noun · neuter
plēthem
Strong’sG4128
a multitude
stem plēth-31 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books4 of 6 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
πλῆθος means a large number or quantity of things or people 124. It is used of things such as fish, sticks, sins, or an amount too great to count 1, and of people gathered together, often translated "a great number" or "a multitude" 12. In one place it is used of an amount so large it is described in terms of "multitude" rather than by counting 1.
With the article, πλῆθος can also mean the whole company or assembled body of people present, "the multitude" as a collective group rather than simply a large quantity 1. In this sense it can refer to a whole gathered crowd, congregation, or group of people acting or being addressed as a single body 1.
More broadly, in Greek literature generally (though not in this biblical sense) the word can also describe the greater or major part of something, the common people or masses as opposed to rulers or the few, an association or guild, sheer quantity or amount, physical size or extent, length of time, or plurality as opposed to unity 3.
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
πλῆθος, -ους, τό,
[in LXX chiefly for רֹב, also for הָמוֹן, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G4128 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidplay'-thos
a fulness, i.e. a large number, throng, populace
Fromfrom G4130;
King Jamesbundle, company, multitude.
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
Doric dialect and Refs 4th c.AD+ πλῆθος Refs 5th c.BC+; Boeotian dialect πλεῖθος Refs; pseudo-Doric dialect and pseudo-Aeolic dialect πλᾶθος Refs 1st c.BC+ see at {πίμπλημι}):—great number, multitude, especially of people, Refs 8th c.BC+; στρατοῦ π., periphrastic for στρατὸς πολύς, Refs; ὡς πλήθει for the mass of men, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 τὸ π. the greater number, the mass, main body, τὸ π. τοῦ στρατοῦ Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ π. τῆς ψυχῆς the largest part of.., Refs 5th c.BC+: as Noun of Multitude with plural Verb, Ἀθηναίων τὸ π. οἴονται Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ π. ἐψηφίσαντο πολεμεῖν the majority,Refs 5th c.BC+; τῷ π. by a majority, Refs 5th c.BC+: hence, people, population, σμικρὸν τὸ π. τῆσδε γῆς Refs 5th c.BC+
2.b the commons, Refs 5th c.BC+: frequently of the popular assembly, τὸ ὑμέτερον π., τὸ π. τὸ ὑμέτερον, Refs 5th c.BC+; Ἐρυθραίων τῷ π., Ἀθηναίων τοῦ π., Refs; = Latin plebs, Refs 2nd c.BC+; also, association, corporation, or guild, τὸ π. τὸ Ἁλιαδᾶν Refs; τὸ τῶν Πανιαστῶν π. Refs 3rd c.BC+; π. τῶν ἁλιέων Refs 3rd c.BC+; τὸ π. τῶν μαχαιροφόρων Refs 2nd c.BC+; opposed to αἱ ἀρχαί, οἱ ὀλίγοι, Refs 5th c.BC+; but also, populace, mob, opposed to δῆμος (commons), Refs 5th c.BC+ the masses, Refs 5th c.BC+
II quantity or number, πόσον π. ἦν νεῶν Ἑλληνίδω; Refs 5th c.BC+in force, Refs 5th c.BC+
III magnitude, size, or extent, [ὄρος] πλήθεϊ μέγιστον καὶ μεγάθεϊ ὑψηλότατον Refs 5th c.BC+; πεδίον πλῆθος ἄπειρονRefs 5th c.BC+
III.2 in Attic dialect, of quantity or amount, διὰ π. τῆς ζημίας Refs 5th c.BC+multa sudans, Refs 2nd c.BC+; τὸ παρακείμενον π. the amount entered against each, Refs 2nd c.BC+; of money, τὸ ἴσον π. Refs: in plural, quantities, ἐμβρύων Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3 more than enough, π. φέρειν LXX
III.4 plurality, opposed to ἕν, Refs 5th c.AD+
IV of Time, length, χρόνου Refs 5th c.BC+
V with Preps., or adverbs, ἐς π. in great numbers, Refs 5th c.BC+; κατὰ πλῆθος a large number at a time, Refsusually, mostly, 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | plēthem18×πλῆθος | plētheim1×πλήθη |
| of, belonging to genitive | plētheu4×πλήθους | plētheiu |
| to, for dative | plēthe1×πλήθει | plēthei |
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
plēthe 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.
