What does שָׁחַת (shachat) mean in the Bible?
Šāḥat means to destroy, corrupt, ruin, or go to ruin. 11-12), the destroying angel that passes through Egypt, the king who devastates a nation, and the people who corrupt themselves by turning to idols.
Hebrew · H7843
שָׁחַת
To decay , i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively)
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שָׁחַת H7843
Pronunciation shachat
What does שָׁחַת (shachat) mean in the Bible?
Šāḥat means to destroy, corrupt, ruin, or go to ruin. 11-12), the destroying angel that passes through Egypt, the king who devastates a nation, and the people who corrupt themselves by turning to idols.
Reader summary
Full entry for שָׁחַת (H7843) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7843?
The BSB source-word alignment has 146 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to destroy (12), destroy (8), and destroy (4), destroyed (4), and destroyed (3).
Where does שָׁחַת (shachat) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 6:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (21), Genesis (17), Deuteronomy (11), Ezekiel (11).
What This Word Actually Means
Šāḥat means to destroy, corrupt, ruin, or go to ruin. The word covers the whole range of moral and physical destruction: the earth that is 'corrupted' before the flood (Gen. 6. 11-12), the destroying angel that passes through Egypt, the king who devastates a nation, and the people who corrupt themselves by turning to idols. The related noun šaḥat can mean a pit or trap, reflecting the root's sense of destruction as a descent into something from which there is no return.
Šāḥat is one of the Hebrew Bible's words for what sin does to creation and to human beings: it corrupts. This is not simply the language of annihilation but of spoiling — of something made good being reduced to a ruined form of itself. Genesis uses the word to describe the state of the earth before the flood: all flesh had corrupted its way (6. 12). The word covers violence (6.
11), Idolatry (Deut. 4. 16, 9. 12), and the internal deterioration of individuals, communities, and institutions when they turn from God. The destroyer in the exodus narrative (Ex. 12. 23) and the destroyers sent against Sodom (Gen. 19. 13) use a related participle — the one who destroys is the agent of God's judgment against what has already corrupted itself.
The prophets use šāḥat for the self-destruction that follows apostasy: you have corrupted more than the nations around you (Ezek. 16. 47).
Canonical parallel
How the Bible Uses It
Šāḥat appears 147 times across the Hebrew Bible with particular concentration in Genesis (the flood), Exodus (the destroyer), Deuteronomy (idolatry warnings), and the prophets (especially Ezekiel and Jeremiah). The word covers physical destruction, moral corruption, and the theological category of the ruined creation that requires divine judgment and renewal.
- Gen.6.12
And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.
The double use of šāḥat in Genesis 6:11-12 is foundational: the earth was corrupt (first occurrence), and all flesh had corrupted their way (second). Both passive state and active choosing are present — creation is corrupt because its inhabitants have corrupted themselves. The flood is the divine response to a creation that has undone itself.
- Deut.4.16
That you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
The warning against making an image of anything is grounded in what God did not show Israel: no form, no shape. To make an image is to šāḥat — to act corruptly. Idolatry is not merely disobedience; it is corruption. Israel would be reducing the invisible God to something visible and thus controllable, a form of spiritual self-destruction.
- Ex.12.23
For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
The destroying agent of the Passover is the hammaššḥît — the participle of šāḥat, the destroyer. The blood on the doorposts prevents him from entering. The Passover is thus framed as protection against the agency of destruction. What destroys Egypt passes over Israel, not because Israel is innocent but because the blood of the lamb marks them as covered.
- Ezek.16.47
And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.
Ezekiel's indictment of Jerusalem uses šāḥat to describe Israel's spiritual deterioration: not merely imitating the nations but surpassing them in corruption. The word implies a downward trajectory — from the covenant relationship to a state of ruin that exceeds even pagan practice.
- Ps.14.1
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
The foolishness of practical atheism (there is no God, not necessarily theoretical denial) produces šāḥat — corruption. The psalm connects the rejection of God's reality with the moral deterioration that follows. This is not automatic determinism but the natural fruit of a life oriented away from its Creator.
