There is a difference between the verb כלה (finish/complete) when it is connected with a noun and when it is connected with a verb: When it is connected with a noun, it teaches that one is completely finished. And when it is connected with a verb, it teaches that one is finished performing the action, although the matter is not necessarily finished, like כאשר כלו להרוג (when Israel had made an end of slaying)⁶⁸⁵ – it does not indicate that all of the people were slayed, only that the action which caused them to be slayed was completed.

footnotes: ⁶⁸⁵ Joshua 8:24.

And when it is connected with a verb, it is usually connected with the letter ל, and sometimes is connected with the letter מ. And there is a difference between them: When it is connected with the letter ל, it indicates that the subject was immediate in finishing (or the action was immediately finished when the word את comes afterwards), and when it is connected with the letter מ, it only indicates that the subject was immediate in finishing at the time when he was able to finish and that he finished with the intention of stopping from whatever he was doing.