31 occurrences, every one of them listed
plēthem“crowd”subject or objectdirect singular18×
Mark 3:7… anachōrata pros tan thalassan; kai pollem plēthem apo tau Galilaiau akolouthata, kai apo …… the sea, accompanied by a large crowd from Galilee, Judea,
Mark 3:8… Iordanou kai peri Turan kai Sidōnan, plēthem pollem, akouarōntois hoseim poiate erchala pros …… of Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him when they heard …
Luke 1:10“multitude”kai pantem tem plēthem ate tou laou proseuchorōntem exō ta …And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.
Luke 2:13kai exaifnōs geneta sun to angelo plēthem stratiau ouraniau ainarōntoiu ton theon kai …… appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God …
Luke 6:17“multitude”… kai ochlos pollos mathētoiu autou, kai plēthem pollem tou laou apo pantau tau …… place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast …
Luke 8:37kai erōtata auton hapantem tem plēthem tau perichōrau toiu Gerasēnoiu aperchara apo …Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes …
Luke 19:37“crowd”… Oreu taiu Elaiaiu archela hapantem tem plēthem toiu mathētoiu chairarōntois ainarō ton theon …… He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they …
Luke 23:1“assembly”Kai anastēarantem hapantem tem plēthem autoiu agala auton epi ton Pilaton.Then the whole council rose and led Jesus away to Pilate.
Luke 23:27“crowd”Akolouthate de auto pollem plēthem tou laou kai gunaikaiu hais koptole …A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept mourning and wailing …
John 5:3“multitude”en houtai katakeiote plēthem toiu asthenarōntoiu, tufloiu, chōloiu, xēroiu.On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
Acts 2:6… de tau fōnau houtau sunerchata tem plēthem kai sunchita, hoti akouale henos hekastos …… when this sound rang out, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each …
Acts 5:16“people”sunerchote de kai tem plēthem taiu perix polaiu Ierousalēm, ferarōntois asthenoin …Crowds also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented …
Acts 14:4schizita de tem plēthem tau polau, kai tois men ale …The people of the city were divided. Some …
Acts 15:12Sigata de pantem tem plēthem, kai akouale Barnabou kai Paulou exēgorōntoiu …The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to …
Acts 17:4… to Silo, toiu tē seborōntoiu Hellēnoiu plēthem pollem gunaikaiu tē taiu prōtaiu ouk …… number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.
Acts 21:36akolouthate gar tem plēthem tou laou krazarōntois; Airasōr auton.For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away …
Acts 23:7… Farisaioiu kai Saddoukaioiu, kai schizita tem plēthem.… the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
Acts 25:24… theōravō houton peri hou hapantem tem plēthem toiu Ioudaioiu entunchanala mi en tē …… see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him, both …
plētheu“group”of, belonging togenitive singular4×
John 21:6“large number”… ouketi autem helkara ischuale apo teu plētheu toiu ichthoiu.… unable to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
Acts 4:32“group”Teu de plētheu toiu pisteuarantoiu ate kardias kai psuchas …The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one …
Acts 6:5… areskata tos logos enōpion panteu teu plētheu, kai eklegela Stefanon, andron plēros pistiau …This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full …
Acts 19:9“congregation”… apeithale kakologarōntois tan hodan enōpion teu plētheu, apostēarantos apo autoiu aforizata toin mathētoin, …… some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall …
plēthe“numerous”to, fordative singular1×
Hebrews 11:12… kathōs teim astreim tou ouranou te plēthe kai hōs tas ammoas tas para …… good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky …
plētheim“multitudes”subject or objectdirect plural1×
Acts 5:14“multitudes”mallon de prostithole pisteuarōntois to kurio plētheim androiu tē kai gunaikaiu;Yet more and more believers were brought to the Lord — large numbers of both men and women.
plēthem7×
Luke 5:6kai houtem poiarantois sunkleiala plēthem ichthoiu pollem, diarrēgote de teim diktueim …… so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began …
Acts 6:2“whole community”proskalerantois de tois dōdeka tem plēthem toiu mathētoiu legala; Ouk arestem atō …So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, “It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of …
Acts 14:1… pisteuara Ioudaioiu tē kai Hellēnoiu pollem plēthem.… spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
Acts 15:30… katerchala eis Antiocheian, kai sunagarantois tem plēthem epidōala tan epistolan;… to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.
Acts 28:3sustrefarantou de tou Paulou fruganeiu tinem plēthem kai epititharantou epi tan puran, echidnas …Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid …
James 5:20… psuchan autou ek thanatou kai kaluptati plēthem hamartaiu.… from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8… agapan ektenan echarōntois, hoti agapas kaluptatō plēthem hamartaiu;… deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.