Hebrew word · H3634
כָּלַל
kalu
to perfect
To complete, bring to completeness, finish off whole. The related adjective כָּלִיל (kālîl) means whole or entire, and is also used for a whole burnt offering.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to complete, perfect, make complete, make perfect
1a) (Qal) to perfect
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Ezekiel 27:11
- Range of meaning
To complete, bring to completeness, finish off whole. The related adjective כָּלִיל (kālîl) means whole or entire, and is also used for a whole burnt offering.
- Against the English
'Perfected' (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) and NIV's 'brought your beauty to perfection' are fine as long as 'perfect' is heard in its older sense of 'finished, complete' rather than moral flawlessness.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Within the chapter: Tyre says 'I am perfect (kəlîlat) in beauty' (27:3), and 'your builders perfected (kāləlû) your beauty' (27:4), which is word-for-word the same phrase as here. Ezekiel 28:12 calls the king of Tyre 'perfect (kəlîl) in beauty'. The same phrase is applied to Zion in Lamentations 2:15 and Psalm 50:2 (miklal yōpî).
Where it appears
Ezekiel · 2
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Ezekiel 27:4 כָּלְל֖וּ they perfected
Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders perfected your beauty.
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Ezekiel 27:11 כָּלְל֥וּ they perfected
Men of Arvad and Helech manned your walls all around, and the men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they perfected your beauty.
Here: To bring something to completeness, to finish it off whole. It repeats exactly 'your builders perfected your beauty' (v. 4), and Tyre's boast 'I am perfect in beauty' (v. 3) uses the same root.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.