TR: shâchath → diaphtheirō (Corruption / Destruction)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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שָׁחַת (shâchath) → διαφθείρω (diaphtheirō) → διαφθείρω (diaphtheirō)
H7843, 136x in OT LXX co-occ: 48x 6x in NT
"corrupt, ruin, destroy" PMI score: 27.24 "corrupt, destroy"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H7843 | שָׁחַת (shâchath) | 136 | corrupt, ruin, destroy (active and stative) |
| H4889 | מַשְׁחִית (mashchiyth) | 11 | destruction, destroyer (nominal form of shâchath) |
Key OT passages: - Gen 6:11–12 — "The earth also was corrupt before God... for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth" — universal שָׁחַת as grounds for the Flood - Deut 4:16 — "Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image" — idolatry as moral שָׁחַת - Jer 4:7 — "the destroyer (שָׁחַת participle) of the Gentiles is on his way" - Ps 78:38 — "he, being full of compassion... destroyed (שָׁחַת) them not" — divine restraint
→ See H7843-shachath.md for full word study.
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occ | PMI Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shâchath (H7843) | διαφθείρω (G1311) | 48x | 7.00 (score 27.24) | Primary equivalent — dominant choice |
| shâchath (H7843) | φθείρω (G5351) | 6x | 6.39 | Secondary; "waste, spoil" |
| shâchath (H7843) | ἀπόλλυμι (G622) | 9x | 2.52 | Used when emphasizing complete loss |
| shâchath (H7843) | ἄνομος (G459) | 7x | 3.64 | Used when shâchath describes lawlessness |
Semantic note: The LXX translators favored διαφθείρω — a compound of διά (through, thoroughly) + φθείρω (decay, spoil) — because it captures both the processual nature of שָׁחַת (decay as an ongoing condition, Gen 6:11) and its causative force (causing to be ruined, Jer 4:7). This is a stronger word than simple ἀπόλλυμι; it connotes rottenness from within.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | NT Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1311 | διαφθείρω (diaphtheirō) | 6 (in 5 verses) | corrupt utterly, destroy, cause to decay |
| G1312 | διαφθορά (diaphthorá) | 6 | decay, corruption (noun form) |
Key NT passages: - Luke 12:33 — "provide yourselves... a treasure in the heavens... where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth (διαφθείρει)" — earthly goods subject to the same decay as OT רָקָב/שָׁחַת - 2 Cor 4:16 — "though our outward man perish (διαφθείρεται), yet the inward man is renewed day by day" — the body's decay as a physical process, echoing lexicon "to rot" - 1 Tim 6:5 — "Perverse disputings of men of corrupt (διεφθαρμένων) minds, and destitute of the truth" — the moral/cognitive dimension; exactly the moral-ruin sense of שָׁחַת in Deut 4:16 - Rev 8:9 — "the third part of the ships were destroyed (διεφθάρησαν)" — eschatological judgment paralleling Gen 6 Flood - Rev 11:18 — "thou shouldest destroy (διαφθεῖραι) them which destroy (τοὺς διαφθείροντας) the earth" — double use; the corrupt are destroyed by the same word that describes their corruption
→ G1311 word study: TODO (not yet in library)
Direct OT→NT Echo¶
| NT Verse | OT Background | Shared Concept | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 11:18 | Gen 6:11–13 | "those who corrupt/destroy the earth" | Flood judgment language reapplied to final judgment; "the earth was corrupt (שָׁחַת) before God" → "destroy them which destroy (διαφθείρω) the earth" |
| 1 Tim 6:5 | Deut 4:16; Hos 9:9 | moral corruption of the mind | Same Piel/intensive sense: people who have "thoroughly corrupted" themselves |
| 2 Cor 4:16 | Gen 3 / Ps 78:38 | bodily decay and divine mercy | Outward man "perishing" (the same decay of flesh שָׁחַת describes) while inward man is renewed |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same: - Both Hebrew and Greek use the word for a process that can be moral (inner corruption), physical (bodily decay, marred objects), or eschatological (destruction of nations, judgment) - The participial/agentive use ("destroyer", "those who corrupt") is present in both testaments - The divine restraint motif (God choosing not to destroy) is explicit in OT (Ps 78:38, 2 Kgs 8:19) and implicit in NT (God is the one who destroys the destroyers, Rev 11:18)
What shifts: - Hebrew shâchath dominates in historical narrative and prophetic address (Hiphil: causing ruin); the NT picks up mostly the Niphal/passive sense (things/people becoming corrupt or being destroyed) - The NT uses διαφθείρω for both physical decay (outward man perishing, 2 Cor 4:16) and the final eschatological act (Rev 11:18), giving the word a full arc from creation to consummation - Rev 11:18 creates an explicit Flood echo: as the earth was "corrupted" before Noah's flood (Gen 6:11), so the earth-destroyers are themselves destroyed at the end — the same word bracketing both judgments
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-04-02