G622 — ἀπόλλυμι (apóllymi)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G622
Original: ἀπόλλυμι
Transliteration: apóllymi
Pronunciation: ap-ol'-loo-mee
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: ἀπό (G575, "away from") + the base of ὄλλυμι ("to destroy") — "to destroy away," i.e., destroy fully
Occurrences: 86 unique verses (102 tokens) across 15 NT books
First Occurrence: Mat 2:13 — "young child to destroy (apóllymi) him" (Herod seeking to kill Jesus)
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From ἀπό and the base of ὄλλυμι; to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively. Voice distinguishes meaning: - Active: to destroy, ruin, put to death (transitive) - Middle/Passive: to perish, be ruined, be lost; to lose oneself - Middle with direct object: to lose (as in losing one's life or a possession)

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida:

ἀπόλλυμι is classified across multiple domains, reflecting its semantic range:

Domain	Code	Label
Primary destructive sense	20.003	Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill — Destroy
Religious perish/save antonym	21.006	Danger, Risk, Safe, Save — Save in a Religious Sense
Loss of possession	57.007	Possess, Transfer, Exchange — Take, Obtain, Gain, Lose
State of non-existence	13.003	Be, Become, Exist, Happen — Exist

UBS Semantic Domains: - [020] Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill - [057] Possess, Transfer, Exchange - [027] Learn - [023] Physiological Processes and States - [013] Be, Become, Exist, Happen - [021] Danger, Risk, Safe, Save

Key neighbors in domain 20.003 (Destroy): ἀπώλεια (G684), διαφθείρω (G1311), καταλύω (G2647), ὀλοθρεύω (G3645), πορθέω (G4199), συναπόλλυμι (G4881), φθείρω (G5351), φθορά (G5356), ἐξολεθρεύω (G1842).

Key antonym in domain 21.006: σῴζω (G4982, "to save") — the most theologically significant pairing. apóllymi and sōzō stand in direct opposition in NT soteriology.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
perish / perished / perisheth / shall perish / should perish / we perish	31	36%
destroy / to destroy / destroyed / were destroyed / they might destroy	26	30%
lose / shall lose / will lose / loseth	13	15%
lost / was lost / is lost / are lost	10	12%
die / be marred / cast away / other auxiliary	6	7%

Two main translation families dominate: "perish" (36%, mostly middle/passive voice) and "destroy" (30%, mostly active). The "lose/lost" family (27%) reflects the middle voice with direct object — losing a possession, a life, a sheep, a coin.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 John	1	7.7
2 Peter	2	3.3
Luke	25	2.2
2 Thessalonians	1	2.1
James	2	1.9
Matthew	18	1.7
John	12	1.4
1 Corinthians	6	1.4
Mark	9	1.3
2 Corinthians	3	1.2
1 Peter	1	1.0
Romans	2	0.5
Hebrews	1	0.3
Acts	1	0.1
Jude	2	—

Pattern: Heaviest concentration in Luke (25x) and Matthew (18x) — the Synoptic parable and judgment discourse material drives the count. Johannine usage (John + 1–2 John: 13x) is theologically weighted toward the perish/eternal-life antithesis. Paul uses it moderately (1–2 Cor, Rom, 2 Th: 12x), always eschatologically charged. Near absence in Acts (1x) and Revelation (0x in Strong's index — the text uses cognate ἀπώλεια G684 there instead).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Destruction / Killing (active voice, human agent)¶

Plotting to kill, military destruction, execution. - Mat 2:13 — Herod seeking "to destroy" the young child - Mat 12:14 / Mar 3:6 / Mar 11:18 / Luk 19:47 — Pharisees plotting "how they might destroy him" - Mat 22:7 — king "destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city" - Mat 27:20 — multitude persuaded to "destroy Jesus" - Mar 9:22 — demon casting boy into fire "to destroy him"

2. Divine Judgment / Eschatological Ruin (active voice, God as agent)¶

God or Christ destroying the wicked, the unrepentant, or hostile powers. - Mat 10:28 — "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" - Luk 17:27, 29 — flood and Sodom: "destroyed them all" - Jas 4:12 — "one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy" - Jude 1:5 — "afterward destroyed them that believed not" - 1 Cor 1:19 — "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise"

