Bible Encyclopedias
Finish

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fin´ish ( כּלה , kālāh ; τελέω , teléō , with other Hebrew and Greek words): The proper sense of "finish" is to end or complete; so for "finish," "finished," in the King James Version, there is sometimes met with in the Revised Version (British and American) the change to "complete" (Luke 14:28; 2 Corinthians 8:6 ), "accomplish" (John 4:34; John 5:36; John 17:4 ), "made an end of doing" (2 Chronicles 4:11; compare 2 Chronicles 24:14 ), etc. In James 1:15 , for "sin, when it is finished," the Revised Version (British and American) reads "sin when it is full-grown," corresponding to "conceived" of the previous clause. On the other hand, the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently "finished" for other words, as "ended" (Genesis 2:2; Deuteronomy 31:30 ), "accomplished" (John 19:28 ), "filled up," "fulfilled" (Revelation 15:1 , Revelation 15:8 ), etc. The grandest Scriptural example of the word is the cry upon the cross, "It is finished" (Tetélestai , John 19:30 ).