All

"all; the whole." The noun kol, derived from kalal, has cognates in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Phoenician, and Moabite. Kol appears in biblical Hebrew about 5,404 times and in all periods. Biblical Aramaic attests it about 82 times.

The word can be used alone, meaning "the entirety," "whole," or "all," as in: "And thou shalt put all [kol] in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons …" (Exod 29:24).

Kol can signify everything in a given unit whose members have been selected from others of their kind: "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose" (Gen 6:2).

"whole offering." This word represents the "whole offering" from which the worshiper does not partake: "It is a statue for ever unto the Lord; it shall be wholly burnt" (Lev 6:22).

"all; whole; entirety; every; each." When kol precedes a noun, it expresses a unit and signifies the whole: "These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread" (Gen 9:19). Kol may also signify the entirety of a noun that does not necessarily represent a unit: "All the people, both small and great" entered into the covenant (2Kings 23:2). The use of the word in such instances tends to unify what is not otherwise a unit.

Kol can precede a word that is only part of a larger unit or not part of a given unit at all. In this case, the prominent idea is that of "plurality," a heterogeneous unit: "And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egytian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field" (Gen 39:5).

Related to the preceding nuance is the use of kol to express comprehensiveness. Not only does it indicate that the noun modified is a plurality, but also that the unit formed by the addition of kol includes everything in the category indicated by the noun: "All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained" (Josh 21:26). In Gen 1:21 (its first occurrence), the word precedes a collective noun and may be translated "every": "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth,…"

When used to refer to the individual members of a group, kol means "every": "His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him" (Gen 16:12). Another example: "Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards" (Isa 1:23). Related to this use is the meaning "none but."

In Deut 19:15, kol means "every kind of" or "any"; the word focuses on each and every member of a given unit: "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth…" A related nuance appears in Gen 24:10, but here the emphasis is upon "all sort": "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all [i.e., a variety of] the goods of his master were in his hand."

"the entire; whole." In Num 4:6, kalîl refers to the "cloth wholly of blue." In other words, it indicates "the entire" cloth.

"to perfect." This common Semitic root appears in biblical Hebrew only 3 times. Ezek 27:11 is a good example: "… They have made thy beauty perfect [kalal]."

radically means "all." Used without the article it means "every," every kind or variety. So the RV marg. in Eph 2:21, "every building," and the text in Eph 3:15, "every family," and the RV marg. of Act 2:36, "every house;" or it may signify "the highest degree," the maximum of what is referred to, as, "with all boldness" Act 4:29. Before proper names of countries, cities and nations, and before collective terms, like "Israel," it signifies either "all" or "the whole," e.g., Mat 2:3, Act 2:36. Used with the article, it means the whole of one object. In the plural it signifies "the totality of the persons or things referred to." Used without a noun it virtually becomes a pronoun, meaning "everyone" or "anyone." In the plural with a noun it means "all." One form of the neuter plural (panta) signifies "wholly, together, in all ways, in all things," Act 20:35, 1Co 9:25. The neuter plural without the article signifies "all things severally," e.g., Joh 1:3, 1Co 2:10; preceded by the article it denotes "all things," as constituting a whole, e.g., Rom 11:36, 1Co 8:6, Eph 3:9. See EVERY, Note (1), WHOLE.

a strengthened form of pas, signifies "quite all, the whole," and, in the plural, "all, all things." Preceded by an article and followed by a noun it means "the whole of." In 1Ti 1:16 the significance is "the whole of His longsuffering," or "the fulness of His longsuffering." See EVERY, WHOLE.

"the whole, all," is most frequently used with the article followed by a noun, e.g., Mat 4:23. It is used with the article alone, in Joh 7:23, "every whit;" Act 11:26, Act 21:31, Act 28:30, Tit 1:11, Luk 5:5, in the best texts. See ALTOGETHER.

Note: The adjective holokleros, lit., "whole-lot, entire," stresses the separate parts which constitute the whole, no part being incomplete. See ENTIRE.

signifies "at all," Mat 5:34, 1Co 15:29; "actually," 1Co 5:1, RV (AV, wrongly, "commonly"); "altogether," 1Co 6:7 (AV, "utterly").

Notes: (1) Holoteles, from A, No. 3, and telos, "complete," signifies "wholly, through and through," 1Th 5:23, lit., "whole complete;" there, not an increasing degree of sanctification is intended, but the sanctification of the believer in every part of his being.

(2) The synonym katholou, a strengthened form of holou signifies "at all," Act 4:18.

when used without a negative, signifies "wholly, entirely, by all means," Act 18:21 (AV); 1Co 9:22; "altogether," 1Co 9:10; "no doubt, doubtless," Luk 4:23, RV (AV, surely"); Act 28:4. In Act 21:22 it is translated "certainly," RV, for AV, "needs" (lit., "by all means"). With a negative it signifies "in no wise," Rom 3:9, 1Co 5:10, 1Co 16:12 ("at all"). See ALTOGETHER, DOUBT (NO), MEANS, SURELY, WISE.

the neuter plural of hosos, "as much as," chiefly used in the plural, is sometimes rendered "all that," e.g., Act 4:23, Act 14:27. It really means "whatsoever things." See Luk 9:10, RV, "what things."