Meaning
signifies (1) "to fill" (see FILL); (2) "to fulfill, complete," (a) of time, e.g., Mar 1:15, Luk 21:24, Joh 7:8 (AV, "full come"); Act 7:23, RV, "he was well-nigh forty years old" (AV, "was full" etc.), lit., "the time of forty years was fulfilled to him;" Act 7:30, AV, "were expired;" Act 9:23, Act 24:27 (AV, "after two years;" RV, "when two years were fulfilled"); (b) of number, Rev 6:11; (c) of good pleasure, 2Th 1:11; (d) of joy, Phi 2:2; in the Passive Voice, "to be fulfilled," Joh 3:29, Joh 17:13; in the following the verb is rendered "fulfilled" in the RV, for the AV, "full," Joh 15:11, Joh 16:24, 1Jo 1:4, 2Jo 1:12; (e) of obedience, 2Co 10:6; (f) of works, Rev 3:2; (g) of the future Passover, Luk 22:16; (h) of sayings, prophecies, etc., e.g., Mat 1:22 (twelve times in Matt., two in Mark, four in Luke, eight in John, two in Acts); Jam 2:23; in Col 1:25 the word signifies to preach "fully," to complete the ministry of the Gospel appointed. See FILL.
"to fill up, fill completely" (ana, "up, up to," and No. 1), is used (a) of Isaiah's prophecy of Israel's rejection of God, fulfilled in the rejection of His Son, Mat 13:14; (b) of the status of a person in a church, RV, "filleth the place," for AV, "occupieth the room," 1Co 14:16; (c) of an adequate supply of service, 1Co 16:17, "supplied;" Phi 2:30, "to supply;" (d) of sins, 1Th 2:16; (e) of the law of Christ; Gal 6:2. See FILL, OCCUPY, SUPPLY.
"to end" (akin to telos, "an end"), signifies, among its various meanings, "to give effect to," and is translated "fulfill," of the Law, intentionally, Jam 2:8, or unconsciously, Rom 2:27; of the prophetic Scriptures concerning the death of Christ, Act 13:29; prohibitively, of the lust of the flesh, Gal 5:16. See ACCOMPLISH, FINISH.
Notes: (1) In regard to this word in Rev 15:1, Rev 15:8, the RV, "finished," corrects the AV, "filled up," and "fulfilled," as the judgments there indicated finish the whole series of those consisting of the wrath of God; so in Rev 20:3, of the thousand years of the Millennium (cp. Rev 20:5, Rev 20:7). (2) In Rev 17:17, the RV has "should be accomplished," for AV, "shall be fulfilled." (3) In Luk 22:37 the AV has "be accomplished" (RV, "be fulfilled").
"to complete," is translated "fulfilled" in the AV of Mar 13:4 (RV, "accomplished"). See COMPLETE.
"to bring to an end, fulfill," is rendered "to fulfill," of days. Luk 2:43; of the Scripture, Joh 19:28. See FINISH.
"to bring in full measure," from pleroo (see No. 1), and phoreo, "to bring;" hence, "to fulfill," of circumstances relating to Christ, Luk 1:1, RV, "have been fulfilled" (AV "are most surely believed"); of evangelical ministry, 2Ti 4:5, "fulfill" (AV, "make full proof"); so in 2Ti 4:17, RV, "fully proclaimed" (AV, "fully known"). See ASSURE, PERSUADE.
a strengthened form of No. 1, occurs in Act 13:33.
Notes: (1) Poieo, "to do," is so rendered in the RV, for AV "fulfill," in Act 13:22, Eph 2:3, Rev 17:17 [for the end of this verse see Note (2) under teleo, above]. (2) Ginomai, "to become, to take place," is rendered "fulfilled" in the AV of Mat 5:18, Mat 24:34, Luk 21:32, RV, "accomplished," in each place.
stands for the result of the action expressed in pleroo, "to fill." It is used to signify (a) "that which has been completed, the complement, fullness," e.g., Joh 1:16, Eph 1:23; some suggest that the "fullness" here points to the body as the filled receptacle of the power of Christ (words terminating in ma are frequently concrete in character; cp. dikaioma in Rom 5:18, act of righteousness); in Mar 8:20 the rendering "basketfuls" (RV) represents the plural of this word, lit., "the fulnesses of (how many baskets);" (b) "that which fills up," Mat 9:16, Mar 2:21 (see FILL); (c) "a filling up, fulfillment," Rom 13:10, of the fulfilling of the Law. See FULLNESS (below).
a fulfillment, is so rendered in Luk 1:45, RV (AV, "performance"). See PERFECTION.
