What Word Was Wuest Working With? Be Filled plēroō πληρόω

11. The Fullness of the Spirit

THERE ARE four grammatical rules in the Greek language which lead us to four truths relative to this great subject. The words in Ephesians 5:18 are, "Be filled with the Spirit." First, the verb is in the imperative mode. That is, it is imperative that we be filled with the Spirit, first, because God commands it, second, because the fullness of the spirit is the divine enablement in the life of a Christian which results in a Christ-like life. Failure to be filled with the Spirit is sin and results in failure to live a life honoring to God.
Second, the tense of the verb is present, and this tense in the imperative mode always represents action going on. We learn from this that the mechanics of a Spirit-filled life do not provide for a spasmodic filling, that is, the Christian is not filled only when doing service such as preaching or teaching. But the Christian living a normal life of moment by moment yieldedness to God, experiences a moment by moment fullness of the Spirit. No Christian can do with less and at the same time live a victorious life.
Third, the verb is in the plural number, which teaches us that this command is addressed, not only to the preacher and the deacon, and the teacher in the Sunday School, but to every Christian, to the business man, the laborer, the housewife. It is the responsibility of every Christian to be always filled with the Holy Spirit.
Fourth, the verb is in the passive voice. This grammatical classification represents the subject of the verb as inactive but being acted upon. This teaches us that the filling with the Spirit is not a work of man but of God. We cannot work ourselves up to that condition by any amount of tarrying, praying, or agonizing. A simple desire for that fullness and a trust in the Lord Jesus for that fullness will result in that fullness (John 7:37-39).
But what is meant by the fullness of the Holy Spirit? We find the answer in James 4:5, "Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, 'The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy'?" The word "lust" is an obsolete English word meaning "to earnestly desire." The translation reads, "The Spirit who has taken up his permanent abode in us constantly and earnestly desires to the point of envy."
Now, what does He desire even to the point of a divine envy? In Galatians 5:17 we read, "For the flesh has a strong desire to suppress the Spirit, and the Spirit has a strong desire to suppress the flesh, and these are firmly settled in an attitude of opposition to one another that you may not do the things which you constantly desire to do." The constant desire of the fallen nature is to sin. The Holy Spirit is the divine provision against sin in the life of a Christian. The evil nature wishes to use the faculties of the believer for sinful purposes. The Holy Spirit desires to use them for God's glory. The choice is with the Christian. He chooses which of the two will control his faculties. Thus the passage in James reads in paraphrase, "The Spirit who has taken up his final abode in us, jealously desires the whole of us." Yieldedness to and dependence upon the Holy Spirit results in the Spirit putting down the evil nature in defeat and producing in the believer a life pleasing to God. Thus, the fullness of the Spirit refers to His control over the believer. The translation of our text is, "Be ye being constantly filled with the Spirit."

Kenneth S. Wuest, Volume 3, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1973), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 33-34.

There is just one instance in the New Testament where the words "filled with the Spirit" are not followed by the genitive case. In Ephesians 5:18 we have the verb followed by the instrumental case, which latter case designates that by means of which the action in the verb is performed. The action in the verb here is a certain control exerted over the believer. The Holy Spirit is the divine instrument who exerts this control. One could translate, "Be controlled by the Spirit."
We must not think of the Holy Spirit filling our hearts as water fills a bottle, or air, a vacuum, or a bushel of oats, an empty basket. The heart of a Christian is not a receptacle to be emptied in order that the Holy Spirit might fill it. The Holy Spirit is not a substance to fill an empty receptacle. He is a Person to control another person, the believer. He does not fill a Christian's life with Himself. He controls that person.
The heart is a symbol used to refer to the will, the reason, and the emotions. Thus, the Holy Spirit possesses or controls the volitional, rational, and emotional activities of the believer who is said to be filled with Him. He brings all these into the place of obedience and conformity to the Word of God. Therefore, when we speak of a Christian filled with the Spirit, we are referring to the control which a divine Person, the Holy Spirit, has over a human being, the believer.
The believer is exhorted, "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18), or as we have translated it, "Be controlled by the Spirit." The tendency of the unsaved person is seen in the words of the hymn, "I was a wandering sheep, I did not love the fold, I did not love my Shepherd's voice, I would not be controlled." This tendency is broken when a sinner is saved, in that God breaks the power of the sinful nature, which nature had exerted absolute control over him, and gives him His own divine nature. The believer is then exhorted to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's ministry in the premises is to maintain in the actual experience of the Christian, that which God did for him the moment He saved him. The Holy Spirit suppresses the activities of the evil nature whose power was broken, and produces His fruit in the life. The very fact that an individual is exhorted to do something, demands as a logical accompaniment, that person's exercise of his will in the doing of that thing. That is, the believer here is not automatically controlled by the Spirit just because the Spirit indwells him. The control which the Spirit exerts over the believer is dependent upon the believer's active and correct adjustment to the Spirit. The Lord Jesus did not save us until we recognized Him as the Saviour and put our trust in Him for salvation. Just so, the Holy Spirit does not control us in the sense of permeating our will, reason, and emotions, until we recognize Him as the One who has been sent by the Father to sanctify our lives, and trust Him to perform His ministry in and through us. There must be an ever present conscious dependence upon and definite subjection to the Holy Spirit, a constant yielding to His ministry and leaning upon Him for guidance and power, if He is to control the believer in the most efficient manner and with the largest and best results. The Lord Jesus waited for you and me to recognize Him as Saviour before He saved us. The Holy Spirit indwelling a believer is waiting to be recognized as the One to come to that believer's aid. Salvation is by faith from start to finish. It is a work of God for man. But God waits for man, unsaved or saved as the case might be, to avail himself of the salvation he needs, by means of faith. One of the reasons why the Holy Spirit has so little control over many Christians is because they think He works automatically in their hearts.
Our Lord in John 7:37, 38 lays down two simple requirements for the fullness of the Spirit, a thirst for His control and a trust in the Lord Jesus for the Spirit's control.

