Perry wrote: > Doesn't 'ALL' always mean 'ALL'? The word "all" has a range of meaning and often is not used in an absolute strict sense in the Greek Scriptures. Consider the following passage:
Acts 10:38 (38) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. This passage says that Jesus healed ALL that were oppressed of the devil. Yet, in Acts 3 & 4, Peter and John healed a man who was a regular beggar at the Temple who had been lame while Jesus was ministering at the Temple. This man had been lame for forty years, but he was never healed by Jesus who went to the Temple often to teach and probably passed this man often. Read John 5:3 indicating that in Bethesda, there was a great multitude of afflicted people waiting for the waters to move, but Jesus does not heal all of them, but singles out one man and heals him. Consider this other passage where the word "all" probably should not be taken in a strict sense: Matthew 4:24-25 (24) And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. (25) And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. Do you really think that every single sick person was brought to him? How then did he heal others later? The passage says that they brought unto him ALL sick people, but surely this is an expression with a common sense meaning that "all the sick" were coming to him, but not necessarily every single sick person. Context gives us the meaning of *all* and it should not always be taken to mean strictly every single person. Acts 3:11 says that as the lame man held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them into Solomon's porch. I don't take this to mean necessarily that every single person ran together. It seems very possible to me that maybe one person walked toward them or maybe even just looked over toward them while the majority ran together unto them. Shouldn't we use some common sense in reading these passages that have the word "all"? Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
