a considerable throng

ὄχλος, ου, ὁ (Pind., Hdt.+; ins, pap, LXX; TestJob 24:10; TestJud 7:1; ApcrEzk [Epiph. 70, 8]; EpArist, Philo, Joseph.; Ath. 1, 4; on relation of ὄχλος to ὀχλέω s. MMeier-Brüjger, Glotta 71, ’93, 28 [basic idea: a ‘pile’ that requires a ‘heap’ of workers, but s. DELG and Frisk s.v. ὄχλος]; loanw. in rabb.—In the NT only in the gospels [in Mk most freq. in sg. in contrast to Mt and Lk, s. RBorger, TRu 52, ’87, 28], Ac, and Rv).

① a relatively large number of people gathered together, crowd

ⓐ a casual gathering of large numbers of people without reference to classification crowd, throng Mt 9:23, 25; 15:35; Mk 2:4 (s. DDaube, ET 50, ’38, 138f); 3:9; Lk 5:1; J 5:13; 6:22; Ac 14:14; 21:34f and oft.; AcPl Ha 5, 11. τὶς ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου someone from the crowd Lk 12:13; cp. 11:27. ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχ. 9:38. τινὲς τῶν Φαρισαίων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου some of the Pharisees in the crowd 19:39. ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου away from the crowd Mk 7:17, 33. οὐκ ἠδύνατο ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου he could not because of the crowd Lk 19:3 (s. ἀπό 5a). οὐ μετὰ ὄχλου without a crowd (present) Ac 24:18 (cp. vs. 12). This is equivalent in mng. to ἄτερ ὄχλου (s. ἄτερ) when there was no crowd present Lk 22:6 (s. WLarfeld, Die ntl. Evangelien nach ihrer Eigenart 1925, 190), unless ὄχ. means disturbance (Hdt.+) here (so Goodsp.). ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ μετὰ τοῦ ὄχλου AcPl Ha 1, 24.—πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος (Aelian, VH 2, 6) the whole crowd, all the people Mt 13:2b; Mk 2:13; 4:1b; 9:15; Lk 13:17; Ac 21:27; MPol 9:2; 16:1. Also ὅλος ὁ ὄχλος AcPl Ha 4, 35.—πολὺς ὄχ. (Jos., Vi. 133; 277) Mt 14:14; Mk 6:34. ὄχ. πολύς (Cebes 1, 2; IG IV²/1, 123, 25; several times LXX) Mt 20:29; Mk 5:21, 24; 9:14; Lk 8:4; J 6:2. ὁ πολὺς ὄχ. Mk 12:37. ὁ ὄχ. πολύς J 12:9, 12.—ὄχ. ἱκανός a considerable throng Mk 10:46; Lk 7:12; Ac 11:24, 26; cp. 19:26. ὄχ. τοσοῦτος Mt 15:33. ὁ πλεῖστος ὄχ. the great throng or greater part of the crowd 21:8 (the verb in the pl. with a collective noun as Memnon [I B.C./I A.D.]: 434 Fgm. 1, 28, 6 Jac. εἷλον … ἡ Ῥωμαίων δύναμις. Cp. B-D-F §134, 1). Cp. Mk 4:1a. τὸ πλεῖον μέρος τοῦ ὄχ. the greater part of the throng Hs 8, 1, 16; τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ὄχ. 9, 4, 4; αἱ μυριάδες τοῦ ὄχ. the crowd in myriads Lk 12:1.—The pl. is common in Mt, Lk, and Ac (acc. to later usage: X., Mem. 3, 7, 5; Dionys. Hal.; Ael. Aristid. 34, 47 K.=50 p. 564 D.; Jos., Ant. 6, 25 al. Schwyzer II 43; cp. Mussies 71 and 85) οἱ ὄχλοι the crowds, the people (the latter plainly Posidon.: 87 Fgm. 36, 51 Jac. συλλαλήσαντες αὑτοῖς οἱ ὄχ.; Diod S 1, 36, 10; 1, 83, 8 ἐν ταῖς τῶν ὄχλων ψυχαῖς; 1, 72, 5 μυριάδες τῶν ὄχλων; 4, 42, 3; 14, 7, 2 ὄχλων πλῆθος=a crowd of people; 36, 15, 2 οἱ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ὄχλοι=the people in the city; Artem. 1, 51 p. 59, 13 Pack; Vi. Aesopi G 124 P; Ps.-Aeschines, Ep. 10, 4 ἡμεῖς ἅμα τ. ἄλλοις ὄχλοις; Ps.-Demetr., Form. Ep. p. 7, 11; OGI 383, 151 [I B.C.]; Jos., Ant. 9, 3) Mt 5:1; 7:28; 9:8, 33, 36 and oft. Lk 3:7, 10; 4:42; 5:3; 8:42, 45 and oft. Ac 8:6; 13:45; 14:11, 13, 18f; 17:13. Mk only 6:33 v.l. J only 7:12a (v.l. ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ). MPol 13:1. Without art. Mk 10:1 (on the textual problem RBorger, TRu 52, ’87, 28); ὄχ. πολλοί (s. πολύς 2aαב) Mt 4:25; 8:1; 12:15; 13:2a; 15:30; 19:2; Lk 5:15; 14:25. πάντες οἱ ὄχ. Mt 12:23.—A linguistic parallel to the pl. ὄχλοι and a parallel to the type of political maneuvering in Mk 15:15 (ὁ Πιλᾶτος βουλόμενος τῷ ὄχλῳ τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι ἀπέλυσεν αὐτοῖς τὸν Βαραββᾶν καὶ παρέδωκεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν φραγελλώσας ἵνα σταυρωθῇ) is offered by PFlor 61, 59ff [85 A.D.], where, according to the court record, G. Septimius Vegetus says to a certain Phibion: ἄξιος μὲν ἦς μαστιγωθῆναι … χαρίζομαι δέ σε τοῖς ὄχλοις (s. Dssm., LO 229 [LAE 266f], and on the favor of the ὄχλοι PGM 36, 275).

ⓑ a gathering of people that bears some distinguishing characteristic or status.

α. a large number of people of relatively low status the (common) people, populace (PJoüon, RSR 27, ’37, 618f) in contrast to the rulers: Mt 14:5; 15:10; 21:26; Mk 11:18, 32 (v.l. λαόν, q.v. 2); 12:12. Likew. the pl. οἱ ὄχ. (EpArist 271) Mt 21:46. The lower classes (X., Cyr. 2, 2, 21, Hier. 2, 3 al.) ἐπίστασις ὄχλου a disturbance among the people Ac 24:12. Contemptuously rabble J 7:49 (Bultmann ad loc. [w. lit.]).

β. a group or company of people with common interests or of distinctive status a large number (company, throng), w. gen. (Eur., Iph. A. 191 ἵππων al.; Jos., Ant. 3, 66; Ath, 1, 4 ὄχλον ἐγκλημάτων) ὄχ. τελωνῶν a crowd of tax-collectors Lk 5:29. ὄχ. μαθητῶν 6:17. ὄχ. ὀνομάτων Ac 1:15. ὄχ. τῶν ἱερέων 6:7

② a large mass of people, without ref. to status or circumstances leading to its composition, horde, mass pl. ὄχλοι as a synonym beside λαοί and ἔθνη Rv 17:15 (cp. Da 3:4).—VHunter, Thucydides and the Sociology of the Crowd: ClJ 84, ’88, 17–30, esp. 17 n. 5 (lit. on study of crowds); WCarter, CBQ 55, ’93, 56 n. 9 (lit. on sociological perspective).—B. 929. DELG. M-M. TW.