THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

per-form' (Fr. parfournir, "to furnish completely," "to complete" "finish entirely"): In modern English, through a mistaken connection with "form," "perform" usually suggests an act in its continuity, while the word properly should emphasize only the completion of the act. the King James Version seems to have used the word in order to convey the proper sense (compare Ro 15:28; 2Co 8:11; Php 1:6, where the Revised Version (British and American) has respectively "accomplish," "complete," "perfect"), but usually with so little justification in the Hebrew or Greek that "do" would have represented the original even better. the Revised Version (British and American) has rarely changed the word in the Old Testament, and such changes as have been made (De 23:23; Es 1:15, etc.) seem based on no particular principle. In the New Testament the word has been kept only in Mt 5:33 and Ro 4:21, but in neither verse does the Greek accent the completion of the act, in the former case apodidomi, literally, "to give back," in the latter poieo, "to make," "to do," being used.

Performance is found in the King James Version Sirach 19:20 (the Revised Version (British and American) "doing"); 2 Macc 11:17 (inserted needlessly and omitted by the Revised Version (British and American)); Lu 1:45 (the Revised Version (British and American) "fulfilment"); 2Co 8:11 (the Revised Version (British and American) "completion").

Burton Scott Easton