Word study
Fulfill
9 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: fulfilled, fulfill, fulfilling, fulfills. 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 “fulfill” 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)
- שָׁלַם shâlambe complete, soundtranslated this way 18 times of its 109 uses · Strong’s H7999Verb · Translated: repay 20, fulfill 14, make restitution 7, made peace 6Full study and all 106 verses →
2 Samuel 15:7 After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD.
Job 22:27 You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 10 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 34:19 The young man, who was the most respected of all his father’s household, did not hesitate to fulfill this request, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.
- קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 10 times of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb · Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42Full study and all 570 verses →
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
1 Kings 2:4 and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
- מָלֵא mâlêbe full, filltranslated this way 9 times of its 242 uses · Strong’s H4390Verb · Translated: filled 66, full 34, fill 31, complete 8Full study and all 235 verses →
Exodus 23:26 No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.
2 Samuel 7:12 And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 5 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- כָּלָה kâlâhbe complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, spenttranslated this way 4 times of its 206 uses · Strong’s H3615Verb · Translated: finished 54, fail 12, consumed 9, completed 7Full study and all 200 verses →
Exodus 5:13 The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”
2 Chronicles 36:22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 3 times of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb · Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
- פָּלָא pâlâbe surpassing, extraordinarytranslated this way 2 times of its 70 uses · Strong’s H6381Verb · Translated: wonders 31, difficult 5, wonderful 3, fulfill 2Full study and all 68 verses →
Leviticus 22:21 When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.
Numbers 15:8 When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the LORD,
- גָּמַר gâmarend, come to an end, completetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H1584Verb · Translated: Put an end 1, more 1, fulfills 1, failed 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.
Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever — do not abandon the works of Your hands.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πληρόω plēróōI fill, fulfill, completetranslated this way 39 times of its 85 uses · Strong’s G4137Verb · Translated: fulfilled 25, fulfill 13, filled 13, complete 8Full study and all 85 verses →
Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”
- τελέω teléōI end, accomplish, paytranslated this way 5 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s G5055Verb · Translated: finished 8, fulfilled 4, complete 3, pay 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Luke 18:31 Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- ἀποδίδωμι apodídōmiI give back, return, selltranslated this way 2 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s G591Verb · Translated: repay 9, pay 8, give 8, reward 3Full study and all 45 verses →
Matthew 5:33 Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
1 Corinthians 7:3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
- ἀναπληρόω anaplēróōI fill up, make up, fulfilltranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G378Verb · Translated: fulfilled 1, supplied 1, fulfill 1, make 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 13:14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
Galatians 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
- πληροφορέω plērophoréōI carry out fully, fully convincetranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4135Verb · Translated: fulfilled 1, fully persuaded 1, fully convinced 1, fully assured 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Luke 1:1 Many have undertaken to compose an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
2 Timothy 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
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.