To destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively
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ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) means to destroy, ruin, kill, perish, lose, be lost, or be wasted. Its grammatical form and object determine whether the passage speaks of an agent destroying something, a person perishing, an item being lost, or a condition of ruin.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀπόλλυμι (G622) · Open the biblical lexicon
ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) means to destroy, ruin, kill, perish, lose, be lost, or be wasted. Its grammatical form and object determine whether the passage speaks of an agent destroying something, a person perishing, an item being lost, or a condition of ruin.
The BSB source-word alignment has 90 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include loses (6), lost (6), will lose (6), destroy (4), are perishing (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (27), Matthew (19), John (10), Mark (10).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi) means to destroy, ruin, kill, perish, lose, be lost, or be wasted. Its grammatical form and object determine whether the passage speaks of an agent destroying something, a person perishing, an item being lost, or a condition of ruin. Jesus tells the disciples to gather leftover bread so nothing is wasted. His parable speaks of a sheep that is lost yet actively sought and found.
John 3 contrasts perishing with eternal life for everyone who believes in the given Son, while John 10 contrasts the thief’s destroying work with Jesus’ gift of abundant life. Second Peter joins God’s patience and His desire that people not perish with the call to repentance. The word is therefore broad enough to describe recoverable loss, ordinary waste, physical death, destructive harm, and final judgment.
It cannot by itself settle every question about the nature or duration of punishment, nor does ‘lost’ mean unreachable. Responsible interpretation follows voice, tense, contrast, and the passage’s saving or judicial claims.
ἀπόλλυμι spans wasting, losing, ruining, killing, destroying, and perishing. The selected passages move from leftover bread and a recoverable sheep to the saving contrast of eternal life, the thief’s destructive work, and God’s patient call to repentance.
And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”
The same verb family used in grave salvation texts can describe food being wasted. Jesus’ command honors the abundance of the sign without turning provision into careless excess.
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
The lost sheep is genuinely absent and endangered, yet its lostness summons the shepherd’s search. In Luke 15, ‘lost’ is paired with being found and with heaven’s joy over repentance.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Perishing stands opposite eternal life, and escape rests in God’s love, the gift of His Son, and believing in Him. The verse announces salvation rather than offering a technical definition of every feature of final punishment.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
Destruction characterizes the thief’s predatory purpose, while Jesus gives life to His sheep. The shepherd discourse defines the contrast through voice, protection, self-giving, and secure belonging.
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
Apparent delay is interpreted as divine patience directed toward repentance. The sentence must be read within Peter’s audience, promise, coming day, and call to holy readiness rather than used alone to settle every debate about divine will.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 92 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
Read verseI destroy, lose, am perishing
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.
How this verb appears across 87 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 6 selected witnesses from 90 lexical occurrence verses.
Highlights the seriousness of final judgment apart from repentance.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Loss is not one flat condition in Scripture. Bread can be wasted, a sheep can be lost and found, a life can be ruined, and a sinner can perish under judgment. The flexibility of ἀπόλλυμι does not weaken the warnings; it prevents a teacher from making the verb carry details supplied only by context. John 3 places perishing opposite eternal life and locates hope in God’s love and the gift of His Son.
John 10 shows destruction as the work of a thief, while Jesus gives Himself as the shepherd whose sheep hear His voice and receive life. Luke 15 refuses hopelessness toward the lost: the shepherd searches until he finds, and repentance brings joy. Second Peter interprets delay as patience that calls people to turn. Churches should therefore speak honestly about sin’s ruin and final judgment while moving toward evangelism, repentance, protection, and rescue.
They should not use destruction language to satisfy anger or speculate beyond Scripture. The Savior who warns about perishing is also the One who seeks the lost, gives eternal life, and patiently summons sinners home.
John.3.16
Active forms commonly mean destroy, kill, lose, or ruin; middle and passive forms often mean perish or be lost. Perfect participles can describe the state of being lost, as in Luke 15. Object and contrast are decisive: fragments, reward, life, sheep, persons, and nations cannot all receive one expanded definition.
The Old Testament speaks of lost sheep, ruined cities, perishing ways, divine judgment, and God’s searching shepherd care. Ezekiel condemns shepherds who fail to seek the lost and promises God’s own intervention. Jesus comes as the seeking Son of Man and good shepherd, bears judgment, gives eternal life, and promises final resurrection while the apostles call all people to repentance.