In Luk 10:2, the RV renders polus by "plenteous" (AV, "great"). (9) In Mar 1:35, the adverb lian, exceedingly (see GREATLY), is rendered "a great while." See DAY, B. (10) In Luk 1:49 some texts have megaleia, "great things;" the best have No. 1.