"If any man thirst" refers to a desire on the part of the believer that the Holy Spirit be the One to control his every thought, word, and deed. We do not take a drink of water unless we are thirsty. We do not appropriate the control of the Spirit unless we desire Him to control us. A desire for His control will include among other things, a desire that He cause us to judge sin in our lives, a desire that He put sin out of our lives and keep it out, a desire that He separate us from all the ties we might have with that system of evil called the world, a desire that He dethrone our self-life and enthrone the Lord Jesus as absolute Lord and Master, a desire that He produce in us His own fruit, a desire that He make us Christlike, a desire that He lead us and teach us. Such a desire is a serious thing. It involves crucifixion of self, and self dies hard. The Spirit-controlled life is a crucified life. The other requirement is trust. Our Lord said, "He that believeth on Me, out from his inmost being shall flow rivers of living water." The trust here in this context is not only trust in Him as Saviour, but trust in Him as the One who fills with the Spirit. The Spirit-controlled life is a matter of trust. Salvation is by faith. We received our justification by faith. We are to receive our sanctification by faith. It is this constant desire for the Spirit's control and a trust in the Lord Jesus for the Spirit's control that results in the Spirit-controlled life. When one faces a new day, it is well to include in our prayers thanksgiving for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the expression of our desire for His control, and a definite assertion of our trust in the Lord Jesus for the Spirit's control during that day. It is well at intervals during the day when we are faced with temptation, or when we have a definite piece of Christian service to perform, or are in need of instruction from the Word or of strength for some duty, to recognize quietly the ministry of the Spirit and depend upon Him for all needed guidance, wisdom, and strength. He is waiting for us to recognize Him and trust Him for His aid. He is there, the indwelling Spirit, always at the service of the believer. But the point is that He comes to our aid when we avail ourselves of His help. There are just two things therefore which the believer must do in order to be controlled by the Spirit, desire that control and trust the Lord Jesus for that control.

There is no Scripture for the practice of asking for the fullness of the Spirit for one's self. Our Lord in Luke 11:13 said to His disciples, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" He invited the disciples to ask for the Person of the Spirit, not His fullness. This was before Pentecost, and the Spirit had not yet come. It appears that they did not ask the Father for Him, and so our Lord says "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter" (John 14:16). The "I" is intensive. They had not asked, so He did. The result was Pentecost. Distinguish therefore between asking for the Person of the Holy Spirit and for His fullness or control. It is not maintained that a believer who asks for the fullness of the Spirit does not experience His control over his life. Sometimes he does and sometimes he does not. If he asks in faith believing and at the same time yields his whole life to His control, and desires to be done with sin, the control of the Spirit follows. But too often such asking is accompanied by an unyielded life. But a trust in the Lord Jesus for that control involves the heart's submission to the Spirit. It involves the entire moral and spiritual being of the Christian. Many a sinner fearing the dire consequences of sin, has asked the Lord Jesus to save him, but has not been willing to give up his sin. Many a saint has asked the Holy Spirit to fill him, desiring more power for service, but has been unwilling to make a clean sweep of things and be done with some little pet sin in his life. But a statement of trust in the Lord Jesus for that fullness, forces one to face the sin question and the lack of surrender, and to be done with both. Furthermore, asking for that control may not be accompanied by trust but unbelief. A simple, "Lord Jesus, I do desire that the Holy Spirit control my every thought, word, and deed, and I do trust Thee for that control of the Spirit over my life," is the scriptural way of appropriating the fullness of the Spirit. If one is disposed to say, "Why split hairs and be so technical about this," one could cite the exactness with which our Lord uses His words in reference to the Holy Spirit when He says, "For he dwelleth with you and shall be in you" (John 14:17), thus distinguishing between the presence of the Spirit with the believer in Old Testament times under the law, and the presence of the Spirit in the believer under grace.

There is no Scripture for the practice of tarrying for the fullness of the Spirit. Our Lord said to the disciples, "I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). But let us note some careful distinctions here. He did not tell them to tarry for the fullness, but for the Person and the coming of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was scheduled to come to earth fifty days after the resurrection, as Pentecost was fifty days after the Feast of First Fruits. The disciples were to wait in Jerusalem for ten more days, and the Spirit would come. This announcement by our Lord was made at the close of His forty day post-resurrection ministry. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. The word "tarry" is the translation of a Greek word that means "to sit down, to sojourn." They were to sojourn in the city of Jerusalem for ten days until the Holy Spirit came from heaven. He is here. We need not wait for Him. He indwells the believer the moment that person puts his faith in the Lord Jesus, and He awaits that person's desire and trust that He control him.

One may be disposed to quote Acts 19:2, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" arguing that the Holy Spirit does not come in to abide until the child of God has come to a certain stage in his Christian experience. But the correct rendering is, "Did ye receive the Spirit when ye believed?" Paul was surprised at the absence of spirituality in these believers. It turned out that they had followed the preaching of John the Baptist, and therefore had not come under the provision of the indwelling Spirit of the Age of Grace.

Or, one might say, "I am a Christian, but I do not have the Holy Spirit because I do not speak in tongues," quoting Acts 2:4, 10:46, and 19:6. But let us be careful to note that Acts 2:4 refers to the languages of the individuals mentioned in Acts 2:8-11, that the speaking in tongues of Acts 10:46 was an evidence for that time given to the Jews, that the Gentiles had also received the Spirit, the need for which is now past, and that Acts 19:6 has to do with a special case where Jews had come into salvation under the Old Testament dispensation of law and now were receiving the added benefits of the Age of Grace, a case which cannot occur today.

Note by Webmaster220, I am in total disagreement with the dispensational doctrine discussion which labels the current dispensation as the "age of Grace" above so I have used my strikethrough option to indicate that when Wuest goes off on dispensationalism tangents he is being unscriptural. I speak in tongues as do millions of others worldwide. Stick to things that are supported by the scriptures Wuest!!!

