G4128 — πλῆθος (plēthos)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G4128
Original: πλῆθος
Transliteration: plēthos
Pronunciation: play'-thos
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: πλήθω (plēthō) — to fill, to be full; i.e., a fulness, a large number
Occurrences: 32 unique verses (32 tokens) across 7 NT books
First Occurrence: Mark 3:7 — "a great multitude from Galilee followed him"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A fulness, i.e., a large number, throng, populace. From πλήθω (plēthō, "to fill"). Neuter collective noun denoting a mass or body of persons (or things) viewed as a unit. KJV renderings: multitude, bundle, company.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 059 — Quantity
Subdomain: 059001 — Many, Few (Countables)
Other words in subdomain: βραχύς (G1024), ἐλάσσων (G1640), ἱκανός (G2425), ὀλίγος (G3641), ὅσος (G3745), πλήρης (G4134), πολύς (G4183), πόσος (G4214), τοσοῦτος (G5118)
Also in Domain: 011 — Groups and Classes of Persons
Subdomain: 011001 — General

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
multitude	23	71.9%
the multitude	3	9.4%
a multitude	2	6.2%
a bundle	1	3.1%
company	1	3.1%
in multitude	1	3.1%
multitudes	1	3.1%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Acts	17	1.7
1 Peter	1	1.0
James	1	0.9
Luke	8	0.7
Mark	2	0.3
Hebrews	1	0.3
John	2	0.2

Heavily concentrated in Luke-Acts (25 of 32 occurrences, 78%). Acts alone accounts for more than half of all uses. Absent from Paul's letters, Revelation, and all other epistles except James, 1 Peter, and Hebrews (one each). This is distinctively Lukan vocabulary.

Morphological Profile¶

Case	Count	%
Nominative Sg	21	67.7%
Accusative Sg	6	19.4%
Genitive Sg	3	9.7%
Dative Sg	1	3.2%

Only one plural form in the entire NT: πλήθη (Acts 5:14, nominative plural). The word overwhelmingly appears as a singular collective — 30 of 31 occurrences are singular, reflecting its core function as a group-denoting noun.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Corporate Body of Believers¶

The gathered community of faith viewed as a single unit. Often takes collective action (believing, agreeing, choosing).

Acts 4:32 — "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul"
Acts 6:2 — "the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them"
Acts 6:5 — "the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen"
Acts 15:12 — "all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul"

2. Crowd Following Jesus or the Apostles¶

A large group gathered around a central figure, typically in response to teaching or miracles.

Mark 3:7 — "a great multitude from Galilee followed him"
Luke 6:17 — "the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people"
Luke 19:37 — "the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God"
Acts 5:16 — "there came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem"

3. Civic or General Populace¶

An assembled group of people in a public setting, not necessarily believers.

Acts 14:4 — "the multitude of the city was divided"
Acts 19:9 — "spake evil of that way before the multitude"
Acts 21:36 — "the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him"
Acts 25:24 — "all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me"

4. Large Quantity of Things (Non-Human)¶

Applied to animals, objects, or abstract quantities rather than people.

Luke 5:6 — "they inclosed a great multitude of fishes"
John 21:6 — "they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes"
Acts 28:3 — "Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks" (unique physical sense)
James 5:20 — "shall hide a multitude of sins"
1 Peter 4:8 — "charity shall cover the multitude of sins"

5. Heavenly / Liturgical Assembly¶

A gathered group in worship or supernatural context.

Luke 1:10 — "the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense"
Luke 2:13 — "a multitude of the heavenly host praising God"

6. Converts / New Believers as a Group¶

People who come to faith described as a collective body.

Acts 5:14 — "believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women"
Acts 14:1 — "a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed"
Acts 17:4 — "of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
πολύς (polys)	G4183	8x (25%)	"great multitude" (πολὺ πλῆθος) — amplifying quantity
πᾶς (pas)	G3956	7x (22%)	"whole multitude" (ἅπαν/πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος) — totality of the group
ἅπας (hapas)	G537	5x (16%)	"the whole multitude" — emphasizes complete assembly
μαθητής (mathētēs)	G3101	5x (16%)	"multitude of the disciples" — the disciple-community
ἀκούω (akouō)	G191	5x (16%)	The multitude hears — teaching or news triggers assembly
λαός (laos)	G2992	4x (12%)	"multitude of the people" — populace in Lukan narrative
πιστεύω (pisteuō)	G4100	3x (9%)	"multitude…believed" — conversion formula in Acts
συνέρχομαι (synerchomai)	G4905	3x (9%)	"multitude came together" — assembly-gathering action

Word Family / Cognates¶

G4130 πλήθω / πίμπλημι (plēthō / pimplēmi) — to fill, to be filled (root verb)
G4129 πληθύνω (plēthynō) — to multiply, to increase in number (12x)
G4134 πλήρης (plērēs) — full (16x) — shares the "fullness" semantic root

Synonyms¶

G3793 ὄχλος (ochlos) — crowd, multitude (134x) — the most frequent NT synonym; ochlos is less formal, often disorganized or fickle; plethos stresses the group as a unit
G2992 λαός (laos) — people (132x) — covenant people or populace; more political/religious identity than plethos

Antonyms¶

G1218 δῆμος (dēmos) — the people, citizen body (4x) — civic assembly in formal political sense; antonymic in register: dēmos is institutional, plethos is aggregate

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ὄχλος (ochlos)	G3793	"multitude" (44x)	ochlos = disorderly crowd, mob-like; plethos = collective body, often unified in purpose
הָמוֹן (hamon)	H1995	"multitude" (10x OT)	hamon = tumult, noisy throng (OT only); plethos is NT Greek with no chaotic connotation

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 011001 — General)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Vv	Primary KJV	Key Difference
G3793	ὄχλος	134	people, multitude	Disorganized crowd vs. plethos as unified body
G2992	λαός	132	people, the people	Covenant-people or political body; more identity-laden than plethos
G1074	γενεά	34	generation	Temporal group (age cohort) rather than spatial assembly
G3509	νέφος	1	a cloud	Metaphorical "cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1); same collective-mass imagery

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew	Transliteration	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
רֹב (rob)	rob	H7230	95x	29.62
הָמוֹן (hamon)	hamon	H1995	28x	18.79
רַב (rab)	rab	H7227	32x	11.59
רֶכֶב (rekeb)	rekeb	H7393	11x	9.59
רָבָה (rabah)	rabah	H7235	15x	8.96

The dominant Hebrew source is H7230 רֹב (rob) — "abundance, multitude" (95 co-occurrences, PMI 29.62). The LXX consistently uses plethos to render rob when the sense is "great number/quantity." Secondary source H1995 הָמוֹן (hamon) — "tumult, multitude" (28 co-occurrences) adds the crowd-noise dimension absent from plethos itself. The rab/rabah family (H7227/H7235) reinforces the "great quantity" semantic field.