Subject: Properly Interpreting the Bible |
Bible Note: Greetings Kalos! May I briefly post am alternative treatment of this word? The words 'all', 'whole', ect..., refer to exactly what they say in the Greek, unless they are modified in some manner. For instance, in Matt. 2:16, the word 'all' is modified by the phrase, "the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under". I don't know of any instances where an unmodified 'all' would mean less than all. ;-) The examples that Studylight.org uses to prove otherwise are not convincing. In the first case, the Pharisees said that the 'whole world' had gone after Him. Whether or not their statement is factual is not the point. They were probably using hyperbole, but that doesn't change the meaning of the word 'all' or 'whole'. In the second case, who are we to question a clear statement of Scripture. If Scripture says all Judea was baptized, then I believe all Judea was baptized. There is no counter statement that would demand us to understand the statement differently, only our 'assumption' that all Judea could not have been baptized. The last example from 1 John 5:19 ignores the context of 1 John. John distinguishes between the 'world' and believers. The whole world does 'lie in the evil one'. So, the word 'all' can refer to a sub-group when it is modified by other words, but otherwise, it simply means 'all'. :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |