StrongerBible

plēthō, pimplēmi

πλήθω, πίμπλημι

GreekG4130fill, fulfill, ...

Appears 24 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 22:10Mat 27:48Luk 1:15Luk 1:23Luk 1:41Luk 1:57Luk 1:67Luk 2:6Luk 2:21Luk 2:22Luk 4:28Luk 5:7Luk 5:26Luk 6:11Luk 21:22Act 2:4Act 3:10Act 4:8Act 4:31Act 5:17Act 9:17Act 13:9Act 13:45Act 19:29
Word studyPIM-play-meeverb

What plēthō, pimplēmi means

to make completely full: to fill a space, flood a person with something, or bring a set time to its full measure

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This verb pictures something filled right up to the brim, and the New Testament stretches that single picture across several settings. At its plainest it means loading a space or a container full: a banquet hall with guests, a sponge with sour wine, a boat with fish.

From there it moves to people. A person can be filled the way a vessel is, so taken over that what fills them now drives them. Luke uses it above all for being filled with the Holy Spirit, and just as readily for being flooded by a strong feeling, whether fear, wonder, rage, or jealousy. The image is the same in both cases: a person so full of something that it carries them along.

The last step is time itself. When the days appointed for something have run their full course, the word says they were filled up, that is, completed, and it can also say that everything written was brought to its full realization. Nearly every occurrence sits in Luke and Acts, where this filling language quietly ties together the coming of the Spirit, the reactions of the crowds, and the sense that God's appointed times are reaching completion.

Nuances

1ato fill a space or object completely with physical contents
Mat 22:10Mat 27:48Luk 5:7
1bto be filled with the Holy Spirit: wholly taken up and empowered by God's Spirit
Luk 1:15Luk 1:41Luk 1:67Act 2:4Act 4:8Act 4:31Act 9:17Act 13:9
1cto be seized and overwhelmed by a strong emotion, as if flooded by it
Luk 4:28Luk 5:26Luk 6:11Act 3:10Act 5:17Act 13:45Act 19:29
1dto reach the full measure of a set time, or to bring what was written to completion
Luk 1:23Luk 1:57Luk 2:6Luk 2:21Luk 2:22Luk 21:22

What scholars say about plēthō, pimplēmi

The standard lexica (BDAG; LSJ for the wider Greek) and the theological dictionaries agree on the sense: this is the aorist system supplied to the present πίμπλημι / πλήθω, meaning to fill, make full, and by extension to complete or fulfill (of time and of what is written). BDAG groups the uses as (1) filling of things and of persons with powers or feelings, and (2) of time being brought to an end or completion. The verb belongs to the same word group as πληρόω, treated together by Delling in TDNT, with πίμπλημι largely restricted in the New Testament to Lukan usage (23 of 24 occurrences in Luke-Acts, the exception being Matthew 27:48). The Lukan idiom "filled with the Holy Spirit" has been examined at length in the major Acts commentaries (Barrett, Fitzmyer), which distinguish this momentary filling for speech or witness from the more settled adjective πλήρης. There is no live dispute about what the verb denotes.

Sources

  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich), s.v. πίμπλημιlexicon
  • LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones), s.v. πίμπλημι, πλήθωlexicon
  • Gerhard Delling, "πλήρης, πληρόω, πίμπλημι κτλ.," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) vol. 6dictionary
  • Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, s.v. πίμπλημιlexicon
  • C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, ICC (1994)commentary
  • Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke, Anchor Bible (1981)commentary

All attested forms of πλήθω, πίμπλημι

aorist passive indicative 3p

ἐπλήσθησαν

Luk 1:23, Luk 2:6, Luk 2:21, Luk 2:22, Luk 4:28, Luk 5:26, Luk 6:11, Act 2:4

aorist passive indicative 3s

ἐπλήσθη

Mat 22:10, Luk 1:41, Luk 1:57, Luk 1:67, Act 19:29

aorist passive participle nominative m s

πλησθεὶς

Act 4:8, Act 13:9

aorist active indicative 3p

ἔπλησαν

Luk 5:7

aorist active participle nominative m s

πλήσας

Mat 27:48

aorist passive infinitive

πλησθῆναι

Luk 21:22

aorist passive subjunctive 2s

πλησθῇς

Act 9:17

future passive indicative 3s

πλησθήσεται

Luk 1:15