fur'-nish (male; plethomai): To "furnish" is to supply with what is useful or necessary, to fit out, provide, equip. It is the translation of several Hebrew or Greek words: of male', "to fill in or up," "to complete" (Isaiah 65:11 the King James Version); nasa, "to lift up," "to aid" (1 Kings 9:11); `anaq, Hiphil, probably "to lay on the neck," "to encircle" (with a bracelet) (Deuteronomy 15:14), of a slave set at liberty; `arakh, "to arrange in order," "to lay out a table" (Psalms 78:19 the King James Version; Proverbs 9:2); `asah keli, "to make a vessel for containing things" (Jeremiah 46:19, "Furnish thyself to go into captivity," the Revised Version, margin "Hebrew, make thee vessels of captivity"); plethomai, "to be filled" (Matthew 22:10 the King James Version); stronnumi, "to strew," "to spread" (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12); exartizo, "to complete fully," to equip" (2 Timothy 3:17).

In Ecclesiasticus 29:26 we have "furnish a table" (kosmeo); 44:6, "furnished with ability" (choregeo); 1 Macc 14:34 the King James Version, "He furnished them with all things" (tithemi).

W. L. Walker

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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