Folk
King James Dictionary [1]
FOLK, n. foke. L. vulgus. The sense is a crowd, from collecting or pressing, not from following, but from the same root, as to follow is to press toward. Gr. Originally and properly it had no plural, being a collective noun but in modern use, in America, it has lost its singular number, and we hear it only in the plural. It is a colloquial word, not admissible into elegant style.
1. People in general, or any part of them without distinction. What do folks say respecting the war? Men love to talk about the affairs of other folks. 2. Certain people, discriminated from others as old folks, and young folks. Children sometimes call their parents, the old folks. So we say sick folks poor folks proud folks. 3. In scripture, the singular number is used as a few sick folk impotent folk. Mark 6 . John 5 . 4. Animals.
The coneys are but a feeble folk. Proverbs 30 .
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [2]
FOLK . This Eng. word is used in the NT indefinitely for ‘persons,’ there being no word in the Gr. ( Mark 6:5 , John 5:3 , Acts 5:16 ). But in the OT the word has the definite meaning of nation or people , even Proverbs 30:26 ‘The conies are but a feeble folk,’ having this meaning. In the metrical version of Psalms 100:3 , ‘flock’ should be ‘folk,’ corresponding to ‘people’ in the prose version. So the author wrote
‘The Lord ye know is God in dede
With out our aide, he did us make:
We are his folek, he doth us fede,
And for his shepe, he doth us take.’
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [3]
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(n. collect. & pl.) Alt. of Folks
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [5]
fōk : The translation of עם , ‛am , עם , ‛ām "a people or nation" ( Genesis 33:15 , "some of the folk that are with me"; Proverbs 30:26 , "The conies are but a feeble folk"); of לאם , le'ōm , with the same meaning ( Jeremiah 51:58 , "the folk in the fire," the Revised Version (British and American) "the nations for the fire"); "sick folk" is the translation of ἄῤῥωστος , árrhōstos , "not strong" ( Mark 6:5 ); of τῶν ἀσθενούντων , tō̇n asthenoúntōn , participle of ἀσθενέω , asthenéō , "to be without strength," "weak," "sick" ( John 5:3 , the Revised Version (British and American) "them that were sick"); "sick folks," of ἀσθενεῖς , astheneı́s plural of ἀσθενής , asthenḗs , "without strength," the Revised Version (British and American) "sick folk" ( Acts 5:16 ).
