ὀλίγος G3641
Few, little, small in quantity or number; rarely used adverbially meaning 'barely' or 'with difficulty.'
A common adjective describing smallness of quantity, number, or extent. Jesus laments that the laborers are few (Matt 9:37), commends the faithful over 'few things' (Matt 25:21), and notes that few find the narrow way (Matt 7:14). Spanish alternates between 'poco/poca' (little) and 'pequeno' (small), while French and German both settle on 'peu' and 'wenig' respectively, capturing the core notion of insufficient quantity. One distinctive use in 2 Peter 2:18 pushes the word into adverbial territory -- 'barely' or 'scarcely' escaping from error -- showing how 'little' can shade into 'with difficulty.'
2. barely, with difficulty — Adverbial use meaning 'barely, scarcely, with difficulty.' Found in 2 Pet 2:18 describing those who 'barely' escape from people living in error. Spanish 'apenas' (barely) uniquely distinguishes this adverbial sense from the adjectival, while French and German maintain the same root form ('peu,' 'wenig'), relying on context for the shift. 1×
AR["بِالكادِ"]·ben["সবেমাত্র"]·DE["wenig"]·EN["barely"]·FR["peu"]·heb["בְּקֹשִׁי"]·HI["थोड़ा-सा"]·ID["sedikit"]·IT["poco"]·jav["naming-sekedhik"]·KO["간신히"]·PT["recentemente"]·RU["едва"]·ES["apenas"]·SW["kwa-shida"]·TR["zorlukla"]·urd["ثوڑی-سی"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. few, little, small in number — Small in quantity, number, or extent; few. Used attributively and predicatively of people (Matt 7:14; 22:14 'many called, few chosen'), things (Matt 25:21 'faithful over few things'), time (Rev 12:12 'little time'), and degree (Mark 1:19 'a little farther'). Spanish 'poco/pequeno,' French 'peu,' and German 'wenig' all converge on quantitative smallness. 42×
AR["القَليلَ","الْقَلِيلِ","بِقَلِيلَةٍ","قَليلاً","قَليلًا","قَليلٌ","قَليلٍ","قَلِيلًا","قَلِيلٌ","قَلِيلٍ"]·ben["অল্প","অল্প,","অল্পতে","অল্পে","কিছুক্ষণ","ছোট","সামান্য"]·DE["wenig"]·EN["a-little","few-things","little","small"]·FR["peu"]·heb["מְעַט","מְעַטָּה"]·HI["छोटे","थे-क्योंकि","थोड़ा","थोड़ी","थोड़ी-देर","थोड़े","थोड़ेमें","थोद","थोदि"]·ID["agak","sebentar","sedikit"]·IT["poco"]·jav["sakedhap","sakedhik","sakedhik,","sawatawis.","sekedhap","sekedhik"]·KO["잠깐","잠깐.","적게","적은-것-에","적은-것으로","적지","적지-않은","조금"]·PT["pequena","pequeno","pouco","pouco,","um-pouco"]·RU["мало","малого","малое","малой","малом","малому","малый","малым","немногим","немного","немного."]·ES["pequeña","pequeño","poca","poco","un-poco"]·SW["baada-ya-kuteseka-kidogo","kidogo","kidogo,","mdogo","ndogo","vichache"]·TR["az","biraz","eksik kaldı","kısa-süre"]·urd["تھوڑا","تھوڑی","تھوڑی-دیر","تھوڑے","محبت-کرتا-ہے"]
Matt 7:14, Matt 9:37, Matt 15:34, Matt 20:16, Matt 22:14, Matt 25:21, Matt 25:23, Mark 1:19, Mark 6:5, Mark 6:31, Mark 8:7, Luke 5:3 (+30 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ὀλίγος [ῐ], η, ον, later ὀλίος (which see), of Size, little, small, frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+; ὀλίγῃ ὀπί with small, low voice, Refs; of stature,Refs 3rd c.BC+; of Space, ὀ. χῶρος Refs 8th c.BC+; of Time, χρόνος Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 sometimes in a sense between that of Size and Quantity, ὀ. δόσις Refs 8th c.BC+not copious, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὑποστάσιες ὀλίγαι slight sediments, Refs; ὀ. καὶ οὐδέν…