διαφθείρω
diaphtheírō · G1311 · Greek · 6 occurrences
Meanings
-
to destroy utterly
To cause the complete destruction of someone or something
ExamplesLuke 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor does a moth destroy.
Revelation 8:9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Revelation 11:18 “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
-
to deprave, to pervert, to ruin, to cause the moral ruin of
To cause someone to become perverse or depraved, as a type of moral destruction
Examples1 Timothy 6:5 and constant friction between people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
-
to lose one’s strength, to waste away
To become gradually incapacitated
Examples2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.
How it’s used In 4 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
6 occurrences in 5 groups
- Not stated (participle) 2
- ἄνθρωποςman, person, people 1
- σήςmoth 1
- τρίτοςthird 1
- Not stated (infinitive) 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- γῆearth 1
- διαφθείρωto destroy utterly 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- οὐρανόςheaven, sky 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- διαφθείρωto destroy utterly 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- καταφθείρω kataphtheírō · G2704 · to deprave, to pervert, to ruin
- Both terms denote destruction or corruption, sharing usage in contexts of moral depravity and ruin. They represent intensified forms of the same root concept with different prepositional prefixes, capable of interchangeable application to both literal destruction and figurative corruption.
In the other Testament 2 words
- שָׁחַת shâchath · H7843 · to be ruined, to be spoiled, to be blemished
- שָׁחַת (shâchath, H7843) שָׁחַת encompasses the broad semantic range of destruction, corruption, and ruin that διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō, G1311) διαφθείρω expresses, with both terms covering literal decay/spoiling and figurative moral corruption or perversion; the Greek term emphasizes thorough rotting/decay as its core image while the Hebrew term centers on battering/marring, but both converge on the shared concept of comprehensive ruination whether physical or moral.
- מַשְׁחִית mashchîyth · H4889 · destruction, trap
- Greek διαφθείρω emphasizes thorough corruption or ruin (often with moral/figurative overtones of perversion), while Hebrew מַשְׁחִית focuses on destructive agency or the state of destruction itself (often as trap/ruin); both share the core semantic domain of complete ruin or corruption.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- To destroy utterly20.40
- Used of bringing something to complete ruin, as of the treasure in heaven where no thief comes near and no moth destroys in Luke 12:33, and the wrath come for the time to destroy those who destroy the earth in Revelation 11:18.
- To lose one’s strength, to waste away23.146
- Used of the body's physical decline, as of the outer person decaying while the inner person is renewed day by day in 2 Corinthians 4:16.
- To deprave, to pervert, to ruin, to cause the moral ruin of88.266
- Used of moral corruption resulting from false teaching, as of constant friction among people of depraved mind and deprived of the truth in 1 Timothy 6:5.
Word family 38 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon 1 aorist διεφθειρα; passive (present διαφθείρομαι); perfect participle διεφθαρμενος; 2…
1. to change for the worse, to corrupt: minds, morals; τήν γῆν, i. e. the men that inhabit the earth, Rev 11:18; διεφθαρμένοι τόν νοῦν, 1 Tim 6:5 (τήν διάνοιαν, Plato, legg. 10, p. 888 a.; τόν γνώμην, Dionysius Halicarnassus Antiquities 5, 21; τούς ὀφθαλμούς, Xenophon, an. 4, 5, 12).
2. to destroy, ruin, (Latinperdere);
a. to consume, of bodily vigor and strength: ὁ ἔξω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος διαφθείρεται (is decaying), 2 Cor 4:16; of the worm or moth that eats provisions, clothing, etc. Lk 12:33.
b. to destroy (Latindelere): Rev 8:9; to kill, διαφθείρειν τούς, etc. Rev 11:18.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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