adjective
oligos
Strong’sG3641
small, brief, few, soon
stem olig-41 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books15 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Little or small, of size, amount, or degree, and few, of number 1234. It describes something puny or slight in extent, quantity, value, or degree, and can stand alone as a noun meaning "a little" or, in the plural, "few people/things" 123. It is also used of low or humble rank or condition 3.
As an adverb it describes a short time, meaning briefly, for a little while, or soon 1234, and can likewise describe a short distance or space 13. Set phrases built on this sense include expressions meaning "in a few words" or "briefly," "not a little" (i.e. considerably), and "within a little" or "almost" 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ὀλίγος, -η, -ον
(on οὐχ ὁλ., v. infr.), [in LXX chiefly for מְעַט;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3641 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidol-ee'-gos
puny (in extent, degree, number, duration or value); especially neuter (adverbially) somewhat
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King James+ almost, brief(-ly), few, (a) little, + long, a season, short, small, a while.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
later ὀλίος (which see), of Size, little, small, frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+; ὀλίγῃ ὀπί with small, low voice, Refs; of stature,Refs 3rd c.BC+; of Space, ὀ. χῶρος Refs 8th c.BC+; of Time, χρόνος Refs 5th c.BC+
2 sometimes in a sense between that of Size and Quantity, ὀ. δόσις Refs 8th c.BC+not copious, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὑποστάσιες ὀλίγαι slight sediments, Refs; ὀ. καὶ οὐδέν little or nothing, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 of Degree, ὀ. καὶ μέγας of low and high degree, Refs 7th c.BC+
4 weak, ἀθυμοτέρη καὶ ὀλιγωτέρη φύσις Refs 5th c.BC+
II of Number, few, or of Quantity, little, not in Refs 8th c.BC+, frequently in Attic dialect, Refs 5th c.BC+, but rare in Trag., as ὀλίγα κακά Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν ὀ. δυναστεία, αἱ διὰ τῶν ὀ. δυναστεῖαι, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 with infinitive, ὀλίγους.. στρατιῇ τῇ Μήδων συμβαλεῖν too few to engage.., Refs 5th c.BC+
III neuter ὀλίγον as adverb, a little, slightly, little, with Verbs, ὀ. παρακλίνας Refs 8th c.BC+
III.2 with comparative adjectives, ὀλίγον προγενέστερος Refs 8th c.BC+; ὀ. τι πρότερον, variant for{ὀλίγῳ}, Refs 5th c.BC+; but ὀλίγῳ is more frequently in Prose, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV special Phrases:
IV.1 ὀλίγου δεῖν almost (see. δεῖ II); ὀλίγου ἐδέησε καταλαβεῖν wanted but little of overtaking, Refs 5th c.BC+ alone, within a little, allbut, almost, ὀλίγου σεκύνες διεδηλήσαντο Refs 8th c.BC+close upon Refs 5th c.BC+; ὀ. ἦλθεν ἑλεῖνRefs 2nd c.AD+
IV.2 δι᾽ ὀλίγου at a short distance, Refs 5th c.BC+; for (during) a short time, Refs 5th c.BC+; within or after a short time, Refs; but
IV.2.b δι᾽ ὀλίγων in few words, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.3 ἐν ὀλίγῳ (χώρῳ is added in Refs 5th c.BC+ in a small space, within small compass, Refs 5th c.BC+; κυκλωθέντων ἐν ὀ.Refs 4th c.BC+; also ἐν ὀ. (i.e. χρόνῳ) for a brief time, Refs 5th c.BC+; but also, in a short time, quickly, ἔγνων καὶ περὶ τῶν ποιητῶν ἐν ὀ. τοῦτο NT+5th c.BC+
IV.3.b ἐν ὀλίγοις one among few, i.e. exceedingly, remarkably, ποταμὸς ἐν ὀ. μέγας Refs 5th c.BC+: frequently in later writers, Refs 1st c.AD+
IV.4 ἐξ ὀλίγου at short notice, suddenly, ἐξ ὀ. καὶ δι᾽ ὀργῆς Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.5 ἐς ὀλίγον, like{παρ᾽ ὀλίγον}, within a little, ἐς ὀ. ἀφίκετο τὸ στράτευμα νικηθῆναι Refs
IV.6 ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγον for a short time, Refs 5th c.BC+; a little at a time, Refs 5th c.BC+a little way on, near the beginning, Refs 2nd c.AD+
IV.7 κατ᾽ ὀλίγον by little and little, Refs 5th c.BC+: but the adjective frequently takes the gender and number of its substantive, κατ᾽ ὀλίγους Refs 5th c.BC+; οὗτοι κατ᾽ ὀλίγους γινόμενοι ἐμάχοντο fought few at a time, in small parties, Refs 5th c.BC+; κατ᾽ ὀλίγον μαχεῖται (i.e. τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν) Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.8 μετ᾽ ὀλίγον τούτων shortly after.., Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.9 παρ᾽ ὀλίγον with little to spare, only just, ἀπέφυγες Refs 5th c.BC+; to within a short distance of, παρ᾽ ὀ. ἦλθε.. ἐκπεσεῖν Refs 2nd c.BC+; but
