Great - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Great

[ 1,,G3173, megas ]
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.

[ 2,,G4183, polus ]
"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.

[ 3,,G2425, hikanos ]
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.

[ 4,,G2245, 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, 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.

[ 5,,G4080, pelikos ]
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.

[ 6,,G4214, posos ]
an adjective of number, magnitude, degree etc., is rendered "how great" in Matthew 6:23. See MANY, MUCH.

[ 7,,G3745, hosos ]
"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.

[ 8,,G5118, tosoutos ]
"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.

[ 9,,G5082, telikoutos ]
"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; Revelation 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.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words