to fulfill = plēroō (πληροω)
Posted By Miss Jocelyn Tzahala on December 14, 2009 | Category: Ponder Me This, The Scriptures
The Greek word plēroō (πληροω) is used 90 times in the New Covenant, and this Greek word is where we get our English word “fulfilled” from. In Greek this word means “to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally”, which is quite different from our English-meaning of “Accomplished; performed; completed; executed.” This Greek word is used in both Luke 2:40 and Matthew 5:17, and in the following verses.
When it was full, the fishermen brought the net up onto the shore, sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad fish away.
Matthew 13:48
And when you have become completely obedient, then we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience.
2 Corinthians 10:6
The time has come, God’s Kingdom is near! Turn to God from your sins and believe the Good News!
Mark 1:15
With this in view, we always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill by his power every good purpose of yours and every action stemming from your trust.
2 Thessalonians 1:11
By applying our meaning of this word, instead of it’s proper one, in context, it is equal to that of a foreigner using the definition of cool as “moderately cold : lacking in warmth”, instead of cool as is “popular, favoured, or alright with others”. They would have to apply this word according to the text and the culture to get the proper meaning of the passage or book. Now, apply the proper meaning of ‘fulfill’ or ‘complete’ in Matthew and Luke:
“Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete to fill to the full to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally.”
“The child grew and became strong and filled to fill to the full to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally with wisdom — God’s favor was upon him.”
It’s important to read the Scriptures in the appropriate context, not just within the passage, but also the culture and meanings. If we don’t it we make void or abolish Yahweh’s Word, which we are warned about in Deuteronomy and Revelation. A friend asked “do we have to read the Scriptures in the original language to understand it? I don’t think we do”. I don’t either, but if we don’t translate it properly for whatever reasons, whether it be lack of knowledge or lack of interest or lack of conviction, we can’t and won’t understand it. We don’t have to read it in the original language, but we do have to read it correctly, and I’m finding many Scriptures aren’t. Who wants to falsely interpret Yahweh’s Word and instruction for their life? I certainly don’t, which why I’m going to continue seeking and searching what the Scriptures are meant to say.
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10 Responses to “to fulfill = plēroō (πληροω)”
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Thank you for visiting my site! I hope that it has encouraged and challenged you in someway. Please be aware that my blog is not intended for any debatable purposes (honestly!!), though that's not to say admonishment (via the Scriptures in context) is not welcome. This is simply just a place for me to share what YHVH-God is convicting me of and showing me in my walk with Him. Please read "You're Judgmental" before commenting if the thought strikes you.
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Shalom, welcome to A Pondering Heart. I hope you will be challenged by what you read here and it will cause you to search deeper and deeper into the Word of YAH. My name is Jocelyn Tzahala - I am a 19yo young woman, living in Latin America, seeking to be 'set apart as YHVH is set-apart". I want my faith to resemble that Avraham because in him YHVH found a man who would trust in him with everything and act upon his Word. My hope is that my life may be a sweet fragrance unto YHVH the MOST HIGH! HalleluYAH!
Very nice-ly wrote :) What a blessing to see young ladies of Yah!
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Hello Jocelyn,
once again a very fine post!!! You have some wisdom girl. thanks for sharing and staying convicted to the truth.
come visit my new place.. yep I finnaly got wordpress.
Liz
.-= Liz´s last blog ..The joys of learning a new thing =-.
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Amein! Some translations of Scripture try so hard to be ‘relevant’ aka modern that they lose the all-important sense of the culture in which Yahweh spoke. His Word is always relevant – there is no need to use slang or ‘fuzzy’ language, as we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand. Obviously there is no need to use archaic language, but we must be sure to use a translation which uses the most accurate language.
.-= Jade´s last blog ..I am alive, honest! =-.
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Another great post. I studied languages in hs and college so it always fascinates me to know what the words mean in the original – sometimes, like in this case, it can be really eye opening and we can see that we may have misinterpreted it before.
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Well done!!
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A great study. Glad you have chosen to love truth. I do too. Yesterday’s post was great,too. That was enough to turn my mourning into dancing. Thank you, Sandra
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Amein!!! I think this is so true. It’s is amazing how out of context (or poorly translated) some verses are. And it at times completely changes the meaning.
Blessings to you for sticking to your conviction and seeking out the truth.
.-= Leslie´s last blog ..Thankfulness Tree =-.
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As speaker of a Semetic language, I fully understand that some meaning is lost in the literal translation. All Christians, if they really want to understand God written Word, must read it in the context of time time spoken, to whom it was spoken, the culture of the people speaking and being spoken to and the culture of the language.
That really becomes clear in the Charismatic/Pentecostal crowd. Binding and loosing has zero with what they claim it to mean. It’s a Jewish saying, an idiom, that simply means to allow or disallow on matters of God. It was used by Jews before Jesus came in the flesh. It would be the same as me translating literally “raining cats and dogs” into another language. That is an idiom in our language.
Anyway, great post. :)
.-= tishrei´s last blog ..Focus on the Family’s Approved List of Christmas Retailers =-.
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Hi Jocelyn!
Interesting post. I think the term can mean “fulfilled” in the way we think of it today (ie: completed). Just like a foreigner wouldn’t ALWAYS be wrong if they defined cool in a textbook-way rather than as a slang term.
Looking at the way pleroo is used in Scripture, it seems that there are multiple (yet similar) meanings for the word. One of those is “to fulfill” in the sense that we understand it today (to fill up to completion). Other times it is “to fill to the full”, “to cause to abound”, etc (to make something abundant).
Indeed it comes down to context. I just don’t think there’s a reason to rule out “fulfilled/completed/accomplished” as an option when this word is used (particularly as this is the word used to say that prophecy is fulfilled–what was prophesied has been accomplished–Mat. 1:22, 2:15-17, 2:23, 4:14, 8:17, etc). This word is also used in Luke 7:1 to say that Jesus had “filled up” or “completed” all of His discourse with the people. He said all that He had purposed to say.
Pleroo can mean “filled up” in a literal sense, but it seems it was also an idiom for completing a task or fulfilling prophecy. We just have to use context and the whole of Scripture to determine which sense is being used in a given passage. (I know you agree with that, just wanted to conclude with that thought.) :-)
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Leftover Pie! =-.
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Carrots's Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Thank you for this word study! I was actually just thinking up the meaning of the word “fulfill” in context of the “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill verse”, so interesting to see you had the same idea. I plan on doing a bit more study on this one on my own too.
In response to your friend’s question about studying the Word in the original languages, I wanted to comment that I am thankful for the many tools available that allow me to study the original meanings without learning Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. I tend to read multipal literal translations and then use commentaries (not to swallow them whole, but to get an idea of what other learned men have studied aout the original languages) and lexicons and dictionaries to study the context of words. What a blessing we have to live in a world where we have the ability to study what the original language says without having to be fluent in them!
Lauren, good thoughts!
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