Greek word · G1603
ἐκπληρόω
ekplēroō
to fulfill
To fill up completely. To make up a sum or quota in full. To carry out a promise or obligation to the end. The prefix ek- ('out, fully') strengthens the ordinary plēroō ('fill, fulfil').
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἐκ-πληρόω
[in LXX: 2Ma.8:10, 3Ma.1:2 3Mac 1:22 * ;]
1. to fill full, make up a number.
2. to fulfil (MM, Exp., xii; Cremer, 839), Acts 13:32.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To fill up completely. To make up a sum or quota in full. To carry out a promise or obligation to the end. The prefix ek- ('out, fully') strengthens the ordinary plēroō ('fill, fulfil').
- Against the English
English 'fulfilled' can sound like 'a prediction came true', as if prophecy were a forecast later checked off. The Greek pictures a debt or pledge being paid in full: God has made good, completely, what he bound himself to.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found in Greek writers and documentary papyri for completing payments, numbers or undertakings. In the Greek Old Testament it appears rarely (e.g. 2 Maccabees 8:10, of raising a tribute in full). BDAG gives the sense here as 'fulfil (a promise)'. It occurs only here in the New Testament.
Similar words
Where it appears
Acts · 1
-
Acts 13:33 ἐκπεπλήρωκεν has fulfilled
He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’
Here: An intensified 'fulfil' that appears only here in the New Testament: to make good in full, to complete what was owed. The perfect tense presents the promise as fully delivered, with the result still standing.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.