ὄλεθρος

שֹׁד shôd · H7701 · violence, devastation, plundering

Greek ὄλεθρος emphasizes the resultant state of ruin or destruction (often with eschatological overtones of final judgment), while Hebrew שֹׁד focuses on the violent act or process of devastation itself (desolation, wasting, spoiling); both denote catastrophic loss but differ in aspectual emphasis.

שָׁדַד shâdad · H7703 · to ravage, to devastate, to lay waste

Hebrew שָׁדַד emphasizes the violent action of destroying/devastating (with resultant desolation), while Greek ὄλεθρος focuses on the resulting state of ruin/destruction itself, particularly as divine judgment or punishment.

Ruin, destruction20.33

Warning of the day of the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 5:3 states “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,” where “destruction” renders this noun.

To destroy, to ruin, destruction20.34

Describing the fate of the disobedient, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 states “These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,” where “destruction” renders this same noun, here in its sense of the ongoing consequence of ruin rather than the moment of ruin itself.

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

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.