G5351: φθείρω (phtheírō)

G5351 φθείρω (phtheírō)

Greek 📖 Word Study

Quick Definition

φθείρω v. I corrupt, spoil, destroy

Strong's Definition

probably strengthened from phthio (to pine or waste); properly, to shrivel or wither, i.e. to spoil (by any process) or (generally) to ruin (especially figuratively, by moral influences, to deprave)

KJV Usage: corrupt (self), defile, destroy

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

φθείρω (G5351)

verb | fut. φθερῶ · 3sg. φθειρεῖ, φθερεῖ · aor.pass.subj. φθαρώ · fut.pass. φθαρήσομαι | ἀφθαρσία · ἄφθαρτος · ἀφθορία · διαφθείρω · διαφθορά · καταφθείρω · φθαρτός · φθινοπωρινός · φθορά

20.39 · Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill · Destroy

to destroy to ruin or destroy something, with the implication of causing something to be corrupt and thus to cease to exist

1CO 3:17 · 1CO 3:17 · 1CO 15:33 · 2PE 2:12 · JUD 1:10

20.23 · Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill · Harm, Wound

to cause harm, to ruin to cause harm to someone It may be possible to translate this expression in 2CO 7:2 (referring to financial ruin) as ‘we have not caused anyone to suffer a loss,’ but φθείρω in 2CO 7:2 may also refer to the undermining of faith.

1CO 15:33 · 2CO 7:2

88.266 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Licentiousness, Perversion

to deprave, to pervert, to ruin, to cause the moral ruin of to cause someone to become perverse or depraved, as a type of moral destruction

1CO 15:33 · 2CO 11:3 · EPH 4:22 · REV 19:2

¹ It is possible that διαφθείρω[b] and καταφθείρω are somewhat more emphatic in meaning than φθείρω[c].

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

φθείρω; fut. φθερῶ; 1 aor. ἔφθειρα; Pass., pres. φθείροpat; 2 aor. ἐφθάρην ; 2 fut. φθαρήσομαι ; (akin to Germ. verderben); Sept. for nnw; [fr. Hom. down]; to corrupt, to destroy: prop. τὸν ναὸν rod θεοῦ (in the opinion o the Jews the temple was corrupted, or ‘destroyed’, when any one defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their duties ; cf. Deyling, Observy. sacrae, vol. ii. p. 505 sqq.), drop= ping the fig., to lead away a Christian church from that state of knowledge and holiness in which it ought to abide, 1 Co. iii. 17°; τινά, to punish with death, 1 Co. iii. 17°; i. q. to bring to want or beggary (ef. our ruin [A. V. corrupt]), 2 Co. vii. 2; pass. to be destroyed, to perish: ἔν τινι, by a thing, Jude 10; ἐν with a dat. denot ing the condition, ἐν τῇ φθορᾷ αὐτῶν, 2 Pet. ii. 12 LT Tr WH. ἴῃ an ethical sense, ‘o corrupt, deprave : φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί (a saying of Menander [see ἦθος, 2), which seems to have passed into a proverb [see Wetstein ad loc.; Gataker, Advers. miscel. l.i.¢.1 p. 174 sq.]), 1 Co. xv. 33; the character of the inhabitants of the earth, Rev. xix. 2; pass. φθείρομαι ἀπό τινος, to be so corrupted as to fall away from a thing [see ἀπό, 1. 8 α.1, 2 Co. xi. 3; φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας, [R. V. waxeth corrupt ete.], Eph. iv. 22. [Comp.: δια-ν κατα-φθείρω.}

Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary

φθείρω phtheirō 9x

to spoil, ruin, 1 Cor. 3:17; 2 Cor. 7:2; to corrupt, morally deprave, 1 Cor. 15:33; 2 Cor. 11:3

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

φθείρω

[in LXX chiefly for שׁחת hi., pi., also for חבל, etc. ;]

to destroy, corrupt, spoil (on the varied usage and distinctive meaning of the word, v. Mayor on II Pe, App., 175 ff.): c. acc., I Co 3:17 15:23, II Co 7:2; seq. ἀπό, II Co 11:3; ἐν, II Pe 2:12, Ju 10, Re 19:2; κατά, Eph 4:22 (cf. δια-, κατα-φθείρω).†

Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT

φθείρω. For the metaph. sense ‘‘ corrupt, cs injure,’’ as in 1 Cor 317, al., we may point to the common clause in marriagecontracts forbidding the wife φθείρειν τὸν κοινὸν οἶκον (P Tebt I. 1047 (B.c. 92), BGU IV. 10507? (time of Augustus), P Oxy III. 4974 (early ii/A.p.), a/.): cf. r Cor 317: A literal sense is seen in certain nursing contracts, where provision is made against the nurse’s ‘‘spoiling” her milk, e.g. BGU IV. 1058°° (B.c. 13) μὴ φθίρουσαν τὸ γάλα. In P Strass I. 241° (A.p. 118) the pass. ἐφθάρη[σ]α(ν) is used of the destruction of cattle. Cf. also P Cairo Zen I. 590377 (B.C. 258-7) where a man is described as ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείαι φθειρόμενος, ‘‘ in Alexandria wasting his time.

Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon

φθείρω (phtheirō) — to destroy. φθείρω, Aeolic dialect φθέρρω Hdn.Gr. 2.303, +others; [Refs 4th c.AD+] φθήρω [Refs 4th c.BC+]imperfect φθείρεσκε [Refs 5th c.BC+]: future φθερῶ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect φθερέω (δια-) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect φθέρσω (δια-) [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist 1 ἔφθειρα [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἔφθαρκα [Refs 5th c.BC+] participle ἐφθορκώς [Refs 4th c.BC+] —middle, future φθεροῦμαι (in passive sense) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect φθερέομαι (δια-) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; later φθαροῦμαι [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:— passive, future φθᾰρήσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+], Doric dialect -ησοῦμαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]aorist ἐφθάρην [ᾰ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; poetry 3rd.pers. plural ἔφθαρεν [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also participle κατα-φθερείς [Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἔφθαρμαι [Refs 5th c.BC+], 3rd.pers. plural ἐφθάραται [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive ἐφθάρθαι [Refs 4th c.BC+], Aeolic dialect ἔφθορθαι [Refs]: pluperfect 3rd.pers. plural ἐφθάρατο [Refs 5th c.BC+] is much more frequently than the simple Verb:—destroy things, μῆλα κακοὶ φθείρουσι νομῆες [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φ. τῶν Συρίων τοὺς κλήρους waste them, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰς ναῦς see reading in [Refs 5th c.BC+] (also absolutely, miscarry, [Refs]; τὸν κοινὸν οἶκον Mitteis [Refs 2nd c.BC+]: —passive, to be destroyed, [Refs 5th c.BC+]pass away, cease to be, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of animals, perish, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

2. of persons, μαψαῦραι... ναύτας φ. destroy them, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (but perhaps only active of signification[Refs 4th c.BC+]:—passive, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἔφθαρμαι I am undone! [Refs 4th c.BC+]

3. corrupt, bribe, τινα [Refs 1st c.BC+]; lure, entice, trap, κημοῖσι πλεκτοῖς πορφύρας φθείρει γένος [Refs 5th c.BC+]entices to its ruin, entraps, [Refs]; pervert, φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρήσθ᾽ ὁμιλίαι κακαί [Refs 5th c.BC+] —passive, see below [Refs]

3. b seduce a woman, ὑπὸ τῆς θυγατρὸς ἀδικούμενον καὶ Διονυσίου τοῦ φθείραντος αὐτὴν κιναίδου [Refs 3rd c.BC+]:—passive, [Refs 5th c.BC+] (but not Attic dialect accusative to [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

4. ruin, spoil, ποσὶν φθείροντα πλοῦτον ἀργυρωνήτους θ᾽ ὑφάς, of one who treads on rich carpets, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; βαφὰς φθείρουσα τοῦ ποικίλματος, of blood, [Refs]; of a poison, ὧνπερ ἂν θίγῃ, φθείρει τὰ πάντα [Refs 5th c.BC+]; δούλην (wet-nurse) μὴ φθείρουσαν τὸ γάλα [Refs 1st c.BC+]

5. τὰ μιγνύμενα τῶν χρωμάτων οἱ βαφεῖς φθείρεσθαι καὶ φθοράν τὴν μῖξιν ὀνομάζουσιν [Refs 1st c.AD+]

II. passive (compare above 1.1, 2),

II.1. φθείρεσθε (as a curse) may you perish! ruin take you! [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φθείρου as an imprecation, go to the devil! be off! [Refs 5th c.BC+] off from her! unhand her, let her go, [Refs 5th c.BC+] if thou dost not depart... [Refs]

II.1. b with a preposition, φθείρεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς πλουσίους, of hangers-on and flatterers, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II.2. in Medicine texts, ἡ κοιλίη φθαρήσεται will be deranged, disordered, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.3. to be morally corrupted, ἐφθάρη ἡ γῆ ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ [LXX+3rd c.BC+]; but ἐν Σικυωνίαι ἐφθαρμένους is falsa lectio for{ἐν Σικυῶνι διεφθ}. (conjecture Sintenis) in [Refs 1st c.AD+]

II.4. of seafarers, wander, drift [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ναυτίλους ἐφθαρμένους sailors driven out of their course, [Refs]; of shipwrecked persons, νεῶν (ἐκ νεῶν Elmsl.) φθαρέντες [Refs 4th c.BC+]; also of travellers or wanderers by land, οὐχ ἕνα νομίζων φθείρεται πόλεως νόμον (variant{τόπον}) [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐδὲν δεῖ φθείρεσθαι περιόντα (={περιιόντα}) τὴν ἀρχὴν ἅπασαν [Refs 1st c.AD+]; μὴ περιΐδῃς ἀγαθοὺς γείτονας εἰς στενὸν τοῦ καιροῦ φθειρομένους[Refs 2nd c.AD+]; φθαρῆναι εἰς βάρβαρα ἔθνη (ἐν βαρβάροις ἔθνεσι or ἔθεσι codices) [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; φθαρέντων ἐς ἀλλήλους falling foul of one another, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

II.5. of women, χέρσους φθαρῆναι pine away in barrenness, [Refs 5th c.BC+] (unless wander, compare above [Refs]ksárati 'flow', later 'wane, perish', Avest. γζ?~Xαρ- and ζ?~Xγαρ- 'flow'.)