> As I reflected upon this message, it occurred to me that one
> passage that
> might have been appealed to for this usage of PAS in the sense of
> 'most' or
> 'many' could be Mark 1:5-- KAI EXEPOREUETO PROS AUTON PASA hH >
> IOUDAIA CWRA
> KAI hOI hIEROSOLUMITAI PANTES, ..., certainly interesting
> phrasing,
> precisely because it seems to be stating as a precise fact what on
> the
> surface is not readily credible: that all the people of Judea and
> all the
> citizens of Jerusalem came to John the Baptist. I think
> commentators really
> want to water this down and say it doesn't really mean what it
> says, that
> surely it means "people from all over Judea" came to John the
> Baptist, and
> "just about everybody from Jerusalem" came to John the Baptist. I
> don't
> know of any other passage where it could be argued that PAS
> doesn't really
> mean "all" or is used in the casual sort of exaggerating way we
> say, "Why
> you ought to have been there! Everybody was there" or "Everybody
> who is
> anybody was there"--or the casual way a Frenchman will talk about
> "tout le
> monde" when he really thinks that 50,000 Frenchmen can't be wrong
> even when
> there are some outside the 50,000 who have a different opinion.
(...)
There are other passages in NT, where "all" is obviously used in the
sense of "many". Here are some examples in Matthew:
2:3 "When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and *all*
Jerusalem with him;"
8:34 "And behold, *all* the city came out to meet Jesus;
13:32 "it (the mustard seed) is the smallest of *all* seeds"
21:10 "And when he entered Jerusalem, *all* the city was stirred..."
21:26 "... we are afraid of the multitude; for *all* hold that John
was a prophet."
26:52 "... for *all* who take the sword will perish by the sword."
There are many examples, where it is said, that Jesus healed *all*.
But the context shows, that "many" is supposed:
Matthew 4:23-24 ("healing *every* disease and *every* infirmity...
his fame spread throughout *all* Syria, and they brought him *all*
the sick...")
Matthew 8:16 ("healed *all* who were sick.")
Matthew 9:35 ("healing *every* disease and *every* infirmity.")
Matthew 12:15 ("he healed them *all*...")
regards
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| Martin Arhelger |
| D-53121 Bonn |
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| martin.arhelger@metronet.de |
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