Big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Megas is the common Greek adjective for great, large, mighty, or significant, with comparative forms that English often renders greater or greatest. Its breadth means that the noun, comparison, and discourse must identify the kind of greatness in view.
Reader summary
Full entry for μέγας (G3173) · Open the biblical lexicon
Megas is the common Greek adjective for great, large, mighty, or significant, with comparative forms that English often renders greater or greatest. Its breadth means that the noun, comparison, and discourse must identify the kind of greatness in view.
The BSB source-word alignment has 243 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include great (70), a great (26), vvv (19), greater (15), a loud (12).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (80), Luke (33), Acts (31), Matthew (30).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Megas is the common Greek adjective for great, large, mighty, or significant, with comparative forms that English often renders greater or greatest. Its breadth means that the noun, comparison, and discourse must identify the kind of greatness in view. A storm may be great in intensity, a commandment in importance, love in measure, a person in standing, or praise in scale.
Scripture also overturns familiar measures of greatness. Jesus is great as the Son of the Most High and Davidic King. In His kingdom, the one who would become great must serve. The greatest commandment directs wholehearted love toward God and neighbor, and the greatest love is displayed in laying down one’s life. Acts describes great power attending resurrection testimony, while Revelation portrays a great heavenly multitude praising God.
The adjective marks magnitude or rank; the passage tells readers what deserves to be called great and how kingdom greatness differs from worldly status.
Megas marks size, intensity, importance, rank, or degree. Scripture’s nouns, comparisons, and narratives determine the scale and repeatedly place true greatness under God’s kingdom and saving work.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
Gabriel joins Jesus’ greatness to His identity as Son of the Most High and heir to David’s throne. The surrounding promise defines the greatness.
It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
Jesus contrasts Gentile domination with kingdom service. Greatness among His disciples is redirected toward serving others.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
Jesus identifies wholehearted love for God as first and greatest, then joins love of neighbor to it. Greatness here concerns comprehensive covenant priority.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
The comparative form identifies self-giving love as unsurpassed within Jesus’ command to love one another as He has loved His disciples.
With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.
Great power accompanies apostolic testimony to the risen Lord. The verse directs attention from human prestige to God-enabled witness.
After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
The scale of the multitude and its sound serves heaven’s praise after God’s just judgment. Greatness belongs within worship of His salvation and power.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Describes size, intensity, rank, or importance—applies broadly across physical, moral, and spiritual dimensions
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 242 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
large, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verselarge, great
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 240 lexical occurrence verses.
μέγας is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Megas is broad enough to describe ordinary magnitude and precise enough, in context, to expose what a passage values. Luke 1 does not leave Jesus’ greatness undefined: He is the Son of the Most High and Davidic King whose reign will not end. Matthew 20 confronts status-seeking by making service the path of greatness among Jesus’ disciples. Matthew 22 locates greatness in the command to love God wholly and neighbor faithfully.
John 15 measures greater love through self-giving action in the setting of Jesus’ own love and approaching cross. Acts 4 describes great power not as personal influence but as God-enabled testimony to the resurrection. Revelation 19 gives great scale to the multitude whose praise belongs to God’s salvation, glory, and power. Faithful preaching lets each object and comparison define the adjective.
It also allows the canon to recalibrate ambition: greatness is received, measured, and directed under the King rather than manufactured through prominence.
Luke.1.32
Megas is an adjective with masculine, feminine, and neuter forms and irregular comparative and superlative forms. It can mark physical extent, intensity, rank, importance, or degree. The governed artifact records a qualified local count basis, while the local BSB word table supplies 231 distinct New Testament verse witnesses.
The Old Testament repeatedly declares God great, magnifies His saving acts, and calls His people to love Him wholly. The New Testament applies greatness to the promised King, reorders human status through service, and gathers the redeemed in praise of God’s salvation and power.