What does διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō) mean in the Bible?
διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō): Destroy utterly with moral corruption sense; emphasizes complete ruin both physical and spiritual depravity.
Greek · G1311
διαφθείρω
To destroy
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διαφθείρω G1311
Pronunciation diaphtheírō
What does διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō) mean in the Bible?
διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō): Destroy utterly with moral corruption sense; emphasizes complete ruin both physical and spiritual depravity.
Full entry for διαφθείρω (G1311) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1311?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include destroy (1), destroys (1), is wasting away (1), of depraved (1), to destroy (1).
Where does διαφθείρω (diaphtheírō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 12:33. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (3), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Corinthians (1), Luke (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It destroy 1× Revelation 11:18
destroys 1× Luke 12:33
is wasting away 1× 2 Corinthians 4:16
of depraved 1× 1 Timothy 6:5
to destroy 1× Revelation 11:18
were destroyed 1× Revelation 8:9
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 12:33 διαφθείρει to destroys Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2 Corinthians 4:16 διαφθείρεται to is wasting away Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1 Timothy 6:5 διεφθαρμένων to of depraved Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural Revelation 8:9 διεφθάρησαν to were destroyed Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural Revelation 11:18 διαφθεῖραι to to destroy Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active Revelation 11:18 διαφθείροντας to destroy Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 12:33
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 4
Luke 1 2 Corinthians 1 1 Timothy 1 Revelation 3
Source forms
διαφθεῖραι 1x diaphtheirai Revelation 11:18
διαφθείρει 1x diaphtheirei Luke 12:33
διαφθείρεται 1x diaphtheiretai 2 Corinthians 4:16
διαφθείροντας 1x diaphtheirontas Revelation 11:18
διεφθάρησαν 1x diephtharēsan Revelation 8:9
διεφθαρμένων 1x diephtharmenōn 1 Timothy 6:5
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x Revelation 8:9
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1x Revelation 11:18
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural 1x 1 Timothy 6:5
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 12:33
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x 2 Corinthians 4:16
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x Revelation 11:18
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Destroy utterly with moral corruption sense; emphasizes complete ruin both physical and spiritual depravity.
Strong's G1311
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 3 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 12:22-34 Source Gloss
to destroy
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Destroy utterly with moral corruption sense; emphasizes complete ruin both physical and spiritual depravity.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 12:33 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
διαφθείρει· diafqeirei
I destroy, waste, corrupt
Read verse 2 Corinthians 4:16 Verb Third Person Singular Present Passive Indicative
διαφθείρεται, diafqeiretai
I destroy, waste, corrupt
Read verse 1 Timothy 6:5 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Genitive Plural Masculine
διεφθαρμένων diefqarmenwn
I destroy, waste, corrupt
Read verse Revelation 8:9 Verb Third Person Singular Second Aorist Passive Indicative
διεφθάρη. diefqarh
I destroy, waste, corrupt
Read verse Revelation 11:18 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
διαφθεῖραι diafqeirai
I destroy, waste, corrupt
Read verse Revelation 11:18 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
διαφθείροντας diafqeirontav
I destroy, waste, corrupt
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.
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 6 Tenses Present, Perfect, Aorist Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 3×
Present Active Luke 12:33 1×
Present Passive 2 Cor 4:16 1×
Aorist Passive Rev 8:9 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Perfect Passive 1 Tim 6:5 1×
Present Active Rev 11:18 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Active Rev 11:18 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 3 aorist 2 perfect 1
Voice
passive 3 active 3
Mood
indicative 3 participle 2 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Luke 12:33 διαφθείρει present active indicative ongoing 2 Corinthians 4:16 διαφθείρεται present passive indicative ongoing 1 Timothy 6:5 διεφθαρμένων perfect passive participle participle Revelation 8:9 διεφθάρησαν aorist passive indicative completed Revelation 11:18 διαφθεῖραι aorist active infinitive infinitive Revelation 11:18 διαφθείροντας present active participle participle
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Physical destruction of material possessions, moth and rust corrupting treasures
Complete and utter destruction of a great mountain, total annihilation in judgment
Moral corruption and perversion through treacherous conduct and depravity
Ruin and decay of fabric symbolizing divine judgment upon a nation's covenant
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
διαφθείρω is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
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