Greek word · G1311

διαφθείρω

diaphtheirō

to destroy

To destroy completely, ruin, spoil, corrupt (physically or morally). In the passive: to be destroyed, wear out, waste away, decay.

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

δια-φθείρω

[in LXX chiefly for שָׁחַת hi. ;]

1. to destroy utterly: Luke 12:33, Revelation 11:18; pass., to be destroyed, disabled: Revelation 8:9, 2 Corinthians 4:16.

2. In moral sense, to corrupt, deprave: τ. γῆν, Revelation 11:18; pass., διεφθαρμένοι τ. νοῦν, 1 Timothy 6:5.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To destroy completely, ruin, spoil, corrupt (physically or morally). In the passive: to be destroyed, wear out, waste away, decay.
Against the English: KJV has 'perish'. That is too final for a present tense describing a process: Paul is still alive and working. BSB/ESV/NIV 'wasting away' and NASB/WEB 'decaying' keep the sense of something ongoing.
Used elsewhere in the period: Elsewhere in the New Testament: the moth that destroys (Luke 12:33), ships destroyed (Rev 8:9), 'those who destroy the earth' (Rev 11:18), people 'corrupted in mind' (1 Tim 6:5). In the Septuagint it often translates Hebrew shachat, 'to ruin, spoil'.

Range of meaning: To destroy utterly, ruin, spoil. Also to corrupt morally. In Revelation 8:9 it is used of ships destroyed.
Against the English: 'Destroy those who destroy the earth' (KJV, BSB, NIV, ESV) is literal. Modern readers may hear 'destroying the earth' mainly as environmental damage. 'Ruin' or 'corrupt' gets closer to the moral and political range.
How it drifted: In modern ecological language, 'destroying the earth' usually means pollution and environmental damage.
Used elsewhere in the period: Genesis 6:11–13 (Septuagint): the earth was 'corrupted' (ephtharē) by violence, and God says 'I am destroying (kataphtheirō) them with the earth'. The Hebrew word shachat means both corrupt and destroy there. Jeremiah 51:25 (28:25 in the Septuagint), against Babylon: 'the destroying mountain (to diaphtheiron) that destroys the whole earth'. Revelation 19:2: the great prostitute 'corrupted (ephtheiren) the earth with her immorality'.

Range of meaning: Diaphtheirō means to destroy utterly, spoil, ruin or corrupt, physically or morally. Classical Greek used it for corrupting a person's character (Socrates was charged with "corrupting the youth") and, with "by money," for bribing someone. Nous is the mind as the faculty that perceives, judges and directs moral life, not simply intellect.
Against the English: "Depraved mind" (BSB) brings in a word that, for many readers, carries the overtones of the later doctrine of "total depravity." "Corrupt minds" (KJV, WEB) is closer. YLT's "wholly corrupted" picks up the intensifying dia-. None of them quite shows that the Greek is a perfect passive, a finished state of having been ruined.
How it drifted: "Depraved" now suggests lurid moral wickedness or a theological category. The Greek is broader: something spoiled and no longer working as it should.
Used elsewhere in the period: Closely parallel in 2 Tim 3:8, "men corrupted (katephtharmenoi) in mind," and Titus 1:15, "their mind and conscience are defiled." Compare Rom 1:28, "an unfit mind." Wisdom of Solomon and Philo also describe a mind damaged by passion or greed.

Luke · 1

Luke 12:33 διαφθείρει· destroy;

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Here: 'Spoil through and through'. The intensifying prefix dia- pictures cloth eaten until it is worthless.

2 Corinthians · 1

2 Corinthians 4:16 διαφθείρεται, is being brought to decay,

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Here: Present passive: 'is being ruined, is wasting away'. This is a process still going on, not a single collapse. In context it covers the beatings, hardship and exposure to death in 4:8–11, and also ordinary mortality.

1 Timothy · 1

1 Timothy 6:5 διεφθαρμένων corrupted

and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.

Here: "Having been ruined" describes a settled condition: their mind is already spoiled. The passive voice says this was done to them, without naming who did it. It is the same verb used for Socrates' alleged "corrupting" of the young, and in Greek usage for being corrupted by bribes.

Revelation · 3

Revelation 8:9 διεφθάρησαν.¶ were destroyed.

a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Here: 'Were destroyed': wrecked and ruined beyond use. The verb is plural because the writer is thinking of the many ships rather than the grammatical 'third'. The passive leaves the cause unstated, but the trumpet scene makes it clear the judgment comes from God.
Revelation 11:18 διαφθεῖραι διαφθείροντας to destroy, destroying

The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your name, both small and great—and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Here: 'To ruin / destroy', said of God's action. It is the same verb used of the guilty in the next word, so the punishment matches the crime.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.