τελειόω
To perfect
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What does τελειόω (teleióō) mean in the Bible?
τελειόω (teleióō) is a Greek word meaning "to perfect". τελειόω, -ῶ (τέλειος), [in LXX: Exo. Highlights the divine completion of Christ’s redemptive mission. This term runs through the canonical themes of Faith, Messiah.
Full entry for τελειόω (G5048) · Browse the biblical lexicon
Meaning
To bring to completion or maturity; accomplish a process from beginning to end, not instantaneous perfection
(τέλειος), [in LXX: Exo.29:9, Lev.4:5, al. (τ. χεῖρ מָלֵא pi.), 2Ki.22:26, al. (תָּמַם), Wis.4:13, al. (cf. Westc., He., 64) ;]
Why This Word Matters
Highlights the divine completion of Christ’s redemptive mission. 1 John 4:17-21
Mission fulfilled in obedience. 1 John 4:7-12
Unity brought to mature fullness. Hebrews 2:10-18
Indicates that works mature and express genuine faith. Hebrews 5:1-10
Describes vocational completion of Christ's redemptive mission. James 2:21–24
Describes vocational completion of Christ's redemptive mission. Wuest and Mounce help clarify completion of mission rather than moral deficiency.
Refers to love reaching its intended maturity, resulting in confidence before God. James 2:21–24
Love grows toward mature expression that transforms both assurance and conduct.
God’s love reaches visible maturity in the community of believers.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 4×
Indicative states a fact or reality 8×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 4×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 7×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 21 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Canonical Themes
Biblical Occurrences
Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.
New Testament Witnesses
Appears In
Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain