Fail
Fail
fal (, kalah, , karath; , eklepo): Fail is both intransitive, to fall short, be wanting, and trans, to be wanting to.
Of the many words translated fail in the Old Testament, kalah is the most frequent, meaning to be consumed, ended (Job 11:20; Job 17:5; Psa 69:3; Psa 71:9, etc.; Pro 22:8; Isa 15:6, etc.; Jer 14:6; Lam 2:11; Lam 3:22; Lam 4:17); it is the translation of karath, to be cut off (2Sa 3:29, of failure in succession; so 1Ki 2:4, etc.); adhar, to marshal, to be missed or lacking (Isa 34:16 the King James Version; Isa 40:26 the King James Version; Isa 59:15 the King James Version; Zep 3:5); of raphah, to become faint or to make feeble (Deu 31:6, Deu 31:8; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, Jos 1:5; 1Ch 28:20); of ‘abhadh, to perish, be lost (Psa 142:4, Refuge hath failed me; Eze 12:22, Every vision faileth). Many other Hebrew words are translated fail, faileth, for the most part in single instances.
In the New Testament, ekleipo, to leave out or off, is thrice rendered fail (Luk 16:9 when it shall fail; Luk 22:32, that thy faith fail not; Heb 1:12, Thy years shall not fail); ekppto, to fall off or away (1Co 13:8, Charity (the Revised Version (British and American) love) never faileth); katargeo, to make useless (1Co 13:8 the King James Version, Whether prophecies, they shall fail); hustereo, to be behind, to lack (Heb 12:15 the King James Version); apopsucho, to swoon away, failing (Luk 21:26 the King James Version).
The Revised Version (British and American) has fail, in a new translation of Jer 18:14, for fall (Lam 1:14, margin stumble); his hand fail for fallen in decay (Lev 25:35); I will in no wise fail thee for I will never leave thee (Heb 13:5; compare Deu 31:6; Jos 1:5); failed to enter for entered not (Heb 4:6); faileth (American Standard Revised Version) for ceaseth (Psa 49:8), the English Revised Version must be let alone for ever; failing for was darkened (Luk 23:45); for fail (Ezr 4:22), be slack, be missing (Isa 34:16); falleth short of (Heb 12:15, maqrgin, falleth bacf from); for failed, was all spent (Gen 47:15); wholly (Jos 3:16); fail (in looking) (Lam 4:17); for faileth, is lacking (Isa 40:26; Isa 59:15); for men’s hearts failing them (Luk 21:26), men fainting, margin expiring.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Fail
“to leave out” (ek, “out,” leipo, “to leave”), used intransitively, means “to leave off, cease, fail;” it is said of the cessation of earthly life, Luk 16:9; of faith, Luk 22:32; of the light of the sun, Luk 23:45 (in the best mss.); of the years of Christ, Heb 1:12.
“not to suffice for a purpose” (epi, over), is said of insufficient time, in Heb 11:32.
“to fall,” is used of the Law of God in its smallest detail, in the sense of losing its authority or ceasing to have force, Luk 16:17. In 1Co 13:8 it is used of love (some mss. have ekpipto, “to fall off”). See FALL.
Notes: (1) In 1Co 13:8, katargeo, “to reduce to inactivity” (see ABOLISH), in the Passive Voice, “to be reduced to this condition, to be done away,” is translated “shall fail,” AV. This, however, misses the distinction between what has been previously said of love and what is here said of prophecies (see No. 3); the RV has “shall be done away;” so also as regards knowledge (same verse). (2) In Heb 12:15, hustereo, “to come behind, fall short, miss,” is rendered “fail” in the AV, RV, “falleth short.” (3) In Luk 21:26, apopsucho, lit., “to breathe out life,” hence, “to faint,” is translated “hearts failing,” in the AV, RV, “fainting.” See FAINT.
“unfailing” (a, negative, and A, No. 1), is rendered “that faileth not,” in Luk 12:33. In a Greek document dated A.D. 42, some contractors undertake to provide “unfailing” heat for a bath during the current year (Moulton and Milligan, Vocab.).