But again, one may insist that a believer does not receive the Spirit except by the laying on of hands, quoting Acts 8:17 and 19:6. The act of laying on of hands always signifies identification. In the case of Acts 8:17, the Samaritans who did not recognize the temple at Jerusalem, needed to recognize the authority of the church at that place. Submission to the laying on of the apostles' hands thus healed the breach between those Samaritans and the Christian Jews, and identified the former with the Jerusalem church. In Acts 19:6 we have Jews coming over into a new dispensation and authority, and a similar situation holds true for them. We have no such conditions today, and therefore the laying on of hands is not needed for the reception of the Spirit. Thus a consciousness of the personal presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer, a desire for His control, and a trust in the Lord Jesus for that control, is the scriptural way of appropriating the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

This condition of being filled with the Spirit must not be a spasmodic thing in the life of the Christian. One hears teaching to the effect that the Holy Spirit fills one only when he is engaged in some particular piece of Christian service. That idea comes from the Old Testament ministry of the Holy Spirit. Before Pentecost, He came upon believers in order to equip them for a certain work they were to do for God, and left them when that service was over. But in the Church Age, this procedure does not obtain. The command, "Be filled (controlled) with the Spirit" is in a grammatical construction in Greek which speaks of a continuous process or state, as the case might be. For those who know Greek, we might say that the imperative mode in the aorist tense speaks of the fact of an action, while that mode in the present tense speaks of a continuous process or state. Here we have the present imperative. The tense in Greek used when a writer speaks of the fact of an action, is the aorist. When he uses any other tense, he goes out of his way to do so, and for the purpose of adding details. Had the inspired writer used the aorist tense here, he would have referred to the fact of being filled with the Spirit. But since he uses the present tense, he desires his Greek reader to understand that the exhortation is for one to be constantly, moment by moment, filled with the Spirit. That is, God's plan for the normal Christian life is that it should be a life constantly, consciously, and definitely subjected to the Spirit, a life that has a consuming desire for His control over every thought, word, and deed, thus a life unceasingly controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Christian needs this constant control of the Spirit over his life if he is to gain constant victory over sin, if the Lord Jesus in His beauty and fragrance of character is to be radiated by the Spirit through the life of the saint, if the saint is to walk in the path of God's will for him, if he is to live a life of prayer, and if he expects to understand his Bible as he should. One cannot do with less than the Spirit's constant control. Indeed, it is a sin not to be filled constantly with the Spirit. The mode of the verb is imperative. That means, that the words "Be filled" are a command. Failure to obey any command of Scripture is sin.

One hears the expression, "One baptism, many fillings." The first half of this expression is correct, but the second half is not in accord with the scriptural ideal for a normal Christian life. Let us look at the words, "many fillings." They speak of the Spirit-filled life as one would speak of a motor-car and its need of gasoline. That is, the filling-station attendant fills the tank. We drive off. The running motor consumes the gasoline and the tank becomes empty, and must be filled again. This is the illustration of the believer who is filled with the Spirit, engages in a piece of Christian work, lives through certain experiences, and in doing so, uses up the power which came from that filling with the Spirit. Then he must come back to the Spirit for another supply of power. This process is repeated over and over again.

But the thing wrong with all this is that the Christian's heart is not an empty receptacle to be filled with a substance as the tank of a motor car is to be filled with gasoline, but is a symbol of the will, the emotions, and the reason, all of which are to be constantly controlled. Again, the Spirit is not a certain amount of power given to the believer which he can use in his activities. He is a Person who controls another person, the believer. It is not that the believer uses the power of God but that God's power uses him. Furthermore, the only things that would deprive the Christian of this fullness of the Spirit are a lack of definite subjection on his part to the Spirit, or the presence of known and cherished sin in his life. Instead of saying, "One baptism, and many fillings," one should say, "One baptism, and His constant control."

But this desire for the control of the Holy Spirit, and this trust in the Lord Jesus for that control, is but part of the believer's obligation in the premises. One cannot say, "Just to realize with joy the Spirit's passionate longing to control my thoughts, words, and deeds for the glory of the Lord Jesus, and to rest quietly in His energizing and supervising ministry, is all that is necessary." The Christian life is not a mere "let go and let God" affair. It is a "take hold with God" business. It is not a mere rest in God, an existence somewhat like that of a jelly-fish floating in the warm currents of the Gulf Stream. God is not developing jelly-fish Christians. God wants to develop heroes, Christian men and women of moral stamina and spiritual power. In the physical realm, no one becomes strong by merely eating wholesome food and resting. Exercise is what is needed to change the food-energy into bone and muscle. In like manner, the Christian must exercise himself spiritually if he is to grow strong in his Christian life. That demands the exercise of his free will, the making of choices, the deciding between right and wrong, the saying of a point blank NO to temptation, the constant striving to improve one's spiritual life, grow in the Christian graces and in Christlikeness. It involves not only the desire to be loving, but the definite endeavor to be loving. It is not merely a trustful rest in the Holy Spirit to make us loving, but a positive exertion of our own will to be loving. It is like bending one's arm. The strength to bend one's arm is in that member of the body, but the strength is only potential and not active unless the will power is exerted which will cause that strength to function. Just so, the power of the Holy Spirit is potentially resident in the saint by virtue of His indwelling presence, but it is only operative in that believer when he is yielded to and dependent upon the ministry of the Spirit, and then steps out in faith in the performance of the action contemplated. For instance, when the believer is confronted with a temptation, it is not enough to rest in the Holy Spirit's ministry to overcome that temptation for us. We must by an act of our own free will say a bold, positive, and fearless NO to it. The instant we move in that direction, the Spirit is there with His wonderful energizing power. Indeed, you will say, that the very start of the step taken in the direction of the act of saying NO to that temptation was motivated by the Spirit. And that is true. Yet it is also true that it is the free action of the believer's will, and is his responsibility. Right here lies that mysterious, incomprehensible, and not-to-be-understood interaction and mutual response between the freewill of man and the sovereign grace of God.

This necessary action of the will on the part of the believer, in addition to the trust in and dependence upon the Holy Spirit which the saint must have, is seen clearly in the expression, "a certain fellowship of the Spirit" (Phil. 2:1) which we found referred to "a relation between individuals which involves a common interest and a mutual active participation in that interest and in each other." It is the obligation of the believer to be supremely interested in the things of God, for the Spirit is constantly exploring the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10). The Christian who does not maintain a real interest in and hunger for the Word of God, and satisfy both by a constant study of that Word, is not co-operating with the Spirit, and is not giving the Spirit an opportunity to work in his life and cause him to grow in the Christian graces. The Spirit works through the Word of God that we have stored in our hearts, and not apart from it.

Likewise, the believer who does not actively participate in the activity necessary to the saying of YES to the will of God and of NO to sin, is not co-operating with the Spirit. And the Christian who does not engage in a Holy Spirit directed ministry of some kind in the work of furthering the knowledge of the Word of God, is not co-operating with the Spirit. It is this ideal combination of a moment by moment trust in, submission to, and dependence upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the constant interest in and participation with the Holy Spirit in the things of God, that produces the best results in the Christian's experience. This combination develops Christian men and women with a sense of responsibility, with moral courage and stamina of a high order, with a balance and poise that weathers the severest storms, with a delicate sense of tact that enables them to move among their fellowmen without riding roughshod over their tender hearts, but rather in a loving way so that their passing leaves a sense of the presence of the Lord Jesus. It develops spiritual giants, men and women who can be trusted in a time of crisis.
Kenneth S. Wuest, Volume 3, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1973), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 104-113.

Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of OT/NT Words: Expository Dictionary

Fill

Old Testament

Verb: ‏מָלֵא‎ (mālēʾ), GK 4848 (S <H4390>), 252x. mālēʾ broadly means “to fill, be full, be fulfilled” and can carry either a spatial or temporal sense.

(1) Spatially, the term depicts the filling of things with certain objects. For example, Jer. 16:18 depicts the land as being filled with idols, and Jos. 3:15 speaks of the Jordan banks being full of water. Similarly, the glory of the Lord can fill a place such as the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34), the temple (1 Ki. 8:10), or the earth (Hab. 2:14). Jer. 23:24 speaks of the Lord himself filling heaven and earth. See also full.

(2) Temporally, this verb refers to the completion of a particular period of time. The death of a particular individual can be spoken of as his or her days being fulfilled (2 Sam. 7:12). It can also refer to the keeping or fulfilling of a vow (Jer. 44:25). Most importantly, the Lord has fulfilled and will fulfill all that he has promised (1 Ki. 8:15; Ps. 20:5).

New Testament

Verb: πίμπλημι (pimplēmi), GK 4398 (S <G4130>), 24x. pimplēmi means “to fill, fulfill” and is used in literal and figurative ways.

(1) In a literal sense, pimplēmi can describe boats that were filled with the miraculous catch of fish (Lk. 5:7), the wedding hall filled with guests (Mt. 22:10), and the sponge filled with sour wine (Mt. 27:48).

(2) Equally literal but in a spiritual sense, is a believer being filled with God’s Spirit. Luke often uses this terminology. It means that the person is controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, receiving a sudden burst of the Spirit’s inspiring power; this filling is often connected with speaking or prophesying as a fulfillment of God’s promise in Joel for the outpouring of the Spirit (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17). John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, meaning he would be prophetic his whole life (Lk. 1:15). Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (1:41) and gave prophetic utterance (1:42-45). Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied (1:67). All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and began to speak in unlearned human languages (Acts 2:4). These events are similar to those in the OT, such as when the Spirit rushed on Samson and he killed the lion (Jdg. 14:6), on Gideon and he went to war (6:34), and on Saul and he prophesied (1 Sam. 10:10).

Even after people are permanently filled with the Spirit at conversion, the Spirit can again fill them in the sense that he possesses and empowers them in a special way for a temporary, specific task, such as when Peter spoke to the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:8) and the church prayed for boldness (4:31). Paul is filled with the Spirit (9:17) and almost immediately begins to testify (9:20). He is later filled with the Spirit again and denounces Elymas the magician (13:9).

(3) Related to the above is the use of pimplēmi to describe people who are overtaken with sudden, powerful emotions. Everyone in the synagogue in Nazareth is filled with wrath in response to the teaching of Jesus (Lk. 4:28). After Jesus heals a paralytic, all in the house are filled with fear (5:26). The scribes and the Pharisees are filled with anger in response to Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath (6:11). In response to the healing of the lame man at the beautiful gate, all the people are filled with wonder and amazement (Acts 3:10). The Jewish leadership is filled with jealousy in response to the success of the apostles (5:17). The Jews of Pisidian Antioch are likewise filled with jealousy after a crowd gathers to hear Paul (13:45). When the riot breaks out in Ephesus, the city is filled with confusion (19:29).

(4) pimplēmi can also communicate that an allotted period of time has been completed. The time of Zechariah’s priestly service “was completed” (Lk. 1:23). The time for Elizabeth to give birth was filled (1:57)—also the days for Mary (2:6). The days were filled for Jesus to be circumcised on the eighth day (2:21). The time for the purification of Mary and Jesus “was completed” (2:22). Eight times between Lk. 1:15 and 2:22, Luke uses pimplēmi to emphasize that the fullness of time has come for the Messiah to arrive on the scene.

(5) On one occasion pimplēmi points to either typological or predictive fulfillment (or both): Everything that is written will be fulfilled in the days of vengeance (Luke 21:22). See NIDNTT-A, 469-71.

Verb: πληρόω (plēroō), GK 4444 (S <G4137>) 86x. Generally meaning “to fill, fulfill,” plēroō is used both spatially and figuratively in the NT.

Infrequently, plēroō means “to fill (something), make (something) full” in a spatial sense. For example, nets are filled with fish (Mt. 13:48), and the upper room is filled with the presence of God (Acts 2:2). Most often this verb means “to fulfill,” especially to fulfill the Scriptures (see fulfill).

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Mounce, William D., ed. Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Expository Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Mounce, William D., ed. Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Hebrew/Greek-English Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

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Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of OT/NT Words: Expository Dictionary

Fulfill

Old Testament

Verb: ‏שָׁלֵם‎ (šālēm), GK 8966 (S <H7999>), 116x. šālēm means “to repay, reward, fulfill, be at peace.” It is used in a variety of contexts. See repay.

Verb: ‏מָלֵא‎ (mālēʾ), GK 4848 (S <H4390>), 252x. mālēʾ broadly means “to fill, be full, be fulfilled” and can carry either a spatial or temporal sense. Especially the temporal meaning designates something fulfilled. See fill.

New Testament

Verb: πίμπλημι (pimplēmi), GK 4398 (S <G4130>), 24x. pimplēmi means “to fill, fulfill” and is used in literal and figurative ways. See fill.

Verb: πληρόω (plēroō), GK 4444 (S <G4137>) 86x. Generally meaning “to fill, fulfill,” plēroō is used both spatially and figuratively in the NT. See fill.

Most often in the NT, plēroō is used metaphorically, with reference to the fulfillment of the Scriptures and eschatological time.
(1) Throughout the Gospels and Acts, the OT is portrayed as finding its fulfillment in Jesus (Mt. 26:56; Lk. 24:44; Acts 13:27; Jn. 12:38). Similarly, Mark speaks of Jesus’ initiating the eschatological age of Israel’s kingdom expectations (Mk. 1:15).

