To destroy
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G5351 is a verb for corrupting, ruining, destroying, or suffering ruin. Its nine governed forms cover harm to God's temple community, character damaged by bad company, Paul's denial that he exploited anyone, minds drawn from devotion to Christ, the old self decaying through deceitful desires, creatures perishing in their corruption, people being ruined by what they do not understand, and God's judgment on the power.
Reader summary
Full entry for φθείρω (G5351) · Open the biblical lexicon
G5351 is a verb for corrupting, ruining, destroying, or suffering ruin. Its nine governed forms cover harm to God's temple community, character damaged by bad company, Paul's denial that he exploited anyone, minds drawn from devotion to Christ, the old self decaying through deceitful desires, creatures perishing in their corruption, people being ruined by.
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include corrupted (1), corrupts (1), destroys (1), is being corrupted (1), may be led astray (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Corinthians 3:17. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (3), 2 Corinthians (2), 2 Peter (1), Ephesians (1).
G5351 is a verb for corrupting, ruining, destroying, or suffering ruin. Its nine governed forms cover harm to God's temple community, character damaged by bad company, Paul's denial that he exploited anyone, minds drawn from devotion to Christ, the old self decaying through deceitful desires, creatures perishing in their corruption, people being ruined by what they do not understand, and God's judgment on the power that corrupted the earth.
The grammatical subject and object change, so the verb cannot be reduced to private moral decline or physical destruction. In 1 Corinthians 3:17 the repeated form intensifies a warning about harm to God's holy community; it must not be used to threaten vulnerable people or protect leaders from accountability. Elsewhere the word supports discernment about influence, deception, exploitation, creation, and judgment.
Application should name concrete harm, preserve due process, and encourage protection and repair without speculative accusations, shame, coercive isolation, or claims that every illness or loss proves moral corruption.
Nine forms of G5351 describe active corruption, threatened destruction, ongoing decay, moral influence, cognitive deception, creaturely ruin, and divine judgment. The harmed subject or object must be identified in each passage.
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
First Corinthians 3:17 uses G5351 twice to warn against damaging God's temple community and to reserve the corresponding judgment for God.
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
At 2 Corinthians 11:3, the threatened damage is a congregation's allegiance: serpent-like deception can redirect thought from wholehearted fidelity to Christ.
To put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Ephesians 4:22 portrays the former self as undergoing corruption through deceitful desires within the call to renewed life.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Destroy through moral corruption or decay, not mere external damage or annihilation
Destroy through moral corruption or decay, not mere external damage or annihilation
to destroy, corrupt, spoil (on the varied usage and distinctive meaning of the word, see Mayor on 2Pe, App., 175 ff.): with accusative, 1Co.3:17 15:23, 2Co.7:2; before ἀπό, 2Co.11:3; ἐν, 2Pe.2:12, Ju 10, Rev.19:2; κατά, Eph.4:22 (cf. δια-, κατα-φθείρω).
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseI corrupt, spoil, destroy
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 9 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
G5351 names destructive change or ruin, but the passages locate that harm differently. In 1 Corinthians, a person may damage God's temple community, corrupting influence may shape character, and God's judgment remains his own. Paul denies exploiting the Corinthians and fears deceptive teaching that draws minds away from Christ. Ephesians portrays the old self as decaying through deceitful desires.
Second Peter and Jude speak of ruin bound to unreasoning conduct, while Revelation announces judgment on a power that corrupted the earth. Teachers should identify agent, object, and kind of harm before applying the word. This protects the church from both minimizing abuse and weaponizing a charged label. It also prevents illness, disability, poverty, trauma, or creation's suffering from being treated as automatic proof of personal guilt.
1Cor.3.17
The nine governed forms span present, future, imperfect, and aorist forms in active, middle or passive, indicative, subjunctive, and participial constructions. First Corinthians 3:17 contains both a present active and a future active form, creating a deliberate verbal correspondence.
The Bible's concern for holiness, truthful teaching, protection from exploitation, creaturely limits, and judgment on destructive powers converges here without making every loss a verdict on its sufferer. Each passage names its own agent and harm.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain