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Thus we have
, meaning “exceeding much”: “Since the people began to bring
the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty
[literally, “the remainder is exceeding much”] …” (2 Chron. 31:10).
(
, 7227), “chief.” This word is a transliteration of the Akkadian
, an
indication of “military rank” similar to our word
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officers| of his house].…”
One should especially note the titles in Jeremiah: “And all the princes [officials] of the
king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergal-shar-ezer, Samgar-
nebo, Sarsechim, Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, with all the residue of the princes
of the king of Babylon” (39:3). Verses 9, 10, 11, and 13 of Jeremiah 39 mention
Nebuzaradan as the “captain” of the bodyguard.
C. Adjective.
(
, 7227), “many; great; large; prestigious; powerful.” This adjective has a
cognate in biblical Aramaic. The Hebrew word appears about 474 times in the Old
Testament and in all periods.
First, this word represents plurality in number or amount, whether applied to people
or to things.
is applied to people in Gen. 26:14: “For he [Isaac] had possession of
flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants.…” In Gen. 13:6, the word is
applied to things: “And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell
together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.” This word
is sometimes used of “large groups of people” (Exod. 5:5). This basic idea of “numerical
multiplicity” is also applied to amounts of liquids or masses of non-liquids: “And Moses
lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out
abundantly …” (Num. 20:11); a “great” amount of water came forth. Rebekah told
Abraham’s servant that her father had “straw and provender enough, and room to lodge
in” (Gen. 24:25).
The phrase “many waters” is a fixed phrase meaning the “sea”: “… Thou whom the
merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And by great waters the
seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue …” (Isa. 23:2-3). “And the channels
of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the
Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He sent from above, he took me; he drew
me out of many waters …” (2 Sam. 22:16-17). This imagery is used in several Old
Testament poetical passages; it would be wrong to conclude that this view of the world
was true or actual. On the other hand, Gen. 7:11 uses a related phrase as a figure of the
“sources of all water”: “… The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken
up.…”
Used in conjunction with “days” or “years,”
means “long,” and the resulting
phrase means “a long time”: “And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many
days” (Gen. 21:34).
The word can be used metaphorically, describing an abstract concept: “And God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5—the first biblical occurrence).
This use of
does not describe the relative
2 $
of the thing modified, but its