ka.lah marks the completion of work, acts, periods, supplies, or destructive action in the Bible.

The dominant use marks bringing a task, building project, offering, prayer, examination, or appointed period to completion. In other clauses it describes supplies or strength running out, and it can portray consuming or bringing people and things to destruction.

1. Completing a task, work, or stated activity · dominant

   This use marks the point at which an action or project has been brought through to its completion. In 1 Kings 6:14 the APB renders the clause, "So Solomon built the house and finished it," while 1 Kings 8:54 places the form after Solomon's prayer; 2 Chronicles 29:17 likewise reports the completion of the house's consecration.

   1 Kings 6:141 Kings 8:541 Kings 9:12 Chronicles 29:17Ezra 10:17Deuteronomy 26:12
2. Coming to an end or being used up · common

   In clauses concerning provisions and periods, the term identifies their cessation rather than the completion of a human project. In Genesis 21:15 the APB says that "the water was gone from the skin," and Genesis 41:53 says that the years of abundance "came to an end"; 1 Kings 17:14 contrasts flour not being finished with oil not lacking.

   Genesis 21:15Genesis 41:531 Kings 17:141 Kings 17:16Daniel 11:36Ezekiel 43:27
3. Consuming or bringing to destruction · common

   Several Piel clauses place the term in scenes of devastation directed against people, land, or an enemy. In Exodus 32:10 the APB renders the proposed action "I may destroy them," while Amos 7:2 describes the locusts after they had "finished eating the vegetation of the land"; 1 Samuel 15:18 gives the goal of fighting Amalek "until you have made an end of them."

   Exodus 32:10Exodus 33:5Genesis 41:30Amos 7:21 Samuel 15:182 Samuel 21:5
4. Being finished amid judgment · occasional

   In judgment clauses, the term can describe those caught in the destruction or the completion of wrath. In Ezekiel 13:14 the APB says, "you will be finished in its midst," and Ezekiel 5:13 speaks of finishing the pouring out of wrath; Daniel 11:16 uses a noun form in a clause rendered "with destruction in his hand."

   Ezekiel 13:14Ezekiel 5:12Ezekiel 5:13Ezekiel 22:31Daniel 11:16

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term with forms of "finished" or "completed," but also uses "gone," "came to an end," "consume," "destroy," and "made an end." These are verse-level presentations rather than fixed English equivalents.