Word study
Accomplish
3 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: accomplished, accomplish, accomplishing, accomplishes. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “accomplish” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 25 times of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
Genesis 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
Exodus 14:13 But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
- מַעֲשֶׂה maăsehdeed, worktranslated this way 2 times of its 223 uses · Strong’s H4639Noun · Translated: work 71, works 38, deeds 8, made 7Full study and all 211 verses →
Isaiah 26:12 O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.
Jeremiah 51:10 “The LORD has brought forth our vindication; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has accomplished.”
- פָּעַל pâaldo, maketranslated this way 2 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H6466Verb · Translated: workers 12, evildoers 8, done 6, do 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Job 35:6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?
Job 37:12 They swirl about, whirling at His direction, accomplishing all that He commands over the face of all the earth.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τελέω teléōI end, accomplish, paytranslated this way 2 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s G5055Verb · Translated: finished 8, fulfilled 4, complete 3, pay 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
John 19:28 After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- ἐργάζομαι ergázomaiI word, trade, dotranslated this way 2 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s G2038Verb · Translated: work 10, doing 4, worked 4, done 2Full study and all 37 verses →
John 3:21 But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”
2 Thessalonians 3:11 For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being busybodies.
- ποιέω poiéōI do, maketranslated this way 2 times of its 544 uses · Strong’s G4160Verb · Translated: do 50, done 44, doing 40, made 34Full study and all 494 verses →
- τελειόω teleióōI complete, accomplish, make perfecttranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G5048Verb · Translated: made perfect 5, perfected 4, finish 2Full study and all 23 verses →
John 5:36 But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works I am doing — testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
John 17:4 I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.