Aramaic word · H3635

כְּלַל

yishtakhlelun

to complete

From the root k-l-l, 'to complete, perfect'. It is formed with a causative š- prefix borrowed from Akkadian (šuklulu, 'to complete, carry out fully', used in royal building inscriptions). Meaning: 'to finish, bring to completion'.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to finish, complete

1a) (Shaphel) to finish

1b) (Ishtaphel) to be completed

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 Ezra 6:14

Range of meaning

From the root k-l-l, 'to complete, perfect'. It is formed with a causative š- prefix borrowed from Akkadian (šuklulu, 'to complete, carry out fully', used in royal building inscriptions). Meaning: 'to finish, bring to completion'.

Against the English

'Finished' is accurate. English loses the echo, because the same verb appears earlier in the story with different speakers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 4:12–13 (enemies warn the king that the Jews 'are finishing the walls'); 5:3, 9 (Tattenai asks who authorized them 'to finish this structure'); 5:11 (the elders say a great king of Israel built and finished it); 5:16. The Akkadian šuklulu is standard in Mesopotamian building inscriptions.

From the study of Ezra 4:16

Range of meaning

"To be completed, finished." It is a building-trade term taken from Akkadian šuklulu.

Against the English

KJV "set up," BSB "restored," WEB and YLT "finished." "Finished" is closest.

Used elsewhere in the period

Also in Ezra 4:12, 13; 5:3, 9, 11; 6:14 (the completion of the temple). Akkadian building inscriptions use šuklulu for completing a structure.

From the study of Ezra 5:11

Range of meaning

To complete, finish, bring to completion. The verb takes a causative form borrowed from Akkadian (šuklulu, "to complete"). In Ezra it is the technical term for completing a building project: walls (4:12, 13, 16), the temple structure (5:3, 9, 11), the finished temple (6:14).

Against the English

BSB "completed", WEB and YLT "finished" are accurate. KJV "set up" sounds to modern ears like erecting or assembling, and it obscures the link to the officials' question.

How it drifted

"Set up" was a reasonable 1611 rendering, but in modern usage it sounds like a beginning (to set something up) rather than a completion.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb is borrowed from Akkadian building language and is attested in Imperial Aramaic. Its concentration in Ezra 4–6 shows it was the administrative term of the period for finishing a structure.

Where it appears

Ezra · 7

  1. Ezra 4:12 שַׁכְלִ֔ילוּ they have finished

    Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

  2. Ezra 4:13 יִֽשְׁתַּכְלְל֑וּן they will be finished

    Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

    Here: 'Are completed.' The form is borrowed from an Akkadian building term (šuklulu, 'to finish, bring to completion'). It means the walls fully finished, and so a city that can be defended.

  3. Ezra 4:16 יִֽשְׁתַּכְלְל֑וּן they will be finished

    We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.

    Here: "Are completed / finished." The verb form comes from Akkadian building language (šuklulu, "to complete"). It is the same verb as vv. 12–13, where it is said the walls are already being finished.

  4. Ezra 5:3 לְשַׁכְלָלָֽה׃ ס to finish

    At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

  5. Ezra 5:9 לְשַׁכְלָלָֽה׃ to finish

    So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”

  6. Ezra 5:11 וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ׃ and he finished it

    And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.

    Here: "And completed it". This is the same technical word the officials used when they asked who authorized them to "finish" this structure (5:3, 5:9). The elders answer in the officials' own terms: a king finished this house once before.

  7. Ezra 6:14 וְשַׁכְלִ֗לוּ and they finished

    So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

    Here: 'And they brought it to completion.' The verb uses a causative pattern with a š- prefix, borrowed from Akkadian building language (šuklulu, 'to complete'). It is the same word the hostile officials used with alarm in 4:12–13 and that Tattenai used in 5:3, 9, 11. Now the completion actually happens.

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