3. Perishing / Being Lost in Eternal Judgment (middle/passive voice)¶

The standard NT contrast with eternal life or salvation. Often paired with σῴζω. - Joh 3:15–16 — "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" - Joh 10:28 — "they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand" - Luk 13:3, 5 — "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" - Rom 2:12 — "as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law" - 1 Cor 1:18 — "the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness" - 2 Cor 2:15 — "in them that are saved, and in them that perish" - 2 Pet 3:9 — "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" - 2 Th 2:10 — "in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth"

4. Losing One's Life / Soul (middle voice with object)¶

The paradox saying — lose/save life. Always voluntary-paradigm contexts. - Mat 10:39 / 16:25 / Mar 8:35 / Luk 9:24 / Luk 17:33 / Joh 12:25 — "whosoever will save his life shall lose it" - Luk 9:25 — "if he gain the whole world, and lose himself"

5. Losing / Finding a Possession (middle voice, mundane object)¶

The lost-sheep / lost-coin / lost-son parable cluster. - Mat 10:6 / 15:24 — "lost sheep of the house of Israel" - Luk 15:4, 6, 8, 9, 17, 24, 32 — parables of the lost sheep, coin, prodigal ("this my son... was lost, and is found") - Mat 18:11 / Luk 19:10 — "Son of man is come to save that which was lost" - Joh 6:12 — "that nothing be lost" - Joh 6:39 / 17:12 / 18:9 — "of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing"

6. Decay / Perishability (of food, flesh, garments, goods)¶

Material degradation contrasted with eternal endurance. - Joh 6:27 — "Labour not for the meat which perisheth" - Heb 1:11 — "They shall perish; but thou remainest" - Jas 1:11 — "the grace of the fashion of it perisheth" - 1 Pet 1:7 — "gold that perisheth" - Mat 9:17 / Mar 2:22 / Luk 5:37 — wineskins "perish" / "are marred" when new wine bursts them

7. Safety / Preservation (negated)¶

Reassurance that no harm will come. - Luk 21:18 — "there shall not an hair of your head perish" - Joh 17:12 — "none of them is lost, but the son of perdition" - Acts 27:34 (referenced in Outlook, not Strong's lookup count) — similar preservation promise

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
σῴζω (sṓzō) — save	G4982	14x (16%)	Direct antonym: "save vs. perish/lose" (Mat 16:25; Luk 9:24; 19:10; Jas 4:12; 2 Cor 2:15)
ψυχή (psychḗ) — soul/life	G5590	9x (10%)	Object lost or destroyed: "lose his life/soul" (Mat 10:28, 39; 16:25; Mar 8:35)
εὑρίσκω (heurískō) — find	G2147	9x (10%)	Parabolic counter-move: lost→found (Luk 15; Mat 10:39; 16:25)
ἔρχομαι (érchomai) — come	G2064	11x (13%)	Mission statement frame: "Son of man is come to… save/destroy" (Luk 9:56; 19:10; Mat 18:11)
πᾶς (pâs) — all	G3956	11x (13%)	Universalizing scope: "all… perish" (Luk 13:3, 5; 17:27, 29)
ζωή (zōḗ) — life	G2222	6x (7%)	Eternal-life antithesis: "not perish but have eternal life" (Joh 3:15, 16; 10:28)
αἰώνιος (aiṓnios) — eternal	G166	5x (6%)	Modifies ζωή in perish/life contrasts
υἱός (huiós) — son	G5207	7x (8%)	"Son of man" mission or "son of perdition" (Joh 17:12)
δίδωμι (dídōmi) — give	G1325	8x (9%)	"Those whom thou gavest me I have lost none" (Joh 17:12; 18:9)
εἷς (heîs) — one	G1520	9x (10%)	"One of these little ones" / "one sheep" parabolic context (Mat 18:14; Luk 15:4, 8)

Word Family / Cognates¶

ἀπώλεια (G684) — noun: "destruction, perdition, waste." The abstract/result noun of apóllymi. Used in "son of perdition," "vessels of wrath fitted for destruction," the lake of fire contexts. (G684)
συναπόλλυμι (G4881) — compound with συν-: "to perish together with." NT hapax at Heb 11:31 (Rahab did not perish with the disobedient).
Ἀπολλύων (G623) / Ἀβαδδών (G3) — "Apollyon," "Destroyer" — titular noun from this verb (Rev 9:11).