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 to destroy 12× Genesis 6:17, Genesis 9:11, Genesis 9:15, Joshua 22:33
destroy 8× Deuteronomy 9:26, Deuteronomy 20:19, 2 Samuel 20:20, Isaiah 11:9
and destroy 4× 1 Samuel 23:10, Jeremiah 6:5, Jeremiah 15:3, Jeremiah 36:29
destroyed 4× Genesis 13:10, Genesis 19:29, 2 Kings 19:12, Isaiah 37:12
and destroyed 3× 2 Chronicles 24:23, 2 Chronicles 36:19, Lamentations 2:5
destroy [it] 3× Genesis 18:28, Genesis 18:31, Genesis 18:32
destroy them 3× 2 Chronicles 12:7, Psalms 78:38, Isaiah 65:8
to destroy it 3× Genesis 19:13, 2 Kings 18:25, Isaiah 36:10
to destroy you 3× Deuteronomy 10:10, 2 Chronicles 25:16, Ezekiel 5:16
and cut down 2× Judges 20:21, Judges 20:25
and destroy it 2× 2 Kings 18:25, Isaiah 36:10
destroy it 2× Isaiah 65:8, Ezekiel 22:30
destroys 2× Proverbs 6:32, Proverbs 11:9
he has destroyed 2× Jeremiah 48:18, Lamentations 2:6
He will destroy 2× Daniel 8:24, Daniel 8:25
the destroyer 2× Exodus 12:23, Isaiah 54:16
They are corrupt 2× Psalms 14:1, Psalms 53:1
was ruined 2× Exodus 8:24, Jeremiah 13:7
. . . 1× Deuteronomy 31:29
[His people] have acted corruptly 1× Deuteronomy 32:5
a defective [animal] 1× Malachi 1:14
act corruptly 1× Deuteronomy 4:16
and a destroyer 1× Jeremiah 4:7
and blinds 1× Exodus 21:26
and corrupt 1× Ezekiel 20:44
and destroying 1× Judges 6:4
and did not destroy them 1× Ezekiel 20:17
and I will destroy you 1× Jeremiah 15:6
And raiders 1× 1 Samuel 13:17
and raiding parties 1× 1 Samuel 14:15
and ravage them 1× Jeremiah 5:10
and ravaged 1× 1 Chronicles 20:1
and ruined 1× Nahum 2:2
and stifled 1× Amos 1:11
and waste 1× Proverbs 23:8
and you will be the cause of their destruction 1× Numbers 32:15
are about to destroy 1× Genesis 19:13
became flawed 1× Jeremiah 18:4
behaved corruptly 1× 2 Chronicles 27:2
but as the angel was doing so 1× 1 Chronicles 21:15
corrupted themselves 1× Hosea 9:9
destroy him 1× 1 Samuel 26:9
destroy him completely 1× 2 Chronicles 12:12
destroy you 1× Deuteronomy 4:31
destroyers 1× Jeremiah 22:7
from destroying them 1× Psalms 106:23
had allowed to deteriorate 1× 2 Chronicles 34:11
had corrupted 1× Genesis 6:12
have corrupted [themselves] 1× Deuteronomy 9:12
have corrupted themselves 1× Exodus 32:7
have destroyed 1× Jeremiah 12:10
He will cause terrible destruction 1× Daniel 8:24
He will destroy you 1× 2 Chronicles 35:21
he would spill his seed 1× Genesis 38:9
I will destroy both them 1× Genesis 6:13
I will ruin 1× Jeremiah 13:9
I would jeopardize 1× Ruth 4:6
if you then act corruptly 1× Deuteronomy 4:25
in order to overthrow [the kingdom] 1× Daniel 11:17
is about to destroy 1× Genesis 19:14
it was corrupt 1× Genesis 6:12
led to his own destruction 1× 2 Chronicles 26:16
Let us destroy 1× Jeremiah 11:19
like a voracious 1× Jeremiah 2:30
more depraved than they were 1× Ezekiel 16:47
of a destroyer 1× Jeremiah 51:1
of them are corrupt 1× Jeremiah 6:28
on destruction 1× Isaiah 51:13
or a polluted 1× Proverbs 25:26
or clip off 1× Leviticus 19:27
ravaging 1× 1 Chronicles 21:12
she was more depraved 1× Ezekiel 23:11
slaughtered 1× Judges 20:35
struck them down 1× Judges 20:42
that are ravaging 1× 1 Samuel 6:5
that devastated them 1× Psalms 78:45
the devastation 1× 2 Samuel 14:11
the Israelites became even more corrupt 1× Judges 2:19
They destroyed 1× 2 Samuel 11:1
They will destroy 1× Ezekiel 26:4
to corrupt 1× Zephaniah 3:7
to destroy her 1× Jeremiah 51:11
to destroy him 1× 1 Samuel 26:15
to destroy them 1× 2 Kings 13:23
to keep Me from destroying them 1× Jeremiah 13:14
to ravage it 1× Judges 6:5
to ruin 1× Jeremiah 51:20
was corrupt 1× Genesis 6:11
were battering 1× 2 Samuel 20:15
who act corruptly 1× Isaiah 1:4