Significantly, plēroō should not always be equated with direct prophetic fulfillment. In Mt. 3:15, for example, Jesus’ baptism fulfills “all righteousness,” but this is not to be understood in the context of prediction. Neither should Jesus’ claim that he fulfills the Law and the Prophets (5:17) be understood in the limited sense of prediction and fulfillment. Rather, in eschatological contexts like these, plēroō is best regarded as portraying Jesus as the one to whom the entire OT points and the one for whom Israel longs (cf. Lk. 24:44).

(2) Paul considers love to be the fulfillment of the law (Gal. 5:14; cf. Rom. 13:8). He also speaks of fulfilling the preaching of Christ in the eastern part of the Roman empire (Rom. 15:19), which suggests that the apostle’s mission was to help complete the work begun by Christ (cf. Col. 4:17). Similar to John’s call to be filled with the joy of Jesus (Jn. 15:11; 16:16; 17:13),Paul also exhorts his audience to be filled with the fruit of righteousness and the Spirit (Eph. 5:18; Phil. 1:11). This “filling” is tied to the displacement of competing traits or realities (e.g., sorrow) that rival the centrality of Christ and all the benefits of one’s union with him (e.g., joy, righteousness, the Spirit).

Verb: τελέω (teleō), GK 5464 (S <G5055>), 28x. The basic meaning of teleō is “to finish, complete.” teleō also refers to keeping or fulfilling the law (Rom. 2:27, see Jas. 2:8, NIV “keep the royal law”).

Verb:τελειόω (teleioō), GK 5457 (S <G5048>), 23x. teleioō sometimes refers to completing an activity, both in the sense of “to finish” (e.g., “After the Feast was over,” Lk. 2:43) and “to accomplish, fulfill” (see Acts 20:24; also Jn. 4:34; 5:36; 17:4). See end.

Mounce, William D., ed. Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Expository Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
Mounce, William D., ed. Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Hebrew/Greek-English Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

(Eph. 5:18-20) "Be drunk" is methuskō, "to get drunk, become intoxicated." Wycliffe translates, "be filled." Vincent says: "A curious use of the word occurs in Homer, where he is describing the stretching of a bull's hide, which in order to make it more elastic, is soaked (methuskō) with fat." The word, therefore, refers to the condition of a person in which he is soaked with wine.
The words, "wherein is excess," are to be construed with the entire clause, "Be not drunk with wine," not with the word "wine" alone, but with the becoming drunk with wine.
"Excess" is asōtia, from sōzō, "to save," and Alpha privative, the literal meaning being, "unsavingness"; that is, that which is asōtia has nothing of a saving quality about it, but rather, a destructive one. The word as it is generally used expresses the idea of an abandoned, debauched, profligate life. The words "profligacy, debauching," well describe its meaning. "Filled" is plēroō, "to fill up, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally, to flood, to diffuse throughout." In Acts 6:15 we have Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit. Faith filled Stephen in the sense that it controlled him. The Holy Spirit filled Stephen in the sense that He controlled him. Therefore, the fullness of the Spirit has reference to His control over the believer yielded to Him. The verb is in the present imperative; "Be constantly being filled with the Spirit." The interpretation is, "Be constantly, moment by moment, being controlled by the Spirit." Please consult the author's book, Riches in the Greek New Testament for a detailed, practical treatment of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
"Speaking to yourselves" is lalountes heautois, literally, "speaking with yourselves." But this translation is open to misinterpretation, namely, that of each Christian communing with himself, which is not the idea. Saints are to speak to one another. That is, in letting other saints know of their joy in salvation, they are to do so in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They are to find expression to the Spirit-filled life in this way. As to the definitions of these terms, Expositors says: "What the distinctions are, if any, between the three terms, has been considerably disputed. Psalms are religious songs, especially those sung to a musical accompaniment, and par excellence an O.T. psalm; hymns are properly speaking songs of praise; songs, the most general term, are applicable to all kinds of songs, secular or sacred, accompanied or unaccompanied. The three words are brought together here with a view to rhetorical force, and it is precarious, therefore, to build much upon supposed differences between them."
Another way in which the Spirit-filled life is manifested, is in the giving of thanks for all things. Regarding the all things, Expositors says: "The 'for all things' is taken by many in its widest possible extent, as including things evil as well as good. The Epistle does not deal, however, particularly with the sufferings of the Christian, but with what he receives from God and what his consequent duty is. It is most accordant therefore with the context, to understand the 'all' as referring to all the blessings of the Christian, the whole good that comes to him from God."
Translation: And stop being intoxicated with wine, in which (state of intoxication) there is profligacy. But be constantly filled (controlled) by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

Kenneth S. Wuest, Volume 1, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1973), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 127-129.

Ephesians 5:1 (WuestNT)
^{1 (WuestNT)}  Be becoming therefore imitators of God, as children beloved, and be ordering your behavior within the sphere of love, even as Christ also loved you and gave himself up in our behalf and in our stead as an offering and a sacrifice to God for an aroma of a sweet smell. But fornication and uncleanness, every kind of it, or covetousness, let it not be even named among you, just as it is befitting to saints, and obscenity and foolish talking or ribaldry, which things have not been seemly or fitting, but rather giving of thanks, for this you know absolutely and experientially, that every whoremonger or unclean person or covetous person, who is an idolator, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God. Let no one keep on deceiving you by means of empty words, for because of these things there comes the wrath of God upon the sons of the disobedience.

Ephesians 5:7 (WuestNT)
⁷  Stop therefore becoming joint-participants with them; for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. As children of light be habitually conducting yourselves; for the fruit of this light is in the sphere of every beneficence and righteousness and truth, putting to the test and then approving what is well pleasing to the Lord. And stop having fellowship with the unfruitful works of this darkness, but rather be rebuking them so as to bring out confession and conviction, for concerning the things done in secret by them it is shameful to be speaking.

Ephesians 5:13 (WuestNT)
¹³  But all the aforementioned things, when they are reproved by the light, are made visibly plain, for everything that is being made plain is light. Wherefore He says, Be waking up, he who is sleeping, and arise from the dead, and there shall shine upon you the Christ. Be constantly taking heed therefore how accurately you are conducting yourselves, not as unwise ones but as wise ones, buying up for yourselves the opportune time, because the days are pernicious. On this account stop becoming those who are without reflection or intelligence, but be understanding what the will of the Lord is. And stop being intoxicated with wine, in which state of intoxication there is profligacy. But be constantly controlled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always concerning all things in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, putting yourselves in subjection to one another in the fear of Christ.

