Greek word · G2035
ἑπτακισχίλιοι
heptakischilioi
seven thousand
"Seven thousand men". Ancient counts of people usually tallied adult males. Seven carried associations of completeness. Large round numbers in such accounts often stand for "a great many" without claiming to be a precise headcount.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
"Seven thousand men". Ancient counts of people usually tallied adult males. Seven carried associations of completeness. Large round numbers in such accounts often stand for "a great many" without claiming to be a precise headcount.
- Against the English
KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, ESV and NASB all keep "men". Some modern versions drop it (NLT has "7,000 others"), which matches the Hebrew. Either way the point is the size of the group, not that only males counted.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Hebrew of 1 Kings 19:18 has "seven thousand" with no word for men. The Greek Old Testament adds "of men" (andrōn), and Paul follows the Greek.
Similar words
Where it appears
Romans · 1
-
Romans 11:4 ἑπτακισχιλίους seven thousand
And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
Here: A large, full-sounding number. Seven carried a sense of completeness. Set against Elijah's "I alone", it says the faithful are far more than the prophet could see.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.