Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, ........ 22 Many (polus) will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (taught) in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (anomia: failure to obey the Mosaic laws or any other Biblical law in either the Old or New Testament)!" James Strong and Joseph Thayer, world renowned authorities on Biblical Greek word definitions, include the following words when defining polus: much, many, often, largely, mostly, and the majority. To help prepare Christians for the worst case situation involving the severity of judgment in the above verses which refer specifically to Christians, this page shows how the Lord has sometimes used the Greek word polus, very conservatively translated "many," in different verses. It is readily evident from the context of the following verses found in different parts of the New Testament that polus, Strong's number 4183, the very same word appearing in Matthew 7:22 in the original Greek language loosely translated into the English word "many," means not only the majority, but usually the vast majority. Polus therefore seems to certainly have a possibility of meaning the majority of Christians in Matthew 7:22. Perhaps these various verses can help you better decide what polus could mean in the above verses: Mark 10:45: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (polus is the original Greek word)." Matthew 26:28: "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many (polus is the original Greek word) for the remission of sins." Matthew 20:28: "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (polus is the original Greek word)." Matthew 20:16: "So the last will be first, and the first last. For many (polus is the original Greek word) are called, but few chosen." The word "few" in the preceding verse definitely limits "many" to only one meaning: the majority in verse 16. Mark 14:24: "And He said to them, 'This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many (polus is the original Greek word)." Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many (polus is the original Greek word) who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." The word "few" in the preceding verse clearly defines "many" as meaning the majority, the only possible meaning it could have in verse 13. Matthew 24:12: "And because lawlessness (anomia) will abound, the love of many (polus is the original Greek word) will grow cold." Hebrews 9:28: "So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (polus is the original Greek word) .........." Luke 16:10: "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much (polus is the original Greek word) ; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much (polus is the original Greek word). In Luke 13:23 someone asked Jesus basically if only a relatively small percentage of people will be saved. His answer was in Luke 13:24: "....... many (polus), I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." The home page of this website is LITTLE PUBLICIZED ANOMIA.