Greek word · G4931

συντελέω

synteleō

to complete

To bring to an end, complete, finish; to carry out or accomplish; with 'covenant', to conclude or make one.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

συν-τελέω, -ῶ

[in LXX chiefly for כָּלָה pi., also for עָשָׂה, תָּמַם, etc. ;]

"perfective" of τελέω (cf. M, Pr., 118),

1. to complete, finish, bring to an end: Luke 4:13; pass., Luke 4:2, John 2:3, WH, mg., Acts 21:27.

2. to effect, accomplish, bring to fulfilment (cf. MM, xxiv): Mark 13:4, Romans 9:28, Hebrews 8:8.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To bring to an end, complete, finish; to carry out or accomplish; with 'covenant', to conclude or make one.
Against the English: Almost all English versions say 'make', which is a fair idiom. YLT's 'complete' and BSB's gloss 'ratify' keep more of the sense of finishing. 'Make' hides the fact that Hebrews has swapped the verb of its source text.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Greek Old Testament of Jeremiah 38:31 (= Hebrew 31:31) reads διαθήσομαι, 'I will covenant'. The phrase συντελέσαι διαθήκην ('to conclude a covenant') appears in the Greek of Jeremiah 41:8, 15 (= Hebrew 34:8, 15), for Zedekiah's covenant to free slaves. Hebrews is full of 'completion' words from the same τελ- root (τελειόω 'to make perfect/complete' in 2:10; 5:9; 7:19, 28; 10:14).

Range of meaning: To bring to an end, complete, accomplish, carry through to completion (from σύν "together" + τελέω "to finish").
Against the English: "When they had ended" (BSB) and "when they were ended" (KJV) are fine. "Completed" (WEB) better keeps the sense of a fixed period running its full course.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Greek Old Testament it is used for God finishing creation (Gen 2:2) and for completing set periods. Luke uses it again in 4:13: "having completed every test," the devil left.

Range of meaning: To bring to an end, finish or complete. Also to carry out or accomplish a plan, to conclude a period of time, or to bring something to its end, including by destroying it. The passive means 'to be completed' or 'come to its conclusion'.
Against the English: KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT and NIV say 'fulfilled'. ESV has 'accomplished'. 'Fulfilled' in church English makes people think of prophecy coming true, which is the job of a different Greek verb (plēroō). Synteleō stresses finishing: things running their full course to the end.
How it drifted: 'Fulfilled' is a reasonable rendering, but in Bible English it has been absorbed into the language of prophecy fulfilment. The Greek's sense of completion and ending is softened as a result.
Used elsewhere in the period: Daniel 12:6–7 is the clearest parallel. An angel asks how long until the end of these wonders, and the answer is that when the shattering of the holy people's power ends, 'all these things will be completed'. The Theodotion Greek version uses this same verb with the same 'all these things'. The related noun synteleia ('completion, end') appears in Daniel's phrases for the appointed end (Dan 9:27; 12:4, 13 LXX). Matthew's parallel turns Mark's verb into 'the end (synteleia) of the age' (Matt 24:3).

Mark · 1

Mark 13:4 συντελεῖσθαι to be accomplished

“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled?”

Here: 'To be brought to an end' or 'completed'. It sounds like the end of a set course of events, and it echoes the wording of Daniel 12:7 (Greek), 'all these things will be completed.'

Luke · 2

Luke 4:2 συντελεσθεισῶν when were ending

where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.

Here: "When they had been brought to completion." The verb means to finish fully, not just to stop. Luke uses it again in v. 13 ("when the devil had completed every test"), which frames the whole episode.
Luke 4:13 συντελέσας having finished

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Acts · 1

Acts 21:27 συντελεῖσθαι, to be completed,

When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

Here: 'To be brought to their full end.' This is a word for a set period running its course, and it echoes the 'fulfilment (ekplērōsis) of the days of purification' in verse 26.

Romans · 1

Romans 9:28 συντελῶν concluding

For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth thoroughly and decisively.”

Hebrews · 1

Hebrews 8:8 συντελέσω I will ratify

But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Here: 'I will bring to completion / conclude / carry through.' This is not the Greek Old Testament's verb here (διαθήσομαι, 'I will covenant'). The word stresses that a covenant is concluded and carried through to its end.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.