Hebrew word · H4889

מַשְׁחִית

mashchit

destruction

From the verb "to spoil, ruin, corrupt, destroy". As a participle used as a noun it means destroyer or ravager, sometimes destruction.

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

ruin, destruction

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: From the verb "to spoil, ruin, corrupt, destroy". As a participle used as a noun it means destroyer or ravager, sometimes destruction. It is used for raiding parties (1 Sam 13:17; 14:15), for the destroying agent at the Passover (Exod 12:23), for the destroying angel at Jerusalem (2 Sam 24:16), and for the nations' destroyers (Jer 22:7).
Against the English: BSB, NIV and ESV have "one who destroys". YLT has "a destroyer". WEB has "destruction". KJV's "great waster" can sound like a spendthrift today, which makes the image smaller than the Hebrew.
How it drifted: In 1611 "waste" still meant "lay waste, devastate" (compare "wasted cities"). The modern sense of squandering, or the British slang "waster" for a good-for-nothing, makes the KJV line sound milder than it is.
Used elsewhere in the period: Prov 28:24 has "a man who destroys (ish mashchit)" in the same kind of comparison. The verb is common in Proverbs for ruin (e.g. Prov 6:32, "he destroys himself"; 11:9, "with his mouth the godless destroys his neighbour").

Range of meaning: A causative participle of shachat, 'to ruin, spoil, destroy'. Used as a noun it can mean 'destruction, ruin' (Ezek 5:16; 21:31; 25:15) or 'a destroyer/raider' (1 Sam 13:17; 14:15, raiding parties; Jer 51:1). With the article it can name a divine agent: 'the destroying angel' in 2 Sam 24:16 and 1 Chr 21:15, and 'the Destroyer' in Exod 12:23.
Against the English: BSB, WEB, KJV and ESV/NASB treat it here as purpose: 'to destroy (you)'. YLT has 'for destruction'. None of them shows readers that the same word in v.23 becomes 'the Destroyer'.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Septuagint has eis to ektripsai, 'so as to wipe out', here, and ton olethreuonta, 'the destroyer', in v.23. Hebrews 11:28 takes over that Greek phrase ('the destroyer of the firstborn').

Range of meaning: From the root sh-ch-t, "to ruin, destroy, corrupt". As a noun, mashchit means "destruction", "ruin", or "a destroyer" (a person or agent who destroys). With the preposition le- ("to, for") it means "unto destruction", that is, completely or to the point of annihilation.
Against the English: KJV and WEB "slay utterly" and ESV "outright" capture the adverb sense. BSB and NIV fold it into the strong verb "slaughter". YLT keeps the literal "to destruction".
Used elsewhere in the period: Exodus 12:23, "the destroyer" (hammashchit) who passes over the marked doors at Passover. 2 Samuel 24:16, "the destroying angel" sent against Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 20:23, "to destruction", the same phrase. In Ezekiel 9:1 each executioner carries "his weapon of destruction" (keli mashchetu), from the same root.

Exodus · 1

Exodus 12:13 לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית for destruction

The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a sign; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Here: 'For destroying' or 'to be a destroyer'. The same form with 'the' in v.23 (hammashchit) names 'the Destroyer', an agent God will not allow into the houses. Here it probably describes the blow's purpose: a strike meant to ruin.

2 Kings · 1

2 Kings 23:13 הַמַּשְׁחִית֒ <the> destruction

The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Here: 'Of the Destroyer' or 'of Ruin'. Very likely a sour pun on the ridge's name 'Mount of Anointing / of Oil' (har hammishchah), with the god-shrines turning a mount of anointing into a mount of ruin.

2 Chronicles · 2

2 Chronicles 20:23 לְמַשְׁחִֽית׃ to destruction

The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had finished off the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
2 Chronicles 22:4 לְמַשְׁחִ֥ית to destruction

And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for to his destruction they were his counselors after the death of his father.

Proverbs · 1

Proverbs 18:9 מַשְׁחִֽית׃ destruction

Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.

Here: From the verb "to ruin, spoil, wreck". Elsewhere the same form names raiders who plunder a land and the destroying agent of the Passover night. The image is of active, violent wrecking.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 5:26 מַשְׁחִ֖ית a destroyer

For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.

Here: Literally 'a destroyer' or 'a ruining-thing'. Here it means a trap, but the word says what the trap does: it ruins. The same word is used of the 'destroyer' at the Passover (Exodus 12:23).
Jeremiah 51:25 הַמַּשְׁחִית֙ <the> destruction

“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.

Here: 'The Destroyer' (grammatically 'mountain of the Destroyer', or 'destroying mountain'). The same word names the death-bringer at the Exodus (Exod 12:23) and Babylon as 'destroyer of nations' in Jer 4:7.

Ezekiel · 4

Ezekiel 5:16 לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית for destruction

When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food.
Ezekiel 9:6 לְמַשְׁחִ֗ית to destruction

Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

Here: "Unto destruction", meaning to the point of wiping out, hence KJV "slay utterly". The word comes from the same root as the "weapon of destruction" each executioner carries (9:1) and as "the destroyer" of the Passover night (Exod 12:23).
Ezekiel 21:31 מַשְׁחִֽית׃ destruction

I will pour out My anger upon you; I will breathe the fire of My fury against you; I will hand you over to brutal men, skilled in destruction.
Ezekiel 25:15 לְמַשְׁחִ֖ית to destruction

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking vengeance with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility,

Here: 'For ruin': the purpose of their revenge was to wreck. The object is not named in Hebrew; Judah is clearly meant, and the BSB supplies the word.

Daniel · 1

Daniel 10:8 לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית into destruction

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.

Here: 'Into ruin' or 'to the point of wreckage': his glow was turned into a ruined, deathlike look. It is a strong word, usually used for destruction, and the idea is physical disfigurement, not moral corruption.

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