Eric Hankins *preached a sermon* <media.nobts.edu/chapel/2013/2013.09.26.message.m4v> on September 26, 2013, at *New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary* <www.nobts.edu/> in which he said, “All means all and that’s all all means.” Jump to 17:23 in the linked video to hear this claim. But is Hankins’ statement true? Does the Greek word “pas” (each, every, any, all, the whole, etc.) *ever* mean “all” categorically and apart from any limitation? There are over 1,200 occurrences of the word “pas;” so, it’s not practical to list them all here, but an *examination of a concordance* <www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/pas.html> will show that the term *all* is almost *always* limited to some category. The meaning of *all* in *Scripture* <www.biblestudytools.com/> is *always* determined by the context, and rarely, *if ever*, means “all without any kind of limitation.” Consider the first ten occurrences of the term “pas” in the Greek New Testament.
– *Matt 1:17* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/1-17.html> – “There were *fourteen* *generations* in all” – *Matt 2:3* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-3.html> – “All *Jerusalem*” – *Matt 2:4* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-4.html> – “All the people’s *chief priests*” – *Matt 2:16* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-16.html> – “All *the boys in Bethlehem*” – *Matt 2:16* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-16.html> – “All *that region*” – *Matt 3:5* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-5.html> – “All *Judea*” – *Matt 3:5* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-5.html> – “All *the region of the Jordan*” – *Matt 3:10* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-10.html> – “Every *tree that does not produce good fruit*” – *Matt 3:15* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-15.html> – “Fulfill all *righteousness*” – *Matt 4:4* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/4-4.html> – “Every *word that comes from the mouth of God*”
In each of these occurrences of the word “pas,” there’s some kind of categorical limitation. In the *Theological Dictionary of the New Testament*, Gerhard Kittel, who has never been accused of having a Calvinistic agenda, outlines a number of uses of the Greek word “pas.” He states, “In particular, one may speak of a summative, implicative and distributive signification of *pas* as the term embraces either a totality or sum as an independent entity (summative), an inclusion of all individual parts or representatives of a concept (implicative), or extension to relatively independent particulars (distributive). If the reference is to the attainment of the supreme height or breadth of a concept, we have an elative or (amplificative) significance” (Volume 5, 887). Since the biblical writers used the word “pas” in a variety of different ways, interpreting the word requires careful attention to context. It is, therefore, inaccurate to say as Eric Hankins does that “all means all and that’s all all means.”
There’s only one way to use the word *all* such that it means “all” without qualification, and it isn’t very useful because it’s so comprehensive. *All* only means “all without any kind of limitation” if it refers to all things and no things, created and uncreated, existent and non-existent, abstract and concrete, actual and potential, true and false, rational and irrational, beautiful and ugly, good and evil, etc. *Scripture* <www.biblestudytools.com/>, however, very rarely, *if ever*, uses the word *all* in that kind of comprehensive way.
*What About “All” in Romans 3:23 <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html>?* Some may suggest that the word *all* in *Romans 3:23* <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html> is a place where “all means all without any limitation.” *Romans 3:23* <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html> says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But I submit that the meaning of the word *all* is limited here too. *Romans 3:23* <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html> doesn’t mean that all of the *angels* <www.oneplace.com/bible-study/what-do-angels-really-look-like-11840745.html> sinned, and it certainly doesn’t mean that Jesus sinned.
*by Tom Hicks <theblog.founders.org/author/thicks/>*
– *Matt 1:17* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/1-17.html> – “There were *fourteen* *generations* in all” – *Matt 2:3* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-3.html> – “All *Jerusalem*” – *Matt 2:4* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-4.html> – “All the people’s *chief priests*” – *Matt 2:16* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-16.html> – “All *the boys in Bethlehem*” – *Matt 2:16* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/2-16.html> – “All *that region*” – *Matt 3:5* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-5.html> – “All *Judea*” – *Matt 3:5* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-5.html> – “All *the region of the Jordan*” – *Matt 3:10* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-10.html> – “Every *tree that does not produce good fruit*” – *Matt 3:15* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/3-15.html> – “Fulfill all *righteousness*” – *Matt 4:4* <www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/4-4.html> – “Every *word that comes from the mouth of God*”
In each of these occurrences of the word “pas,” there’s some kind of categorical limitation. In the *Theological Dictionary of the New Testament*, Gerhard Kittel, who has never been accused of having a Calvinistic agenda, outlines a number of uses of the Greek word “pas.” He states, “In particular, one may speak of a summative, implicative and distributive signification of *pas* as the term embraces either a totality or sum as an independent entity (summative), an inclusion of all individual parts or representatives of a concept (implicative), or extension to relatively independent particulars (distributive). If the reference is to the attainment of the supreme height or breadth of a concept, we have an elative or (amplificative) significance” (Volume 5, 887). Since the biblical writers used the word “pas” in a variety of different ways, interpreting the word requires careful attention to context. It is, therefore, inaccurate to say as Eric Hankins does that “all means all and that’s all all means.”
There’s only one way to use the word *all* such that it means “all” without qualification, and it isn’t very useful because it’s so comprehensive. *All* only means “all without any kind of limitation” if it refers to all things and no things, created and uncreated, existent and non-existent, abstract and concrete, actual and potential, true and false, rational and irrational, beautiful and ugly, good and evil, etc. *Scripture* <www.biblestudytools.com/>, however, very rarely, *if ever*, uses the word *all* in that kind of comprehensive way.
*What About “All” in Romans 3:23 <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html>?* Some may suggest that the word *all* in *Romans 3:23* <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html> is a place where “all means all without any limitation.” *Romans 3:23* <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html> says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But I submit that the meaning of the word *all* is limited here too. *Romans 3:23* <www.biblestudytools.com/romans/3-23.html> doesn’t mean that all of the *angels* <www.oneplace.com/bible-study/what-do-angels-really-look-like-11840745.html> sinned, and it certainly doesn’t mean that Jesus sinned.
*by Tom Hicks <theblog.founders.org/author/thicks/>*
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