Ephesians 5:22 (WuestNT)
²²  The wives, be putting yourselves in subjection with implicit obedience to your own husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is head of the wife as the Christ is Head of the Church, He himself being the Saviour of the Body. Nevertheless, as the Church subjects itself in obedience to the Christ, in this manner also the wives should subject themselves in obedience to their husbands in all things. The husbands, be loving your wives with a love self-sacrificial in its nature, in the manner in which Christ also loved the Church and gave himself on behalf of it, in order that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the bath of water in the sphere of the Word, in order that He might himself present to himself the Church glorious, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any of such things, but in order that it might be holy and unblamable. In this manner ought also the husbands to love their wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself, for no one ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Christ, the Church, because members are we of His Body. Because of this a man shall leave behind his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great. However, I am speaking with regard to Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, also as for you, let each one in this manner be loving his own wife as himself, and the wife, let her be continually treating her husband with deference and reverential obedience.

Wuest, Kenneth S., trans. The New Testament: An Expanded Translation Grand Rapids, MI: Wlliam B. Eerdmans, 1961. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Wlliam B. Eerdmans, 2002. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

πλήρης plḗrēs [full, complete] <G4134>,
πληρόω plēróō [to fill, complete] <G4137>,
πλήρωμα plḗrōma [fullness] <G4138>,
ἀναπληρόω anaplēróō [to fill completely] <G378>,
ἀνταναπληρόω antanaplēróō [to complete] <G466>,
ἐκπληρόω ekplēróō [to fill up, fulfil] <G1603>,
ἐκπλήρόσις ekplḗrósis [filling, completion] <G1604>,
συμπληρόω symplēróō [to fill with] <G4845>,
πληροφορέω plērophoréō [to bring to fullness] <G4135>,
πληροφορία plērophoría [supreme fullness] <G4136>

plḗrēs.

1. The meaning of plḗrēs is “full,” “filled,” “manned” (ships), “full of” (e.g., sickness, delusions), “overfull” (cf. divine possession), “satisfied” (figuratively of the soul). Other meanings are “fully covered” (e.g., with fertile soil), “complete” (i.e., wholly filled), and “dense” of “thick” (i.e., fully pressed). “Fully paid” is a meaning in the papyri.
2. In the LXX, as the originals indicate, we find such senses as “satisfied,” “intact,” “overflowing,” “full,” “fully covered,” and “complete.”
3. Philo puts the term to philosophical, ethical, and religious use. Thus God is full of perfect goods or is perfect and complete. Philo refers, too, to the perfect good, e.g., the higher of ideal nature. Creation is complete.
4. The NT uses the term in a transferred sense to denote “rich fullness” (cf. Jn. 1:14, where grace and truth are the content, and the glory of the incarnate word which declares them is manifested). In Acts 6:8 Stephen possesses grace and power from God in abundant measure (cf. 6:3, 5). This is a permanent endowment, but a special grace is perhaps denoted in 7:55. In Luke 4:1 Jesus’ moving to Galilee (v. 14) is fully under the direction of the Spirit. Acts 13:9 stands in marked contrast to 13:8. The magician has satanic powers, but the Spirit comes on Paul to grant him divine authority, plḗrēs means “full” in Matt. 14:20; 15:37; Mark 8:19, “wholly covered” in Luke 5:12, and “complete” in Mark 4:28 and 2 Jn. 8.

plēróō.

A. Nonbiblical Usage.

This verb means “to fill,” “to man” (ships), “to fill up” (passive), “to fill” in a figurative sense (with emotions, knowledge, etc.), “to satisfy or appease” (demands etc.), “to fulfil” (directions), “to round off or pay in full,” “to pay off,” “to run its course” (a span of time), “to fulfil” (promises), and “to come to fulfilment” (passive, e.g., of prophecies).

B. LXX Data.

In the LXX plēróō occurs some 70 times for forms of mlʾ and other terms. Literal senses are “to fill” (e.g., with strong drink, or with people), “to fill the hand with offerings” (i.e., to sacrifice), “to be filled” (e.g., rivers with water), “to become full” (the moon), “to be satisfied.” Figurative senses are “to fill” (with understanding, confusion, arrogance, etc.), “to fill up,” “to satisfy” (desires), “to make or become full” (e.g., divine measures or spans of time), and “to fulfil” (e.g., divine promises).

C. God Fills the World in the OT and Judaism.

1. God knows all things, for he is omnipresent (Jer. 23:24). He sees and hears all things, for he fills heaven and earth. This does not mean that he permeates it materially; it is parallel to his upholding of creation.
2. Philo bases his ethics on the thought of God filling all things. God is distinct from the world. While not embraced by the cosmos, he leaves no part of it empty. He is everywhere at work to preserve it. His omnipresence relates to his self-revelation, but also to his judgment. No one can hide from God. Philo may make paradoxical statements by using philosophical terminology, but plainly he is not thinking of spatial permeation. The divine filling contrasts with the need and emptiness of the world.
3. The rabbis express similar thoughts. The cosmos cannot embrace God. It is by grace that his glory dwells in it. It pleases him to fill heaven and earth, although he himself is in the supreme heaven or above all heavens.

