Exploring the Meaning of Sunteleo in Greek

συντελέω expresses the idea of bringing something to completion. In the New Testament passages where it appears, the verb is used for time periods reaching their end, actions being carried through to their finish, and events moving toward their fulfillment.

Occurrences

“Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?” (Mark 13:4)

Here the verb stands in a question framed by expectation: the disciples ask not only when “these things” will occur, but what sign will show that they are “all about to be fulfilled.” The completion in view is comprehensive (“these things… all”), so the focus is on a set of predicted events reaching their intended endpoint. The wording ties completion to discernible nearness (“about to be”), so completion is presented as something that approaches and can be recognized by an accompanying sign.

for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. (Luke 4:2)

Completion is applied to a defined span of time: “those days” of fasting and temptation. The clause “when they were completed” marks a transition from the forty-day period to the immediate consequence, “he was hungry.” The verb therefore functions as a boundary marker: the days run their full course, and only afterward does the narrative move to what follows. In this scene, completion is not abstract; it is tied to an experienced rhythm of time and bodily need, showing a sequence in which an interval reaches its full measure.

When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time. (Luke 4:13)

In this closing line of the temptation account, completion is applied to an activity rather than a calendar unit: the devil “had completed every temptation.” The phrase “every temptation” presents the temptations as a set, and the verb indicates that the set has been carried through to its end. The result is a change in the opponent’s behavior—“he departed”—so completion here marks the finishing of an attempted course of action, not the achieving of its purpose. The finishing of the temptations leads to a pause (“until another time”), suggesting that a completed round can be followed by a later resumption.

When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him, (Acts 21:27)

Completion again concerns a period of days, but with a notable nuance: “almost completed.” The narrative turns on timing. The seven-day span is near its end when opposition erupts—“they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him.” The verb thus helps locate the arrest within a narrowing window: events occur at the point when the days are approaching their completion, not after they have fully ended. Completion is presented as a horizon the story is moving toward, and the action happens just before that horizon is reached.

for He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.” (Romans 9:28)

Here the idea of completion is attached to “the work.” The statement is emphatic and forward-looking: “He will finish the work,” and the finishing is paired with decisiveness—“cut it short in righteousness.” Completion is thus presented as an act of bringing an undertaking to its intended end, but in a manner characterized by brevity (“short work”) and moral purpose (“in righteousness”). The repetition of “work” and the parallel expressions highlight the certainty and swiftness with which the work reaches its end.

For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; (Hebrews 8:8)

The quotation introduces a promised future: “Behold, the days come… that I will make a new covenant.” In this line, completion is carried by the forward movement toward an appointed time (“the days come”) and a decisive covenant-making act. The language sets up a transition from what is faulted to what will be established, and the verb contributes the sense of an initiative brought through to its completion—God’s action reaches the point where a new covenant is made with identified recipients (“the house of Israel… the house of Judah”). The completion here is bound to the arrival of “days” that culminate in a concrete divine act.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, συντελέω consistently works as a finishing verb that brings focus to endpoints. It can describe time reaching its terminus (the “forty days” in Luke 4:2; the “seven days” in Acts 21:27), a course of actions being carried to its end (“completed every temptation” in Luke 4:13), and a larger scope of events moving toward fulfillment (Mark 13:4). In Romans 9:28, the finishing is attached to “the work” and is framed as purposeful and decisive, where the completion of the work is not leisurely but “cut… short in righteousness.”

The contexts show that completion may be narrated from different vantage points. Luke 4:2 looks back from “afterward” to a period that has reached its end; Acts 21:27 looks forward from a moment when completion is near (“almost completed”); Mark 13:4 anticipates a future in which “these things” are “about to be fulfilled.” Completion can be the signal that something new follows (hunger after days of fasting), the signal that a sequence has ended (departure after every temptation), or the signal that an expected set of events is reaching its intended endpoint.

The verb also regularly serves the story by sharpening sequence and timing. It is not merely a label for being done; it positions the next action in relation to an ending. Luke attaches a bodily effect to the completion of days (“he was hungry”), and he attaches a tactical withdrawal to the completion of temptations (“he departed… until another time”). Acts ties a communal disturbance and seizure to a near-completion point (“almost completed”), showing how an approaching end can be the very moment at which conflict breaks out. Romans uses the finishing of “the work” to emphasize certainty and speed, and Hebrews uses the coming of days and the making of a covenant to describe a divinely driven movement toward a decisive outcome.

Because the verb can apply to days, to temptations, to a “work,” and to “these things” that are to be fulfilled, it naturally carries a broad field of reference in these texts, but its contribution remains stable: it points to an endpoint that is reached, or nearly reached, by a defined process or period. The surrounding phrases often specify what is being completed (days, temptations, work, these things) and what follows completion (hunger, departure, arrest, decisive divine action), so the verb functions as a hinge between what has been underway and what comes next.

Implied Imagery

The passages collectively picture completion with concrete edges: counted days that run out, a series of temptations that reaches its last item, a work that is finished swiftly, and awaited events that move toward fulfillment. In narrative settings (Luke and Acts), completion feels like a threshold moment—an ending that immediately presses into consequence. In the more declarative lines (Romans and Hebrews), completion is portrayed as a deliberate divine finishing that brings an intended outcome into effect within history.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).