megas marks persons, things, events, and qualities as large, weighty, powerful, or surpassing others.

The attested uses mark conspicuous magnitude or intensity in events, objects, qualities, and public acclamation; comparative forms mark what surpasses another in worth, rank, quantity, or scale. The same adjective can also identify physical dimensions and contrasts between lesser and greater persons or groups.

1. Marked magnitude, force, or prominence · dominant

   Positive forms describe striking events and qualities: in Acts 16:26 the APB renders "a great earthquake" that shakes the prison foundations, while Acts 5:5 reports fear coming on all who heard after Ananias died. In Acts 4:33, the two forms occur in the clauses rendered "with great power" and "great grace," and Acts 11:28 speaks of a famine extending over the whole world.

   Acts 16:26Acts 5:5Acts 4:33Acts 11:28Acts 6:81 Timothy 3:16
2. Surpassing in comparison · common

   Comparative forms identify what exceeds another: 1 Corinthians 13:13 sets love above faith and hope, and 1 Corinthians 14:5 contrasts the one who prophesies with the one who speaks in tongues. In John 10:29, the Father is described in relation to all, while Luke 12:18 concerns building barns of increased size.

   1 Corinthians 13:131 Corinthians 14:5John 10:291 John 3:20Hebrews 11:26Luke 12:18
3. Large physical dimensions · occasional

   The adjective describes visible size in concrete objects. Acts 10:11 and Acts 11:5 each depict a sheet-like vessel descending from heaven, and John 21:11 describes fish in the net; the APB renders these clauses with "great sheet" and "large fish."

   Acts 10:11Acts 11:5John 21:112 Timothy 2:20
4. Higher or lower social standing · occasional

   In Acts 26:22, the adjective occurs in the pairing rendered "small and great" as Paul testifies to both groups. Hebrews 8:11 likewise uses the contrast "from the least of them to the greatest," and Acts 8:10 places it in the public formula "from the least to the greatest."

   Acts 26:22Hebrews 8:11Acts 8:10John 13:16
5. Public acclaim or asserted distinction · rare

   In Acts 19:28 and Acts 19:34, the nominative feminine form stands in the crowd's repeated cry concerning Artemis. Acts 8:9 uses the adjective in Simon's claim that he was someone of distinction, while Acts 8:10 reports the crowd's designation of a power as "Great."

   Acts 19:28Acts 19:34Acts 8:9Acts 8:10Acts 19:35

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses "great" and comparative "greater," while physical contexts are rendered "large" or "larger" and voice contexts "loud." These renderings confirm the clauses' scale or comparison without fixing every individual English equivalent.