Basic HTML Version
(
&
, 4518) first denoted “reverend, august, venerable” (akin to
, “to reverence”); then, “serious, grave,” whether of persons, 1 Tim. 3:8, 11
(deacons and their wives); Titus 2:2 (aged men); or things, Phil. 4:8,
RV
, “honorable”
(marg., “reverend”),
KJV
, “honest.” Trench (
- !
Sec.xcii) points out that “grave” and
“gravity” fail to cover the full meaning of their original; “the word we want is one in
which the sense of gravity and dignity is combined.” Cremer describes it as denoting
what inspires reverence and awe, and says that
and
, “holy, consecrated,”
are only secondary designations of the conception of holiness. “The word points to
seriousness of purpose and to self-respect in conduct” (Moule).¶ Cf.
, “gravity”
(see below).
GRAVE-CLOTHES
(
$&
, 2750) denotes, firstly, “a band” either for a bed girth, or bed sheets
themselves (Sept. of Prov. 7:16.¶); then, “the swathings wrapped round a corpse”; it is
used in the plural in John 11:44.¶
GRAVEN
(
1$
, 5480), from
, “to engrave” (akin to
, “an
impress,”
RV
, marg., of Heb. 1:3), denotes (a) “a mark” or “stamp,” e.g., Rev. 13:16, 17;
14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4; 15:2 in some mss.; (b) “a thing graven,” Acts 17:29.¶
GRAVITY
(
, 4587) denotes “venerableness, dignity”; it is a necessary
characteristic of the life and conduct of Christians, 1 Tim. 2:2,
RV
, “gravity” (
KJV
,
“honesty”), a qualification of a bishop or overseer in a church, in regard to his children, 1
Tim. 3:4; a necessary characteristic of the teaching imparted by a servant of God, Titus
2:7.¶ Cf. the adjective
, under
GRAVE
.
GREAT
1.
(
!
, 3173) is used (a) of external form, size, measure, e.g., of a stone,
Matt. 27:60; fish, John 21:11; (b) of degree and intensity, e.g., of fear, Mark 4:41; wind,
John 6:18; Rev. 6:13,
RV
, “great” (
KJV
, “mighty”); of a circumstance, 1 Cor. 9:11; 2 Cor.
11:15; in Rev. 5:2, 12, the
RV
has “great” (
KJV
, “loud”), of a voice; (c) of rank, whether
of persons, e.g., God, Titus 2:13; Christ as a “great Priest,” Heb. 10:21,
RV
; Diana, Acts
19:27, Simon Magus, Acts 8:9 “(some) great one”; in the plural “great ones,” Matt.
20:25; Mark 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 Acts 8:8, of joy (see No. 2). See also
Note
(2) below. See
GREATEST
,
HIGH
,
LOUD
,
MIGHTY
,
STRONG
.
2.
$
(
"
, 4183), “much, many, great,” is used of number, e.g., Luke 5:6; Acts
11:21; degree, e.g., of harvest, Matt. 9:37 [See
Note
(8)]; mercy, 1 Pet. 1:3,
RV
“great”
(
KJV
, “abundant”); glory, Matt. 24:30; joy, Philem. 7,
RV
, “much” (
KJV
, “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.
(
,
, 2425), lit., “reaching to” (from
, “to reach”), denotes
“sufficient, competent, fit,” and is sometimes rendered “great,” e.g., of number (of