What does ὄλεθρος (ólethros) mean in the Bible?
ὄλεθρος (ólethros): Complete ruin or destruction, often with eschatological sense of final judgment and eternal separation from God.
Greek · G3639
ὄλεθρος
ὄλεθρος (ólethros): Complete ruin or destruction, often with eschatological sense of final judgment and eternal separation from God.
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ὄλεθροςG3639
Pronunciationólethros
What does ὄλεθρος (ólethros) mean in the Bible?
Full entry for ὄλεθρος (G3639) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3639?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include destruction (2), [the] destruction (1), ruin (1).
Where does ὄλεθρος (ólethros) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Corinthians 5:5. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (1), 1 Thessalonians (1), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Thessalonians (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 Itdestruction2×1 Thessalonians 5:3, 2 Thessalonians 1:9
[the] destruction1×1 Corinthians 5:5
ruin1×1 Timothy 6:9
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row1 Corinthians 5:5
Aligned rows4
Books represented4
1 Corinthians11 Thessalonians12 Thessalonians11 Timothy1
Source forms
ὄλεθρον3xolethron1 Corinthians 5:5, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Timothy 6:9
ὄλεθρος1xolethros1 Thessalonians 5:3
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular3x1 Corinthians 5:5, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Timothy 6:9
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular1x1 Thessalonians 5:3
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Complete ruin or destruction, often with eschatological sense of final judgment and eternal separation from God.
Strong'sG3639
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms2 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study link1 Corinthians 5:5Source Gloss
destructive
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Complete ruin or destruction, often with eschatological sense of final judgment and eternal separation from God.
(ὄλλυμι, to destroy), [in LXX for שֹׁד. שָׁדַד, etc. ;] ruin, destruction, death: 1Th.5:3, 1Ti.6:9; αἰώνιος, 2Th.1:9 (L, txt., ὀλέθριος, which see); εἰς ὄ. τῆς σαρκός, for physical discipline, to destroy carnal lusts, 1Co.5:5.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
1 Corinthians 5:5Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄλεθρονoleqron
ruin, doom, destruction
Read verse1 Thessalonians 5:3Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ὄλεθρος,oleqrov
ruin, doom, destruction
Read verse2 Thessalonians 1:9Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄλεθρονoleqron
ruin, doom, destruction
Read verse1 Timothy 6:9Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄλεθρονoleqron
ruin, doom, destruction
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns2Aligned forms4Case patternAccusative (3)Number patternSingular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine1 Thess 5:31×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine1 Cor 5:5 · 2 Thess 1:9 · 1 Tim 6:93×
Where It Appears in Scripture
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Biblical Witnesses
Physical discipline aimed at destroying carnal lusts and sin
Sudden ruin and death coming upon the unprepared
Ruin and perdition resulting from love of money
Eternal ruin and separation from God's presence
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.