IV.9.b παρ᾽ ὀ. ποιεῖσθαι hold of small account, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV.10 σὺν ὀλίγοις, ={ἐν ὀλίγοις, ἐπαινεθῆναι} Refs 1st c.AD+
V regular adverb ὀλίγως is rare, NT+2nd c.AD+
VI Comparison:
VI.1 the comparative is commonly supplied by μείων, ἥσσων, or ἐλάσσων (which see); the older form ὀλείζων (from *ὀλειγ-yων) is found in Refs 8th c.BC+; so in Attic dialect Inscrr., Refs 5th c.BC+; so in Alexandrian Poets, Refs 3rd c.BC+; ἐς ὀλίζονας ἀστέρας ἄρκτου poetical cited in Refs 2nd c.BC+; ὀλιζότερος is found in Refs 3rd c.AD+, compare ὀλιζό; ὀλιγώτερος is found in Refs 5th c.BC+ (with the sense weaker, seeRefs 2nd c.AD+
VI.2 superlative ὀλίγιστος, η, ον, always of Number or Quantity, Refs 8th c.BC+; ὀλιγίστου, superlative of ὀλίγου (cf. IV. I), very nearly, Refs 5th c.AD+; ὀλίγιστον as adverb, least, very little, Refs 5th c.BC+at least, Refs; ἐν ὀλιγίστῳ διασαφῶν Refs 5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
2 rarer renderings are not shown; every occurrence below carries the English it was given there.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | oligos2×ὀλίγος | oligas | oligem10×ὀλίγον | oligois7×ὀλίγοι | oligais1×ὀλίγαι | oligeim6×ὀλίγα |
| object accusative | oligon3×ὀλίγον | oligan1×ὀλίγην | oligoin | oligain2×ὀλίγας | ||
| direct address vocative | oligor | oligar | oligoir | oligair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | oligou1×ὀλίγου | oligau1×ὀλίγης | oligeu | oligoiu1×ὀλίγων | oligaiu | oligeiu1×ὀλίγων |
| to, for dative | oligo1×ὀλίγῳ | oliga | olige3×ὀλίγῳ | oligoi1×ὀλίγοις | oligai | oligei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
olig is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
41 occurrences, every one of them listed
oligos“small”subjectnominative singular2×
Acts 12:18Generantau de hēmerau ate tarachos ouk oligos en toi stratiōtoi, tinem ara tos …At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to …
Acts 19:23“little”… kata ton kairon ekeinon tarachos ouk oligos peri tau hodau.About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.
oligon“some”objectaccusative singular3×
Acts 14:28“little”diatribale de chronon ouk oligon sun toi mathētoi.And they spent a long time there with the disciples.
1 Timothy 4:8“some”tas gar sōmatikas gumnasias pros oligon atō ōfelimas, tas de eusebeias pros …For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life …
Revelation 12:12… vin, echarōntos thumon megon, horarēntos hoti oligon kairon echatō.… you, knowing he has only a short time.”
oligou“small”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Acts 27:20“small”… epi polloterain hēmerain, cheimōnou tē ouk oligou epikeiorōntou, loipem periairote elpidas pantas teu …… stars appeared for many days and the great storm continued to batter us, we abandoned all hope of being …
oligo“a little”to, fordative singular1×
1 Timothy 5:23mēketi hudropotasōr, alla oino oligo chrosōr dia ton stomachon kai tain …Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach …
oligan“little”objectaccusative singular1×
Acts 19:24“little”… argurouoin Artemiau parechote toi technitoi ouk oligan ergasian,… who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.
oligau“small”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Acts 15:2“small”generantau de stasiau kai zētēsiau ouk oligau to Paulo kai to Barnabo pros …And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about …
oligem“little”subject or objectdirect singular10×
Mark 1:19kai probainarantos oligem horata Iakōbon ton tou Zebedaiou kai …Going on a little farther, He saw James son of …
Mark 6:31… idian eis erēmon topon kai anapauevar oligem. ale gar tois erchorōntois kai tois …… and let us rest for a while.” For many people were coming and …
Luke 5:3… erōtata auton apo tau gēau epanagara oligem, kathizarantos de ek teu ploieu didaskate …… and asked him to put out a little from shore. And sitting down, He …
Luke 7:47… agapata pollem; ho de oligem afiēkotō, oligem agapatō.… who has been forgiven little loves little.”