who destroys 1× Proverbs 28:24
who was destroying 1× 2 Samuel 24:16
who was destroying the people 1× 1 Chronicles 21:15
will destroy 1× Daniel 9:26
Will You destroy 1× Genesis 18:28
would they not steal 1× Jeremiah 49:9
You are destroyed 1× Hosea 13:9
you corrupted 1× Ezekiel 28:17
you have destroyed 1× Isaiah 14:20
You have violated 1× Malachi 2:8
you may destroy 1× Deuteronomy 20:20
you who devastate 1× Jeremiah 51:25
you will become utterly corrupt 1× Deuteronomy 31:29
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 6:11 וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת to was corrupt Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular Genesis 6:12 נִשְׁחָ֑תָה to it was corrupt Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person feminine singular Genesis 6:12 הִשְׁחִ֧ית to had corrupted Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 6:13 מַשְׁחִיתָ֖ם to I will destroy both them Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural Genesis 6:17 לְשַׁחֵ֣ת to to destroy Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct Genesis 9:11 לְשַׁחֵ֥ת to to destroy Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct Genesis 9:15 לְשַׁחֵ֖ת to to destroy Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct Genesis 13:10 שַׁחֵ֣ת to destroyed Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct Genesis 18:28 הֲתַשְׁחִ֥ית to Will You destroy Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 18:28 אַשְׁחִ֔ית to destroy [it] Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 6:11
Aligned rows 146
Books represented 25
Genesis 17 Exodus 4 Leviticus 1 Numbers 1 Deuteronomy 11 Joshua 1 Judges 7 Ruth 1 1 Samuel 6 2 Samuel 7 2 Kings 5 1 Chronicles 5 2 Chronicles 10 Psalms 5 Proverbs 5 Isaiah 11 Jeremiah 21 Lamentations 3 Ezekiel 11 Daniel 5 Hosea 3 Amos 1 Nahum 1 Zephaniah 1 Malachi 3
Source forms
לְשַׁחֵ֣ת 4x lə·ša·ḥêṯ Genesis 6:17, Ezekiel 30:11, Ezekiel 43:3, Hosea 11:9
אַשְׁחִ֔ית 3x ’aš·ḥîṯ Genesis 18:28, Genesis 18:31, Genesis 18:32
מַשְׁחִֽית׃ 3x maš·ḥîṯ Proverbs 28:24, Jeremiah 2:30, Jeremiah 51:1
שִׁחֵ֖ת 3x ši·ḥêṯ Jeremiah 48:18, Lamentations 2:5, Lamentations 2:6
וְהַשְׁחִיתָֽהּ׃ 2x wə·haš·ḥî·ṯāh 2 Kings 18:25, Isaiah 36:10
וַיַּשְׁחִיתוּ֩ 2x way·yaš·ḥî·ṯū Judges 20:25, Judges 20:35
וְשִׁחֵ֣ת 2x wə·ši·ḥêṯ Genesis 38:9, Amos 1:11
לְהַשְׁחִ֖ית 2x lə·haš·ḥîṯ 1 Samuel 26:15, 2 Chronicles 12:12
Parsing patterns
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct 10x Genesis 6:17, Genesis 9:11, Genesis 9:15, Joshua 22:33
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct 8x 1 Samuel 26:15, 2 Kings 8:19, 2 Chronicles 12:12, 2 Chronicles 21:7
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular 8x Genesis 19:14, 1 Chronicles 21:12, Proverbs 6:32, Proverbs 28:24
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine plural 7x Genesis 19:13, Judges 20:42, 2 Samuel 20:15, 2 Chronicles 27:2
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural 6x Judges 6:4, Judges 20:21, Judges 20:25, Judges 20:35
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular 6x Genesis 18:28, Genesis 18:31, Genesis 18:32, Ruth 4:6
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular 6x Psalms 78:38, Proverbs 11:9, Daniel 8:24, Daniel 8:25
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person common plural 6x 2 Chronicles 34:11, Psalms 14:1, Psalms 53:1, Isaiah 37:12
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- The biblical language of corruption (šāḥat) describes a process, not only a state. Teachers should help congregations understand that sin does not merely break rules; it spoils and degrades. Communities, relationships, and institutions that begin to accommodate corruption do not stay at their initial degree of compromise without active resistance.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that the Passover destroyer (Ex.12.23) is the same figure as the devil or Satan. The text describes a destroying agent of divine judgment — the specifics of its nature are not detailed, and importing a developed demonology from other texts into this passage goes beyond what Exodus specifies.
- Do not use Genesis 6:12's description of pre-flood corruption as proof that the flood should be read as evidence of God's abandonment of the created order. The flood is framed in Genesis as a judgment that preserves creation through a remnant, not as evidence that creation is beyond God's care.
Evidence Summary
Revelation
Hebrew word. Destruction through decay or corruption; often describes moral/spiritual ruin, not merely physical damage.
Strong's H7843
Lexical occurrences 147 verses Word forms 4 forms 62 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Hosea 13:9-16 Source Gloss
to decay , i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Destruction through decay or corruption; often describes moral/spiritual ruin, not merely physical damage.
to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively) BDB: go to ruin Usage: batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing), destroy(-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, × utterly, waste(-r).
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
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 4 Aligned forms 62
Hiphil causative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action 42×
Imperfect 2Sam 20:20 · Gen 18:28 · Gen 18:31 · Gen 18:32 · Jer 13:9 · Ruth 4:6 · Dan 8:24 · Dan 8:25 · Dan 9:26 · Mal 3:11 · Prov 11:9 · Ps 78:38 · Deut 20:19 · Deut 20:20 · Lev 19:27 · Isa 11:9 17×
Participle active 1Chr 21:12 · 2Chr 27:2 · 2Sam 20:15 · Gen 19:13 · Gen 19:14 · Isa 1:4 · Isa 54:16 · Jer 2:30 · Jer 6:28 · Jer 22:7 · Jer 51:1 · Judg 20:42 · Prov 6:32 · Prov 28:24 14×
Perfect 2Chr 34:11 · Isa 37:12 · Jer 49:9 · Ps 14:1 · Ps 53:2 · Zeph 3:7 · Gen 6:12 7×
Jussive Deut 9:26 1×
Infinitive absolute Deut 31:29 1×
Infinitive construct Isa 65:8 1×
Cohortative Jer 11:19 1×
Piel intensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action 14×
Perfect Deut 9:12 · Deut 32:5 · Exod 32:7 · Jer 48:18 · Lam 2:5 · Lam 2:6 · 2Kgs 19:12 · Hos 9:9 · Jer 12:10 · Nah 2:3 · Ezek 28:17 · Isa 14:20 · Mal 2:8 13×
Infinitive construct Gen 13:10 1×
Hophal causative passive — the subject is caused to perform the action 2×
Participle passive Mal 1:14 · Prov 25:26 2×
Niphal passive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action 3×
Perfect Gen 6:12 · Jer 13:7 2×
Imperfect Exod 8:20 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
to ruin, destroy
to corrupt
to ruin, corrupt, or destroy
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 147 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
שָׁחַת is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
The word emphasizes the damaging power of destructive speech. Hosea 13:9-16
Frames Israel’s self-inflicted collapse. Hosea 9:7-9
Highlights entrenched moral decay. Proverbs 11:9
Canonical Themes
Revelation
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Šāḥat is the biblical word for what happens to things made good when they are corrupted — not suddenly annihilated but progressively ruined. Genesis uses it before the flood to name the state of the created order: the earth has become corrupt. This is not the language of something that never worked. It is the language of something good that has been spoiled.
The theological weight of the word points toward an understanding of human sin that is not merely the violation of rules but the corruption of a capacity and calling given by God. When Israel acts corruptly by making idols (Deut. 4. 16), they are not just disobeying a commandment. They are destroying the covenant relationship and the creaturely integrity that goes with it.
Preaching from šāḥat passages invites congregations to take seriously what sin actually does — not only to future outcomes but to the present state of persons, communities, and institutions. The Ezekiel text is particularly sobering: Israel's corruption had progressed past the corruption of the nations around them. Corruption is not static. It moves. Institutions, communities, and persons that begin to turn from God do not stay at their initial degree of compromise.
The antidote that Genesis implies and the New Testament confirms is not self-improvement but regeneration — the same power that moved over the chaotic waters at creation, moving over the corrupted creation again to bring life from ruin.
Anchor passage
Gen.6.12
Doctrinal connections
- H7843 šaḥat (noun) — pit; the noun form, related to the image of destruction as a descent
- H4191 Mût — to die; often paired with or follows šāḥat; death as the outcome of corruption
- G5351 Phtheirō — to corrupt; the NT equivalent, used for moral corruption and the corruption of the body
- G1311 diaphtheirō — to destroy completely; intensified form, used in Revelation
- Gen.6.5-13 — the flood narrative; the canonical center of šāḥat theology
- Rom.1.18-32 — the progressive corruption that follows the suppression of truth about God
- 2Cor.4.16 — the outer person is decaying (phtheirō) while the inner is renewed
Šāḥat belongs to the root š-ḥ-t, which may be related to the noun šaḥat (pit, grave, destruction). In the Hiphil (causative) stem it means to destroy or cause ruin; in the Niphal (passive-reflexive) it means to be destroyed or to ruin oneself. The Piel stem carries intensive force: to ruin thoroughly. The word's range covers physical destruction (cities razed), biological decay (a body corrupted), and moral/spiritual corruption (a people that has spoiled its own way).
The participle hammaššḥît (the destroyer) in Exodus 12:23 became a technical term for the destroying agent of divine judgment, picked up in 1 Corinthians 10:10 as 'the destroyer.'
From Old to New Testament
The New Testament's phtheirō (to corrupt, to destroy) carries šāḥat's semantic weight into Greek. Paul uses it for moral corruption (1 Cor. 15. 33: bad company corrupts good morals), for the corruption of the creation under the fall (Rom. 8. 21: the creation was subjected to futility, bondage to corruption), and for the outer physical decay (2 Cor. 4. 16: our outer self is decaying).
The destroyer of Exodus 12 appears in 1 Corinthians 10:10 as a warning against Israel's grumbling — the same destructive agency that moved through Egypt. Revelation uses the intensified diaphtheirō for the final destruction of those who destroy the earth (Rev. 11. 18). The entire trajectory points toward the same conclusion: corruption is real, it moves, it has consequences — and only the God who defeated the destroyer at the Passover can arrest and reverse what šāḥat has done.
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