שָׁחַת

From the study of Proverbs 6:32

Range of meaning

In its causative form: to ruin, destroy, devastate, spoil or corrupt. It is used of the flood destroying the earth (Gen 6:13, 17), of the destroying angel (Exod 12:23; 2 Sam 24:16), of armies ravaging land, and of moral corruption (Gen 6:12).

Against the English

'Destroys' is accurate and as strong as the Hebrew. Because the form here is a participle, it describes what kind of person he is ('a self-destroyer') as well as what he does.

Used elsewhere in the period

The participle mašḥît is the title of 'the destroyer' in Exod 12:23. In Proverbs, compare 11:9, where the godless man 'ruins' his neighbor with his mouth, and 18:9, which calls the slacker 'brother to a master of ruin' (baʿal mašḥît).

From the study of Ezekiel 23:11

Range of meaning

To spoil, ruin, destroy. In the causative stem it means to bring something to ruin, or to act ruinously. Used of a garment or a land ruined (Jer 13:7), of the earth and "all flesh" being ruined before the flood (Gen 6:11–12), of Israel "acting corruptly" with the golden calf (Exod 32:7; Deut 9:12), and of Judah "eagerly corrupting" all its deeds (Zeph 3:7).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and NASB say "more corrupt". BSB and NIV say "more depraved". YLT is the most literal: "she maketh her doting love more corrupt". Most versions turn the Hebrew verb with its object into an adjective ("was more depraved"), which loses the active picture of Oholibah ruining her own passion.

How it drifted

Today "corrupt" often suggests bribery or dishonest officials. The Hebrew word is about rot and destruction: something spoiled until it is fit only to be thrown away.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common across the Hebrew Bible (around 150 times). Ezekiel uses the noun from this root (šaḥat, "pit") for death (Ezek 28:8), and the verb in Ezek 16:47 in the same sister comparison: "you were more corrupt than they in all your ways."

From the study of Genesis 18:31

Range of meaning

שָׁחַת means 'spoil, ruin, corrupt'. In the hiphil it means 'destroy, bring to ruin'. The same root covers both moral corruption and physical destruction.

Against the English

Every major English version has 'destroy', which is accurate. What English loses is the link to the flood story, where the same root describes both the earth's corruption and God's destruction of it (Gen 6:11-13, 17).

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 6:11-13: the earth 'was corrupt' (tishshachet); all flesh 'had corrupted' (hishchit) its way; 'I will destroy them' (mashchitam). Gen 19:13, 14: 'we are about to destroy this place'. Gen 19:29: 'when God destroyed the cities'. Exod 12:23 'the destroyer' (hammashchit).