Laudator Temporis Acti

Revelation 13:16 (KJV):

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads...

καὶ ποιεῖ πάντας, τοὺς μικροὺς καὶ τοὺς μεγάλους, καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς, καὶ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους καὶ τοὺς δούλους, ἵνα δῶσιν αὐτοῖς χάραγμα ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν τῆς δεξιᾶς ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῶν...

David E. Aune, Revelation 6-16 (1998; rpt. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014 = Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 52B), pp. 765-766:

The first term, πάντας, "all," is comprehensive; then the following terms describe in various ways the social polarities that make up the "all." These antithetical terms (the rhetorical term is divisio or merismus, i.e., dividing a whole into its parts) constitute a figure of speech used to express the notion of totality (see P. Boccaccio, "I termini contrari come espressione della totalità in ebraico," Bib. 33 [1952] 173-90; A. M. Honeyman, "Merismus in Biblical Hebrew," JBL 71 [1952] 11-18). The use of the stereotyped expression "insignificant and important," literally "small and great," occurs four times elsewhere in Revelation (11:18; 19:5, 18; 20:12) and often appears to be a redactional element used to unify the composition; in 19:18 it is accompanied by an analogous antithetical pair, "free and slave," as here in 13:16. A similar, but much larger, inclusive list occurs in Rev 19:18 (see Comment there). The phrase "the least and the greatest" as an idiom connoting social inclusivity occurs with some frequency in the OT and early Jewish literature (Gen 19:11; Deut 1:17; 1 Kgs 22:31; 2 Kgs 23:2; 25:26; 1 Chr 12:14; 25:8 ; 26:13; 2 Chr 18:30; 34:30; Job 3:19; Wis 6:7; Jdt 13:4,13; Jer 6:13; 31:34[LXX 38:34]; 1 Macc 5:45) as well as in the NT ( Acts 8:10; 26:22; Heb 8:11 [quoting Jer 38:34]). Used in this way the phrase "small and great" is an idiom meaning the totality of people of all ages or all stations in life, found in both Semitic and Greek literature.

A specifically Semitic idiom is מִקָּטֹ֖ןוְעַד־גָּד֑וֹל miqqāṭōn wĕʿad gādôl, "from small to great" (Gen 19:11), which occurs more than thirty times in the OT (TDOT 2:398-400), though there are also Greek parallels (e.g., Ign. [long rec.] Ad Philippenses 15.1, ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου; see also Ad Antiochenos 12.3; Ad Hieronem 8.2). The more typical Greek form of this idiom is μικρῷ τε καὶ μεγάλῳ, "to both small and great" (Acts 26:22). The phrase "small and great" is also applied to minor and major things (2 Chr 36:18; Amos 8:5; 2 Macc 5:20; 1 Esdr 1:54; Sir 5:15; 29:23; Plutarch Pericles 17.1; Pompey 57.1; Quaest. conv. 730A; Epictetus 2.19.29; 2.23.28; Ign. [long rec.] Phld. 6.9). It also occurs in the magical papyri in formulaic contexts in which the practitioner wishes to be inclusive: PGM 21.21, πρὸς πάντας ἀνθρώπους, μικροὺς καὶ μεγάλους, for all people, small and great: an example of merismus. In PGM XXXV.17-19 the magician demands favor, influence, victory, and strength "before everyone, small men and great [ἔμπροσθεν πάντων, ἀνδρῶν μικρῶν καὶ μεγάλων], as well as gladiators, soldiers, civilians, women, girls, boys, and everybody [καὶ πάντων]." "Small and great" as groups or classes at the opposite end of the social pyramid are also referred to in Rev 11a8; 20:12 (see Wis 6:7; Jonah 3:5; Jer 6:13). PGM XII.49 refers to those whom the magical practitioner desires power over: "men or women, small or great." Similarly, PGM XV.18 refers to spirits the magician wants under his control: "whether male or female, small or great." In a magical procedure from the Sepher ha-Razim 1.135-40 (tr. Morgan, 34) we find the same inclusive language: "You angels who go around and circulate in the world, bring around (to me) all the citizens of this city, great and small, old and young, lowly and distinguished." In a famous inscription describing the foundation and regulations of a mystery cult published most recently by Sokolowski (Lois, 53-58, no. 20), the phrase "men and women, free persons and slaves" occurs three times (lines 5-6, 15-16, 53-54) of those who could have access to the cult (i.e., everyone). The term μικροί, literally "small ones," is a designation for people with little power or influence and is sometimes a term for disciples of Jesus (Matt 10:42; 18:6 = Mark 9:42 = Luke 17:2; Matt 18:10).

Also known as polare Ausdrucksweise. See, e.g., G.E.R. Lloyd, Polarity and Analogy: Two Types of Argumentation in Early Greek Thought (1966; rpt. Bristol: Bristol Classical Press, 1992), pp. 90-94.