Word

ἀπώλεια

apṓleia · G684 · Greek · 18 occurrences

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Meanings

destruction

Act of destroying or causing the destruction of persons, objects, or institutions

Examples
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
John 17:12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
Acts 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God with money!
waste, ruin

An action demonstrating complete disregard for the value of something

Examples
Matthew 26:8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste?
Mark 14:4 But there were some indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?

How it’s used In 8 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

4 occurrences in 3 groups

αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 2
μύρονperfume 1
ἄνθρωποςman, person, people 1

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

4 occurrences in 3 groups

οὗτοςthis 2
ἴδιοςone’s own 1
ταχινόςquickly 1

What it doesIt is the subject

2 occurrences in 2 groups

γίνομαιto become, to happen, to be 1
νυστάζωto grow drowsy 1

What is done to itIt is the object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

ἐπάγωto cause to be 1

What it is said to bePredicate

1 occurrences in 1 groups

τίςwho? what?, why? for what reason? 1

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

2 occurrences in 2 groups

τέλοςend 1
ἀργύριονsilver, money 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

8 occurrences in 2 groups

εἰςto 12
πρόςto, toward, with 2

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

5 occurrences in 4 groups

υἱόςson 2
αἵρεσιςreligious party 1
ἔνδειξιςproof 1
ἡμέραday 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.

In the other Testament 3 words

אֲבַדּוֹן ʼăbaddôwn · H11 · world of the dead: Both ἀπώλεια (apṓleia, G684) and אֲבַדּוֹן (ʼăbaddôwn, H11) denote destruction or ruin as a state or outcome. The Greek term covers a broad semantic range including physical loss, spiritual ruin, and eternal destruction, while the Hebrew term specifically names the realm or state of destruction (often personified as Abaddon, the place of the dead or the destroyer in apocalyptic literature). Despite the Hebrew term's more specialized use as a proper designation for the underworld or its angel, the core lexical meaning of "destruction" is shared across both languages, making them genuine cross-linguistic equivalents at the word level.
אֵיד ʼêyd · H343 · calamity, destruction: Hebrew אֵיד (ʼêyd, H343) denotes calamity or destruction as disaster befalling someone, matching the physical/material ruin sense of Greek ἀπώλεια (apṓleia, G684), though ἀπώλεια extends further into spiritual and eternal destruction contexts where אֵיד (ʼêyd, H343) does not typically appear.
אֲבֵדָה ʼăbêdâh · H9 · lost object: Hebrew אֲבֵדָה (ʼăbêdâh, H9) (אֲבֵדָה, 'lost') denotes the state of being lost or the thing that is lost, while Greek ἀπώλεια (apṓleia, G684) (ἀπώλεια, 'ruin or loss') encompasses the broader concept of destruction, ruin, or loss including physical, spiritual, and eternal dimensions; the Hebrew term is narrower in scope but shares the core semantic domain of loss.

Semantic domains 2 entries

To ruin, to destroy, destruction20.31: In Matthew 7:13, Jesus warns, “enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction (apṓleian), and there are many who enter through it,” describing a final, ruinous end.
Waste, ruin65.14: In Matthew 26:8, when a woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus, “the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, 'Why this waste (apṓleia)?'” describing valuable material spent with no practical return.

Word family 9 words

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

ὄλεθρος ólethros · G3639 · ruin, destruction, to destroy · 4×ἀπόλλυμι apóllymi · G622 · to ruin, to destroy, destruction · 90×ἀπώλειαapṓleia · G684Ἀπολλύων Apollýōn · G623 · a destroyer · 1×Ἀπολλωνία Apollōnía · G624 · Apollonia, a place in Macedonia · 1×ἐξολοθρεύω exolothreúō · G1842 · to destroy, to destroy and remove · 1×ὀλοθρευτής olothreutḗs · G3644 · destroyer · 1×ὀλοθρεύω olothreúō · G3645 · to destroy, to ruin, destruction · 1×συναπόλλυμι synapóllymi · G4881 · to be destroyed with, to perish with · 1×

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon ἀπωλείας, ἡ (from ἀπόλλυμι, which see); 1. actively, a destroying, utter destruction: as,…

ἀπωλείας, ἡ (from ἀπόλλυμι, which see);
1. actively, a destroying, utter destruction: as, of vessels, Rom 9:22; τοῦ μύρου, waste, Mk 14:4 (in Mt 26:8 without a genitive) (in Polybius 6, 59, 5 consumption, opposed to τήρησις); the putting of a man to death, Acts 25:16 Rec.; by metonymy, a destructive thing or opinion: in plural 2 Pet 2:2 Rec.; but the correct reading ἀσελγείαις was long ago adopted here.
2. passively, a perishing, ruin, destruction;
a. in general: τό ἀργύριον σου σύν σοι εἴη εἰς ἀπώλειαν, let thy money perish with thee, Acts 8:20; βυρθίζειν τινα εἰς ὄλεθρον καί ἀπώλειαν, with the included idea of misery, 1 Tim 6:9; αἱρέσεις ἀπωλείας destructive opinions, 2 Pet 2:1; ἐπάγειν ἑαυτοῖς ἀπώλειαν, ibid. cf. 2 Pet 2:3.
b. in particular, the destruction which consists in the loss of eternal life, eternal misery, perdition, the lot of those excluded from the kingdom of God: Rev 17:8, Rev 17:11, cf. Rev 19:20; Phm 3:19; 2 Pet 3:16; opposed to ἡ περιποίησις τῆς ψυχῆς, Heb 10:39; to ἡ ζωή, Mt 7:13; to σωτηρία, Phm 1:28. ὁ υἱός τῆς ἀπωλείας, a man doomed to eternal misery (a Hebraism, see υἱός, 2): 2 Thess 2:3 (of Antichrist); Jn 17:12 (of Judas, the traitor); ἡμέρα κρίσεως καί ἀπωλείας τῶν ἀσεβῶν, 2 Pet 3:7. (In secular authors from Polybius as above (but see Aristotle, probl. 17, 3, 2, vol. ii., p. 916{a}, 26; 29, 14, 10 ibid. 952^b, 26; Nicom. eth. 4, 1 ibid. 1120{a}, 2, etc.); often in the Sept. and O. T. Apocrypha.)

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain

Topical studies with this word 2 entries

Destroy16 occurrences Valuable, Lacking in Value2 occurrences

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