2 Corinthians 8:15… pollem ouk pleonazata, kai tos tem oligem ouk elattonata.… no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.”
James 4:14… vu; atmidas gar avō tas pros oligem fanorōntas, epeita kai afanizorōntas;… are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
1 Peter 1:6en ho agalliovō, oligem arti ei darōntem lupirantois en poikiloi …… this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer …
1 Peter 5:10… tan aiōnian autou doxan en Christo, oligem pascharantoin autos katartizati, stērizati, sthenati, themeliati.And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who …
Revelation 17:10… allosos oupō erchata, kai hotan erchateia oligem auton datō menara,… come, he must remain for only a little while.
Luke 7:47… pollais, hoti agapata pollem; ho de oligem afiēkotō, oligem agapatō.… But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
olige“short time”to, fordative singular3×
Acts 26:28… de Agrippos pros ton Paulon; En olige min peithasō Christianon poiara.… you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”
Acts 26:29… Euchemoia an to theo kai en olige kai en mege ouk monon sin …“Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish …
Ephesians 3:3“brief”… mi tem mustēriem, kathōs prografama en olige,that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
oligois“few”subjectnominative plural7×
Matthew 7:14… tas apagarōntas eis tan zōan, kai oligois alō tois heuriskarōntois autan.… leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 9:37… men therismos pollos, tois de ergatois oligois;… is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Matthew 22:14pollois gar alō klētois oligois de eklektois.For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Luke 10:2… men therismos pollos, tois de ergatois oligois; divar oun tou kuriou tou therismou …… is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest …
Luke 13:23legata de tinos auto; Kurior, ei oligois tois sōzorōntois? tos de legata pros …“Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few people be saved?” Jesus answered,
Acts 17:12… gunaikaiu taiu euschēmōnaiu kai androiu ouk oligois.… of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
1 Peter 3:20… hēmerai Nōe kataskeuazorōntau kibōtau eis han oligois, houtem atō oktō psuchais, diasōzila dia …… was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved …
oligoiu“short”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
1 Peter 5:12“short”… tou pistou adelfou, hōs logizomō, dia oligoiu grafama, parakalarōntos kai epimarturarōntos houtan arō …… I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace …
oligoi“a few”to, fordative plural1×
Mark 6:5… ekei poiara oudenan dunamian, ei mē oligoi arrōstoi epititharantos tain cheirain therapeuata;… except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.
oligais“a few”subjectnominative plural1×
Acts 17:4… pollem gunaikaiu tē taiu prōtaiu ouk oligais.… number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.
oligain“light”objectaccusative plural2×
Luke 12:48“light”… gnōskarantos poiarantos de axieim plēgaiu deriti oligain. panto de ho dōita pollem, pollem …… blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be …
Hebrews 12:10tois men gar pros oligain hēmerain kata tem dokarōntem autoi paideuale, …Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but …
oligeim“a few”subject or objectdirect plural6×
Matthew 15:34… echavō? tois de legala; Hepta, kai oligeim ichthudieim.… Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
Matthew 25:21… Euōs, doulor agathor kai pistor, epi oligeim ase pistos, epi polleiu sin katastēami; …… servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in …
Matthew 25:23… Euōs, doulor agathor kai pistor, epi oligeim ase pistos, epi polleiu sin katastēami; …… servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in …
Mark 8:7kai echale ichthudieim oligeim; kai eulogarantos auteim legata kai houteim …They also had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed them …
Revelation 2:14alla echamō kata su oligeim, hoti echasō ekei kratarōntoin tan didachan …But I have a few things against you, because some of …
Revelation 3:4alla echasō oligeim onomeim en Sardiai heim ouk molunala …But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not …
oligeiu“few things”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Luke 10:42“few things”oligeiu de atō chreias ē heneu; Mariam …But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen …