διαφθορά

From the study of Acts 2:27

Range of meaning

Destruction, ruin; physical decay or corruption of a body; also moral corruption in some Greek writers.

Against the English

KJV 'corruption' is older English for physical rotting. Today it suggests moral or political corruption, which is not meant here. 'Decay' (BSB, WEB, NIV) is clearer. NLT's 'rot in the grave' is vivid and accurate.

How it drifted

English 'corruption' has narrowed toward moral and financial wrongdoing.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the LXX it renders Hebrew shachat ('pit') several times: Ps 29:10 LXX (MT 30:9), Ps 15:10, Job 33:28. In Acts 13:34–37 the word appears four times in Paul's version of the same argument.

From the study of Acts 13:34

Range of meaning

Destruction, ruin, decay. Of a body, decomposition. In classical Greek it can also mean moral corruption or the seduction of a person, but in the biblical texts that use it here the physical sense dominates.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have "corruption", which in 1611 readily meant physical rotting. Today it mostly suggests bribery or moral rot. BSB, NIV and others have "decay", which is clearer.

How it drifted

"Corruption" in English has narrowed toward moral and political meanings. The older physical sense ("this corruptible must put on incorruption") survives mostly in church language.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament Psalm 15(16):10, "nor will you give your Holy One to see diaphthoran". There it renders Hebrew shachat, "pit, grave", which the translators connected with the verb shachat, "to destroy, corrupt". Also Psalm 29(30):10 and 102(103):4. In the New Testament it appears only in Acts (2:27, 2:31, 13:34-37), every time in arguments from Psalm 16.

From the study of Acts 13:35

Range of meaning

Ruin, destruction, decay, corruption: physical breaking-down. In ordinary Greek it can mean the destruction of a thing, spoilage, or (by extension) moral corruption or seduction. In Acts 13 the sense is plainly physical: the body breaking down after death.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and WEB say "decay"; KJV and ESV "corruption"; NASB "undergo decay"; NLT turns it into "rot in the grave." For a modern reader "corruption" leans moral or political, which is not the sense here.

How it drifted

In 1611 English "corruption" still commonly meant physical decomposition. That sense has largely dropped out of everyday speech.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint uses diaphthora several times for Hebrew šaḥat (שַׁחַת), e.g., Ps 16(15):10; 30:9 (29:10); 103(102):4. Most Hebrew scholars (HALOT) take šaḥat as "pit, grave," related to a verb meaning "to sink down." A few passages, though, set it beside worms and rotting (Job 17:14), and a related root means "to ruin, spoil." The Greek translators heard "corruption." Peter's sermon uses the same quotation and the same argument (Acts 2:27, 31).