Bible Lexicons

The original meaning ";fill,"; ";fill to the full"; (MGr πληρῶ) may be illustrated from the phrase in Syll 633 (= .3 1042).20 (ii/iii A.D.) ἐὰν δέ τις τράπεζαν πληρῶι τῶι θεῶι, λαμβανέτωι τὸ ἥμισ [υ. The meaning ";pay"; is very common (MGr πλερώνω)—e.g. P Hib I. 40.11 (B.C. 261) δραχμὴν μίαν οὐθείς σ ̣οι μ ̣η ̣̣ π ̣λ ̣η ̣ρ <ώσ >ηι, ";no one will pay so much as I drachma"; (Edd.), BGU IV. 1055.23 (B.C. 13) μέχρει τοῦ πληρωθῆναι τὸ δάν ̣ηο ̣ν ̣, P Oxy I. 114.3 (ii/iii A.D.) κεῖται πρὸς β ̄ μνᾶς · πεπλήρωκα τὸν τόκον μέχρι τοῦ Ἐπεὶφ πρὸς στατῆρα τῆς μνᾶς, ";it is pledged for two minae. I have paid the interest up to Epeiph, at the rate of a stater per mina"; (Edd.), P Grenf II. 77.4 (iii/iv A.D.) (= Selections, p. 120) ἐπλήρωσα [αὐ ]τὸν [το ]ὺς μισθοὺς τῆς παρακομιδῆς τοῦ σώματος, ";I paid him the costs of the carriage of the body";; P Oxy XII. 1489.5 (late iii/A.D.) ἐνοχλεῖς μοι ὅτι ὀϕ ̣είλεις Ἀγαθὸς (= ῷ) Δαίμονι χαλκόν · πεπλήρωσ (= κ)α αὐτόν, ";you worry me about the money which you owe to Agathodaemon : I have paid him in full"; (Edd.), P Fay 135.9 (iv/A.D.) ἐπ ̣ι ̣σπούδασον πληρῶσαι ἵνα ἡ φιλία διαμίνῃ μ ̣ε ̣τ᾽ ἀλλήλων, ";make haste to pay, in order that we may remain on good terms with each other"; (Edd.), P Oxy VI. 902.16 (c. A.D. 465) ἐμοῦ ὡς προεῖπον ἑτοίμως ἔχοντος πληρῶσαι ὅσα ἐποφίλω αὐτῷ ἐγγράφως, ";since I am ready, as aforesaid, to discharge any debt secured in writing"; (Edd.), and Syll 737 (= .3 1109).48 (before A.D. 178) ἐὰν δὲ μὴ πληροῖ (sc. τὴν ὁρισθεῖσαν εἰς οἶνον φοράν). This usage may give us the clue to the translation of Philippians 4:18 ἀπέχω δὲ πάντα. . . πεπλήρωμαι, ";I have received payment,"; says Paul, ";my account is settled"; : see C. H. Dodd in Exp VIII. xv. p. 295, and cf. Moffatt, ";your debt to me is fully paid and more than paid!,"; and Goodspeed, ";you have paid me in full, and more too.";

The common NT use of πληρόω = ";accomplish"; a duty may be paralleled from P Lond 904.26 (A.D. 104) (= III. p. 125, Selections, p. 73) ἵνα. . τὴν συνήθη [οἰ ]κονομίαν τῆ [ς ἀπο ]γραφῆς πληρώσωσιν, ";in order that they may carry out the regular order of the census"; : cf. P Oxy XIV. 1669.8 (iii/A.D.) ἐνετειλάμην σοι ἐξετάσαι περὶ τοῦ συναγοραστικοῦ εἰ πληροῦται, ";I bade you to inquire about the purchased corn, whether the amount is being completed"; (Edd.). A Spartan inscr. in the Annual of the British School at Athens xii. p. 452, dated provisionally by H. J. W. Tillyard in i/A.D., has ὃς ἕξει καὶ τὴν τοῦ ξυστάρχου τειμήν, πληρῶν τὰ εἰθισμέν [α, ";discharging the usual offices"; : the editor cites CIG II. 2336 πληρώσαντα πᾶσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ λ [ε ]ιτουργίαν. In the calendar inscr. Priene 105.34 (c. B.C. 9) Providence is stated to have filled the Emperor Augustus with virtue for the benefit of mankind, ὃν εἰς εὐεργε [σίαν ἀνθρώπων ἐπλή ]ρωσεν ἀρετῆς (cf. Luke 2:40).

The use of the verb in connexion with time, which Grimm treats as a ";Hebraism,"; is found fully established in the Κοινή —P Lond 1168.10 (A.D. 18) (= III. p. 136) πληρωθέντος δὲ τοῦ χρόνου, P Oxy XIV. 1641.8 (A.D. 68) μέχρι τοῦ τὸν χρόνον πληρωθῆναι, and P Tebt II. 374.10 (A.D. 131 ὁ χρόνος τῆς μίσθώσεως ἐπληρό (= ώ)θη εἰς τὸ διελη [λ ]υθὸς ιδ ̄ (ἔτος), ";the period of the lease expired in the past 14th year"; (Edd.).