'Multitude' in the Bible

“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

“No longer shall your name be called Abram,But your name shall be Abraham;For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?”

For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”

The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,Bless the lads;And may my name live on in them,And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.

You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice;

The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.

Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

Now Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away; and they went here and there.

Further, he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house.

Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

Now behold, a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

One of his servants said, “Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see.”

Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile.

“So now you intend to resist the kingdom of the Lord through the sons of David, being a great multitude and having with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you.

Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”

Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).”

O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.

When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped.

For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon

“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.

“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,And a talkative man be acquitted?

Because I feared the great multitude,And the contempt of families terrified me,And kept silent and did not go out of doors?

“Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

Hold them guilty, O God;By their own devices let them fall!In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out,For they are rebellious against You.

These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

In a multitude of people is a king’s glory,But in the dearth of people is a prince’s ruin.

Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge;And their honorable men are famished,And their multitude is parched with thirst.

Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure;And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.

But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

It will be as when a hungry man dreams—And behold, he is eating;But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied,Or as when a thirsty man dreams—And behold, he is drinking,But when he awakens, behold, he is faintAnd his thirst is not quenched.Thus the multitude of all the nations will beWho wage war against Mount Zion.

“A multitude of camels will cover you,The young camels of Midian and Ephah;All those from Sheba will come;They will bring gold and frankincense,And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.

I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord,According to all that the Lord has granted us,And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,Which He has granted them according to His compassionAnd according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.

“Their camels will become plunder,And their many cattle for booty,And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair;And I will bring their disaster from every side,” declares the Lord.

Her adversaries have become her masters,Her enemies prosper;For the Lord has caused her griefBecause of the multitude of her transgressions;Her little ones have gone awayAs captives before the adversary.

Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them.

The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude.

Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.

‘They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude.

Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols,

The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Because of the multitude of his horses, the dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of cavalry and wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

“By the multitude of your iniquities,In the unrighteousness of your tradeYou profaned your sanctuaries.Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;It has consumed you,And I have turned you to ashes on the earthIn the eyes of all who see you.

‘Thus says the Lord God,“I will also make the hordes of Egypt ceaseBy the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

“I will pour out My wrath on Sin,The stronghold of Egypt;I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.

“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes,‘Whom are you like in your greatness?

‘I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches,And all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God, were jealous of it.

“To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So is Pharaoh and all his hordes!”’ declares the Lord God.”

By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are tyrants of the nations,And they will devastate the pride of Egypt,And all its hordes will be destroyed.

This is a lamentation and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant it,” declares the Lord God.

“Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;

“Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit.

They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were put in the midst of the slain.

“Meshech, Tubal and all their hordes are there; their graves surround them. All of them were slain by the sword uncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living.

“These Pharaoh will see, and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army,” declares the Lord God.

“Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,” declares the Lord God.

“On that day I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block off those who would pass by. So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, and they will call it the valley of Hamon-gog.

“His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress.

The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former.

When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail.

For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment.

and said to him, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it.

And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.

When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.

So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?”

And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;

When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,

As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.

The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.

But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.”

While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted.

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”

And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea,

and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.

And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him;

And He *came home, and the crowd *gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.

A crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”

He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.

Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.

After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.

Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;