Greek

To fail

ἐκλείπωStrong’s G1587

ekleipō

Appears in 4 verses of the New Testament

In short

Ekleipō is the Greek word usually translated “it may fail”, “may fail” and “darkened”. It appears in 4 verses of the New Testament.

“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”

Luke 16:9 KJV

Meaning

Usually translated “it may fail”, “may fail” and “darkened”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated

it may fail 1
may fail 1
darkened 1
will never end 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most

Luke 3
Hebrews 1

2 books in all.

Related words

Explore in Scripture

Greek dictionary

ἐκλείπω ekleipō · to fail

ἐκ-λείπω [in LXX for כָּלָה, כָּרַת ni., תָּמַם, etc., 47 different words in all ;] 1. trans., to leave out, pass over. 2. Intrans., to leave off, cease, fail: μαμωνᾶς, Luk.16:9; πίστις, Luk.22:32; ἔτη, Heb.1:12 (LXX); of the sun in an eclipse, Luk.23:45.† (AS)

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “fail” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

FAIL, verb intransitive

[Latin fallo; Gr. whence; Eng. felony. It seems to be allied to fall, fallow, pale, and many other words.]

To become deficient; to be insufficient; to cease to be abundant for supply; or to be entirely wanting.
To decay; to decline; to sink; to be diminished.
To decline; to decay; to sink; to become weaker; as, the patient fails every hour.
To be extinct; to cease; to be entirely wanting; to be no longer produced.“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men” Psalms 12:1

All definitions and other forms of “fail”

To be entirely exhausted; to be wanting; to cease from supply.“Money failed in the land of Egypt” Genesis 47:15
To cease; to perish; to be lost.
To die.“They shall all fail together” Isaiah 31:3
To decay; to decline; as, the sight fails in old age.
To become deficient or wanting; as, the heart or the courage fails.
To miss; not to produce the effect. the experiment was made with care, but failed, or failed to produce the effect, or failed of the effect.
To be deficient in duty; to omit or neglect. the debtor failed to fulfil his promise.
To miss; to miscarry; to be frustrated or disappointed.
To be neglected; to fall short; not to be executed. the promises of a man of probity seldom fail
To become insolvent or bankrupt.

FAIL, verb transitive

To desert; to disappoint; to cease or to neglect or omit to afford aid, supply or strength. it is said, fortune never fails the brave.
to omit; not to perform.
to be wanting to.“There shall never fail thee a man on the throne” 1 Kings 2:4

FAIL, noun

Omission; non-performance.

He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites. Joshua 3:10
Miscarriage; failure; deficience; want; death.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.