D. The Content of the Word in the NT.

1. Corresponding to the literal sense “to fill” (e.g., a place, Acts 5:28, or a lack, Phil. 4:19), plēróō nonliterally has first the sense “to fill with a content.” In the active, the subject may be abstract (Jn. 16:6), or it may be Satan (Acts 5:3), or God (Acts 2:28; Rom. 15:13). In the passive God is to be inferred as the one who fills richly (cf. Phil. 1:11; Col. 1:9). He gives knowledge and joy (Acts 13:52) with such fullness that they stamp the whole life and conduct, and claim the whole being, of the recipients. Along similar lines there is a filling with wisdom in Luke 2:40, with the Spirit in Eph. 5:18 (in contrast to wine), and with comfort in 2 Cor. 7:4. In Eph. 4:10 Christ is the one who, having achieved dominion, dispenses the gifts of grace in fullness (vv. 7ff.). There is no reference here to spatial extension. Eph. 1:23 is to the same effect. “All” means all cosmic beings capable of will and decision, and “in all” means “in every respect” or “through all the forces that are subject to him” (v. 22). In virtue of his universal dominion Christ gives life and power to the whole church. The prayer of 3:19 is that the recipients may be filled absolutely with God’s boundless gifts. In Col. 2:10 there is a play on plḗrōma; the point is either that they have been brought to fullness in Christ’s sphere of life or that they are filled absolutely by him as the Giver.
2. A second nonliteral meaning in the NT is “to fulfil a divine demand or claim.” Thus (a) in Rom. 13:8; Gal. 5:14 believers fulfil the demand of the law in virtue of their new life in the Spirit (Rom. 8:4, 9-10). The idea is not that love fills up the law as though it were a vessel, but that it meets its norms. In Matt. 5:17 (b) the idea is not simply that of validating the law as distinct from abolishing it. The goal of Jesus’ mission is fulfilment. He does not simply affirm the law and the prophets but actualizes the will of God that is declared in them from the standpoint of both promise and demand. An example of such fulfilment may be seen already in Matt. 3:15.
3. A third nonliteral sense in the NT is “to fill up a specific measure.” The Jews (a) will fill up their fathers’ guilt by crucifying Jesus (Matt. 23:32). The predetermined number of martyrs (b) is completed (Rev. 6:11). Times come to an end (c) (Acts 7:23; 9:23; Luke 21:24). The thought of the time (kairós) being fulfilled in Mark 1:15 stresses the element of sovereign decision in God rather than impersonal foreordination. The mercy of the living God has brought about a fulfilment that opens the door to faith and forgiveness.
4. Another nonliteral sense in the NT is “to fulfil prophetic sayings.” God fulfils his word by actualizing it (Acts 3:18 and cf. 13:27). The NT uses various formulas for the proof from Scripture (cf. Matt. 1:22; Mark 14:49; Acts 1:16; Luke 4:21; Jms. 2:23; Jn. 13:18, etc.). The proof is most common in Matthew. In John it relates to details of the passion and especially to the betrayal by Judas (13:18) and rejection by the Jews (12:38). Fulfilment of Isa. 53 is the answer to the apparent enigma of the death of Jesus. A final hína is important in the Scripture proofs, for it shows that events in Jesus’ life are grounded in God’s will as the OT declares this. Distinctive of the NT fulfilment is the eschatological content. God’s saving will achieves its full measure in the today of the Christ event. The NT concept of fulfilment is summed up in the person of Jesus. Paul has a similar view of OT fulfilment but does not put it in plēróō formulas. Luke 22:16 refers to a fulfilment of the Passover in the future consummation but does not show how. Implied at least is the interrelating of the Passover as a type with the coming redemption as its antitype.
5. A final NT sense is “to complete.” With a temporal reference (a) this may mean “to finish” (cf. Luke 7:1; Acts 13:25). Or it may mean (b) “to perform” (e.g., a divinely given task; cf. Col. 4:17; Acts 14:26; 12:25; Luke 9:31). Or it may mean (c) “to bring to completion,” “to complete,” e.g., God’s counsel in 2 Th. 1:11, or Paul’s joy in Phil. 2:2; in the passive “to become complete,” e.g., the Corinthians’ obedience in 2 Cor. 10:6. Especially completed or perfected in John is joy, e.g., that of the Baptist in 3:29, that of the recipients of revelation in 15:11 (cf. 1 Jn. 1:4; 2 Jn. 12). Joy is perfected because salvation is effected with the exalting of Jesus. In Jn. 16:24 those who pray for the salvation given in fellowship with Christ have the promise of perfect joy.

plḗrōma.

A. Outside the NT.

1. Lexical Data.
1. The first sense of plḗrōma is “that which fills,” “contents,” including, e.g., cargo, crew, population.
2. The idea of what fills yields such senses as “entirety,” “mass,” “totality,” “full measure,” “consummation,” also “crowd” (of people).
3. We also find the sense “what is filled” for a fully laden ship.
4. A final meaning is “the act of filling.”

II. Use in Specific Literary Groups.

1. In the LXX the term mostly has a spatial reference and denotes “content,” “fullness,” “totality” (cf. “totality” of population or “fullness” of the earth). The sense “act of filling” is perhaps in view in Ex. 35:27; 1 Chron. 29:2.

2. Ignatius uses the term in the sense of “supreme fullness,” e.g., of wishes or divine blessing. Justin has the fullness of the earth or sea in mind, and Clement of Alexandria (except in discussing Gnosticism) the means of sustenance.

3. The Hermetic writings have the term in the formal sense of fullness. Thus “God is all and one, for the fullness of all is one and in one.”

4. In Christian Gnosticism plḗrōma is a technical term for the totality of the 30 aeons. This totality is closest to God but is his product; he stands over it. The plḗrōma is the supreme spiritual world from which Jesus comes and into which the spiritual enter. Implied in the use of the term are the fullness and perfection of being. In the plural the aeons are called plērṓmata, and plḗrōma is also used at times for the Gnostics’ angelic partners who help to carry them up into the spiritual world.

5. In mystical and Neo-Platonist works plḗrōma has the sense of content or totality, e.g., the sum of the qualities that constitute something.
B. The NT.

1. We find the sense “that which fills” in Mark 6:43; 8:20; 1 Cor. 10:26 (cf. also Mark 2:21).

2. In measurement (a) we first find the sense “full measure” in various connections, e.g., the number of the Gentiles in Rom. 11:25, full maturity in Eph. 4:13. We then find (b) the sense of “fullness” in, e.g., Rom. 15:29 (blessing), Eph. 3:19 (all God’s gifts), Jn. 1:16 (the grace of the incarnate word), Col. 1:19 (the fullness of the divine being in Christ), Col. 2:2-9 (the full deity). The plḗrōma statements in Colossians present the full unity of the person and work of God and Christ, yet in such a way that neither distinctness of person nor monotheism is imperiled. The differences between Ephesians and Colossians show that plḗrōma is not here a technical term, and the fact that plḗrēs or plēróō may be used instead supports this conclusion. In part the plḗrōma sayings relate to Christ’s headship of the church. From him as the bearer of the divine fullness (Col. 1:18ff.) vital powers flow into the church, so that he may be said to fill it.

3. In Eph. 1:23 the church as Christ’s body is his fullness as it is thus filled by his mighty working. Eph. 3:19 conveys similar teaching.

