to be full: to be loaded with contents, describing what something already holds rather than the act of filling it
This verb reports a condition, not an action. It says that something is loaded with contents, and it almost always names what those contents are. Greek has a separate verb for the act of filling (γεμίζω), so when a writer reached for this one, the question of who or what put the contents there simply did not arise. Older Greek used it above all of a ship riding low under its load, and the related noun for a ship's cargo (γόμος) still carries that background: what is inside weighs the thing down.
Because it reports what is inside, it became a natural way to expose what a surface conceals. Jesus uses it twice in one speech against the religious leaders of his day. The outside of the cup and dish is scrubbed while the inside is full of greed. The tomb is whitewashed and handsome while the inside is full of dead bones. In both, the verb is the hinge that swings from the surface to what is really there, and Luke's version of the saying makes the point unmistakable by moving from the dish to the person: the inside of you is full of greed.
John's visions then turn it into the vocabulary of vessels loaded to capacity:
- the living creatures around the throne are covered with eyes, front and back
- the golden bowls the elders hold are full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people
- the seven bowls handed to the angels are full of the wrath of God, and later of the last plagues
- the golden cup in the hand of the woman on the beast is full of vile things
Each of these is about to be seen or poured out, and the verb is what tells the reader that the vessel is already loaded and waiting.