ENLARGE; ENLARGEMENT

en-larj', en-larj'-ment: "To enlarge" is very frequently used figuratively: "God enlarge Japheth" (Genesis 9:27), i.e. "make him a great nation"; or "Thou hast enlarged my steps under me" (2 Samuel 22:37), i.e. "Thou hast given me success." A very peculiar use of "enlarge" is found in the King James Version Psalms 4:1: "Thou hast enlarged me" (the Revised Version (British and American) "set me at large"), i.e. "Thou hast given me freedom, deliverance from distress." "Our heart is enlarged" (platuno; 2 Corinthians 6:11), and "Be ye also enlarged" (2 Corinthians 6:13), express great love of one party to another. See also 1 Samuel 2:1, "My mouth is enlarged," i.e. "full of praise." Ezekiel 41:7, "were broader" (the King James Version "an enlarging").

Enlargement, the King James Version, Esther 4:14 from rawach, "to enlarge," "to respite," is rendered "relief" by the Revised Version (British and American) in better harmony with "deliverance" with which the word is paired.

A. L. Breslich

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.