4. The “act of filling” is the sense (actively) in Rom. 13:10. Love here is not the sum of the law but the fulfilment of what God demands in it (cf. v. 8). “Act of filling” is also the sense (passively) in Rom. 11:12. When the number of Israel is filled up, the Gentiles will receive the fullness of eschatological consummation. Gal. 4:4 is another example. What is meant is not just that a period has run its course or that an ordained point has been reached, but that time has received its full content with the sending of the Son (cf. Eph. 1:10). God performs his eschatological act with the historical coming of Jesus. God’s decree had this fulfilment of the times in view (cf. 1 Cor. 10:11); Eph. 1:9-10 shows it to be grounded in the divine will and purpose.

anapleróō.
1. This word means “to fill completely,” “to fill up,” “to complete,” “to do completely,” “to settle up,” “to terminate,” and “to appease.”

2. In the LXX we find the senses “to insert,” “to bring to full measure,” “to complete,” “to be full,” and in the passive “to become full,” “to come to an end.”

3. In the NT we find the sense “to fill a gap,” “to make up for,” in 1 Cor. 16:7 and Phil. 2:30. The meaning “to fill up” occurs in 1 Th. 2:16; Judaism augments its sins by opposing the gospel. “To fill a place” is the point in 1 Cor. 14:16. In Gal. 6:2 believers fulfil Christ’s law by bearing one another’s burdens. The passive in Matt. 13:14 relates to the fulfilment of prophecy by the rejection of Christ’s message and work.

antanaplēróō.
This rare compound carries the nuance of “adding to,” “supplementing,” or “mutually augmenting.” In the one NT instance in Col. 1:24 the thought is that of a vicarious filling up of the eschatological afflictions laid on the apostle in a wholly realistic fellowship of destiny with Christ on the basis of dying with him (cf. Phil. 3:10).

ekplēróō.
1. This word means a. “to fill” (e.g., to man ships), “to make up,” “to furnish” (e.g., a house), “to fill up” (state coffers), “to bring to full measure,” b. “to fulfil” (a duty), “to pay” (a debt), passive “to come to fulfilment,” c. “to carry out” (a plan or proposal), and d. “to appease.”

2. The only NT instance is in Acts 13:33, where Paul says, on the basis of Ps. 2:7, that the good news is that God has fulfilled his promise to the fathers by raising Jesus from the dead (cf. also Luke 24:7; 1 Cor. 15:4).

ekplḗrōsis.
1. This rare word means “filling,” “completion,” “perfecting,” “satisfaction,” “fulfilment.”

2. The one NT instance is in Acts 21:26, where Paul gives notice in the temple when the days for purifying the four men will end.

symplēróō.
1. This word means “to fill with,” “to fill completely,” “to man,” “to make complete,” and in the passive “to be completed,” “to become complete,” “to be fulfilled.”

2. Only the passive occurs in the NT. Literally the ship is being filled with water in Luke 8:23. Days are fulfilled (i.e., the time has come) in Luke 9:51 and Acts 2:1, with a suggestion that God’s saving will is carried out in the event of Christ’s going to Jerusalem or the descent of the Spirit. What is fulfilled is not just the period up to the event, but the time of the event itself, so that the term has here distinctive theological significance.

plērophoréō.
1. This late compound means “to bring to fullness” in such senses as a. “to fulfil or complete,” b. “to satisfy,” and c. “to convince” (passive “to come to full certainty”).

2. The only LXX instance is in Eccl. 8:10, where the “full” has the sense of being “fully set” on doing evil.

3. In the NT the word means “to fulfil” in 2 Tim. 4:5 (cf. also the passive in 4:17). The meaning in Luke 1:1 is “to accomplish,” but since the reference is to the divine acts of salvation the nuance is that of bringing to fulfilment. Achieving certainty is the point in Rom. 4:21; it is because he is fully convinced that God will do what he promises that Abraham is a model for believers, saving faith being faith in the creative power of God that gives new life in Christ. The same meaning occurs again in Rom. 14:5, where Paul says that whether we observe days or not we should be fully convinced in our own judgment. This may also be the sense in Col. 4:12, but the combination with téleioi suggests that the thought is that of being brought to full maturity or completeness.

plērophoría.
This word means a. “supreme fullness” and b, “certainty.” In the NT it is parallel to power and the Holy Spirit in 1 Th. 2:5 (cf. 1 Cor. 2:4). It is thus one of the terms by which Paul describes the great richness of the divine work in the church’s life and mission. In Col. 2:2 (with ploútos) it denotes the superabundance of a knowledge of God that is epitomized in Christ as the one in whom God actively reveals himself. In Heb. 6:11 the readers do not lack the zeal that leads to full preservation (or development) of their hope. In Heb. 10:22, however, the reference is to the full assurance of the faith that rests on appropriation of Christ’s high-priestly work. Formally, of course, the idea of a full measure is still present.

[G. DELLING, VI, 283–311]

Geoffrey W. Bromiley, trans., Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2003), s.v. “,” WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

Bill Mounce

For an Informed Love of God

πληρόω

Greek Dictionary

Forms of the word

Dictionary: 

πληρόω

Greek transliteration: 

plēroō

Simplified transliteration: 

pleroo

Principal Parts: 

(ἐπλήρουν), πληρώσω, ἐπλήρωσα, πεπλήρωκα, πεπλήρωμαι, ἐπληρώθην

Numbers

Strong's number: 

4137

GK Number: 

4444

Statistics

Frequency in New Testament: 

86

Morphology of Biblical Greek Tag: 

v-1d(3)

Gloss: 

to fulfill, make full; (pass.) to be filled, full, complete (often used with reference to the fulfillment of the OT Scriptures)

Definition: 

pluperf., πεπληρώκει (3 sg), to fill, make full, fill up, Mt. 13:48; 23:32; Lk. 3:5; to fill up a deficiency, Phil. 4:18, 19; to pervade, Jn. 12:3; Acts 2:2; to pervade with an influence, to influence fully, possess fully, Jn. 16:6; Acts 2:28; 5:3; Rom. 1:29; Eph. 5:18; to complete, perfect, Jn. 3:29; Eph. 3:19; to bring to an end, Lk. 7:1; to perform fully, discharge, Mt. 3:15; Acts 12:25; 13:25; 14:26; Rom. 13:8; Col. 4:17; to consummate, Mt. 5:17; to realize, accomplish, fulfil, Lk. 1:20; 9:31; Acts 3:18; 13:27; from the Hebrew; to set forth fully, Rom. 15:19; Col. 1:25; pass. of time, to be fulfilled, co

https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/pleroo

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