Exploring the Meaning of Pas in Greek

πᾶς expresses the idea of “all,” marking what is viewed in its entirety or without exception. In the passages quoted here, it ranges from counting whole sets (generations) to describing comprehensive reach across places, groups, and even individual items within a class.

Occurrences

Matthew 1:17 — “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.”

Here πᾶς frames a complete reckoning: the generations are treated as a whole series that can be counted and divided. The verse uses “all” to gather the entire span into a summary structure (“fourteen generations” in each segment), so the word contributes the sense that nothing belonging to the line being discussed is left outside the tally.

Matthew 2:3 — “When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”

πᾶς enlarges the reaction from a single ruler to the city as a whole. “All Jerusalem” turns Herod’s personal disturbance into a public, citywide unease, presenting the response as broadly shared rather than confined to a narrow circle.

Matthew 2:4 — “Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.”

In this scene, “all” gathers an entire set of recognized religious specialists—“chief priests and scribes”—for consultation. πᾶς underscores the comprehensiveness of the summons: the inquiry is not handled by a few advisers but by the full body of those groups as portrayed in the verse.

Matthew 2:16 — “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.”

πᾶς appears in two sweeping descriptions. First, “all the male children” presents the target as the entire class of young males in view (“from two years old and under”), not a selected subset. Second, “in all the surrounding countryside” extends the scope beyond the town to the full area around it. The word’s force in this verse is expansive and exhaustive: the violence is described as reaching as far as the defined group and geography extend.

Matthew 3:5 — “Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him.”

“All of Judea” and “all the region around the Jordan” present the movement toward John as broadly regional. πᾶς functions geographically: it depicts participation that seems to spread across whole districts, so the scene reads as a mass response rather than a local trickle.

Matthew 3:10 — ““Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.”

Here πᾶς works distributively with “every tree,” taking a general image (“the trees”) and applying the stated outcome to each member of the class without exception. The word strengthens the warning’s scope: the criterion is not occasional or selective—any individual tree lacking “good fruit” meets the same fate.

Matthew 3:15 — “But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.”

πᾶς modifies an abstract noun: “all righteousness.” Within the verse, Jesus presents the action as fitting because it reaches the full extent of what righteousness requires. The word pushes the statement beyond partial compliance; it portrays the act as aligned with righteousness in its entirety, as the verse frames it.

Matthew 4:4 — “But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’ ””

In “every word,” πᾶς again has a distributive feel: it directs attention to each utterance that “proceeds out of God’s mouth” as sustaining, not merely select sayings. The contrast with “bread alone” heightens the comprehensive claim—life depends on the full range of divine speech, word by word.

Matthew 4:8 — “Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.”

πᾶς describes what is shown: “all the kingdoms of the world.” The scene is panoramic; the word supplies totality to the vision, presenting it as the entire set of “kingdoms” belonging to “the world,” with “their glory” included in what is displayed.

Matthew 4:9 — “He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Here “all of these things” refers back to what has been shown and extends the offer to the whole displayed collection. πᾶς makes the proposal maximal: the temptation is framed as receiving the full package rather than something limited or partial.

Matthew 4:23 — “Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.”

πᾶς shapes both geography and activity. “In all Galilee” portrays Jesus’ movement and ministry as ranging across the region as a whole. Then “healing every disease and every sickness” applies the healing work broadly within the categories named; “every” stresses that no type within “disease” and “sickness” is excluded in the description of his ministry among the people.

Matthew 4:24 — “The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.”

“Into all Syria” depicts the spread of the report as region-wide. The second use, “all who were sick,” gathers the afflicted into a single comprehensive group, then unpacks that group with varied conditions (“diseases and torments,” “possessed with demons,” “epileptics,” “paralytics”). πᾶς therefore contributes both reach (the report travels broadly) and inclusiveness (the sick who come are treated as a whole body), and the final clause “and he healed them” presents the response to that gathered group.

Sense and Usage

Across these verses, πᾶς consistently signals wholeness, but it does so in different grammatical and rhetorical ways. In some places it gathers a collective into a single total (“all Jerusalem,” “all the chief priests and scribes,” “all the generations”), presenting a group as one unified whole for the purpose of reaction, consultation, or counting. In other places it distributes an assertion across each member of a category (“every tree,” “every word,” “every disease and every sickness”), turning a general statement into one that applies to each instance without exception.

πᾶς also scales the scope of a scene. Used with regions (“all Judea,” “all the region around the Jordan,” “all Galilee,” “all Syria”), it paints activity as widespread and not confined to a single location. Used with objects of sight and promise (“all the kingdoms of the world,” “all of these things”), it intensifies the breadth of what is displayed and offered, making the temptation in Matthew 4 as comprehensive as possible within the narrative frame.

When paired with an abstract noun (“all righteousness”), πᾶς extends beyond geography and countable items to the full extent of a quality or requirement. In that setting, “all” does not create a list; it portrays completeness—what is fitting is described as fulfilling righteousness in its entirety, as the verse expresses it.

Imagery

The repeated use of πᾶς gives these passages a sense of wide horizons and full measures: a whole genealogy counted and arranged; an entire city troubled; regions emptying toward the Jordan; a warning that reaches “every tree”; a life sustained by “every word”; and a mountaintop view of “all the kingdoms of the world.” Whether the scene is administrative, violent, prophetic, or healing, πᾶς regularly expands the reader’s frame to the largest relevant scale named in the sentence.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).