Word study
Fill
9 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: filled, fill, fills, filling. 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 “fill” 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)
- מָלֵא mâlêbe full, filltranslated this way 102 times of its 242 uses · Strong’s H4390Verb · Translated: filled 66, full 34, fill 31, complete 8Full study and all 235 verses →
Genesis 1:22 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Exodus 1:7 but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
- מָלֵא mâlêfulltranslated this way 27 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H4392Adjective · Translated: full 27, filled 27Full study and all 63 verses →
Numbers 7:13 His offering was one silver platter weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel and filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;
Deuteronomy 34:9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- שָׂבַע sâbabe sated, satisfied, surfeitedtranslated this way 22 times of its 97 uses · Strong’s H7646Verb · Translated: satisfied 39, filled 11, satisfy 10, fill 7Full study and all 93 verses →
Exodus 16:8 And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 26:12 When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.
- שֹׂבַע sôbasatiety, abundancetranslated this way 5 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7648Noun · Translated: fill 5, meal 1, abundance 1, content 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Exodus 16:3 “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
Leviticus 25:19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and dwell in safety in the land.
- מְלֹא melôfulness, that which fillstranslated this way 5 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H4393Noun · Translated: everything 6, full 4, fills 4, handful 3Full study and all 31 verses →
1 Chronicles 16:32 Let the sea resound, and all that fills it; let the fields exult, and all that is in them.
Psalm 96:11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.
- רָוָה râvâhbe saturated, drink one's filltranslated this way 3 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H7301Verb · Translated: feast 1, soak 1, satisfy 1, take our fill 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Proverbs 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!
Isaiah 34:5 When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 2 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
Exodus 16:33 So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”
- פֶּה pehmouthtranslated this way 2 times of its 423 uses · Strong’s H6310Noun · Translated: mouth 207, mouths 43, command 38, lips 10Full study and all 396 verses →
Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with a shout of joy.
Job 23:4 I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
- מְלָא melâfilltranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H4391Verb · Translated: filled 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 2:35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 3:19 At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
Greek words (New Testament)
- πληρόω plēróōI fill, fulfill, completetranslated this way 20 times of its 85 uses · Strong’s G4137Verb · Translated: fulfilled 25, fulfill 13, filled 13, complete 8Full study and all 85 verses →
Matthew 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
Luke 2:40 And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.
- πλήθω plḗthōI filltranslated this way 16 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G4130Verb · Translated: filled 16, complete 2, came 2, passed 1Full study and all 23 verses →
Matthew 22:10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Luke 1:15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
- γεμίζω gemízōI fill, loadtranslated this way 7 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G1072Verb · Translated: filled 5, fill 2, swamped 1, full 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Mark 15:36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”
Luke 15:16 He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing .
- χορτάζω chortázōI feed, satisfytranslated this way 5 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s G5526Verb · Translated: satisfied 5, filled 3, feed 2, fill 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Mark 7:27 “First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
- ἐμπίπλημι empíplēmiI fill up, satisfytranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1705Verb · Translated: filled 1, well fed 1, everyone was full 1, filling 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
Acts 14:17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
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.