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py surfaced a wide semantic cluster rather than one tight synonym set. The clearest overlaps are: - G615 ἀποκτείνω (apokteinō) — to kill; overlaps when ἀπόλλυμι carries active lethal destruction. - G2629 κατακόπτω (katakoptō) — to cut down/strike down; violent-destruction overlap. - G2679 κατασκάπτω (kataskaptō) — to dig down/demolish; overlaps on ruin/demolition rather than perishing. - G3822 παλαιόω (palaioō) — to make old, wear out; an edge-case overlap in decay/ruin contexts.

Additional loose semantic neighbors surfaced by the relationship tool: G4863 συνάγω, G2928 κρύπτω, G5401 φόβος, G1587 ἐκλείπω, G1839 ἐξίστημι, G4931 συντελέω, G1303 διατίθημι.

Antonyms¶

The relationship search surfaced a small opposite cluster: - G3618 οἰκοδομέω (oikodomeō) — to build, edify; clear structural opposite in destroy/build contrasts. - G2212 ζητέω (zēteō) — to seek; contextual opposite in the lost-and-found uses of ἀπόλλυμι. - G1788 ἐντρέπω (entrepō) — to turn/reprove, bring to shame; a looser corrective opposite surfaced by the tool.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
διαφθείρω	G1311	destroy, perish	Connotes rot/corruption process; moral-decay nuance ("men of corrupt minds"), plus physical decay (moth)
καταλύω	G2647	destroy	Physical dismantling ("one stone upon another"), or dissolving a legal/institutional structure (the Law) — not perishing. (G2647)
ὀλοθρεύω	G3645	destroy	The cognate of ἀπόλλυμι's own root; the "destroyer" agent sense (Heb 11:28) — narrower, ritual-plague register
φθείρω / φθορά	G5351 / G5356	destroy, perish, corrupt	Emphasizes corruption/spoilage; the process of ruin, often moral (corrupting good manners)
ἀποθνῄσκω	G599	die, perish	Simple dying, not destruction; apóllymi implies total ruin, not mere cessation
ζημιόω	G2210	lose	Specifically "suffer loss" as penalty/forfeiture (Mat 16:26; 1 Cor 3:15); apóllymi is the object lost
πορθέω	G4199	destroy, waste	Plunder/ravage (of Paul persecuting the church); more militaristic-predatory

Hebrew Source (LXX-derived, ranked by PMI)¶

Hebrew	Strong's	Translit	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
אָבַד	H6	ʼâbad	141	6.14	Primary equivalent. "To wander away, lose oneself, perish, be destroyed" — nearly identical semantic range (active/middle split); the LXX regularly renders ʼâbad with apóllymi
שָׁמַד	H8045	shâmad	23	4.53	"To desolate, exterminate" — active destruction (causative), usually in judgment oracles
אֲבַד (Aramaic)	H7	ʼăbad	6	6.43	Aramaic cognate of H6; same sense in Daniel/Ezra
שָׁדַד	H7703	shâdad	8	3.91	"To spoil, lay waste"
כָּרַת	H3772	kârath	21	2.72	"To cut off" (covenant sanction or destruction)
תִּקְוָה	H8615	tiqvâh	7	4.24	"Hope" — appears in idiom "the hope of… perished"
נֶצַח	H5331	netsach	6	3.73	"Forever" — polarity phrase "perish forever"

The ʼâbad → apóllymi bridge is one of the strongest Hebrew→Greek verb pairings in the LXX, making apóllymi function in the NT as the canonical Greek for OT destruction/perishing vocabulary.