Dead and Destroy

The Greek Meanings of  "Dead, Destroy, Lost, etc."

Luke 15:21-24
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, 
and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, 
Bring forth the best robe, and put [it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes 
on [his] feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it]; and let us eat, and be 
merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. 
And they began to be merry.

• dead; 3498; nekros
Definition: dead
Usage: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse.

3498 nekrós (an adjective, derived from nekys, "a corpse, a dead body") – dead; literally, "what lacks life"; dead; (figuratively) not able to respond to impulses, or perform functions ("unable, ineffective, dead, powerless," L & N, 1, 74.28); unresponsive to life-giving influences (opportunities); inoperative to the things of God.

3498 /nekrós ("corpse-like") is used as a noun in certain contexts ("the dead"), especially when accompanied by the Greek definite article. The phrase, ek nekron ("from the dead"), lacks the Greek article to give the sense "from what is of death."

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.

The word for "lost" here is (apollumi) meaning, he was cut-off

Matthew 2:13
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and 
be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy 
him.

Matthew 5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, 
but to fulfil.

John 2:19
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
it up.

1 Corinthians 3:17
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is 
holy, which [temple] ye are.

1 Corinthians 6:13
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now 
the body [is] not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

Revelation 11:18
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that 
they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and 
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Matthew 2:13

• destroy; 622; apollumi; 

Definition: to destroy, destroy utterly

Usage: (a) I kill, destroy, (b) I lose, mid: I am perishing (the resultant death being 

viewed as certain).

622 apóllymi (from 575 /apó, "away from," which intensifies ollymi, "to destroy") – properly, fully destroy, cutting off entirely(note the force of the prefix, 575 /apó).

From the base of 3639.

622 /apóllymi ("violently/completely perish") implies permanent(absolute) destruction, i.e. to cancel out (remove); "to die, with the implication of ruin and destruction" (L & N, 1, 23.106); cause to be lost (utterly perish) by experiencing a miserable end.

Matthew 5:17
• destroy; 2647; kataluó; 
Definition: to destroy, overthrow
Usage: (lit: I loosen thoroughly), (a) trans: I break up, overthrow, destroy, both lit. and met., (b) I unyoke, unharness a carriage horse or pack animal; hence: I put up, lodge, 

find a lodging.

From kata and luo; to loosen down (disintegrate), i.e. (by implication) to demolish (literally or figuratively); specially (compare kataluma) to halt for the night -- destroy, dissolve, be guest, lodge, come to nought, overthrow, throw down.

John 2:19
• Destroy; 3089; luó; 
Definition: to loose, to release, to dissolve
Usage: (a) I loose, untie, release, (b) met: I break, destroy, set at naught, contravene; 

I break up a meeting, annul.

3089 lýō – properly, loose (unleash) let go; release (unbind) so something no longer 

holds together; (figuratively) release what has been held back (like Christ "releasing" 

the seven seals in the scroll in Revelation).

1 Corinthians 3:17
• destroy; 5351; phtheiró;
Definition: to destroy, corrupt, spoil
Usage: I corrupt, spoil, destroy, ruin.

5351 phtheírō (from phthiō, "perish, waste away") – properly, waste away, corrupt (deteriorate); (figuratively) to cause or experience moral deterioration – i.e. decomposition (break-down), due to the corrupting influence of sin.

[This root (pht-) literally means "waste away" (degenerate), "moving down from a higher level (quality, status) to a lowerform.]

1 Corinthians 6:13
• destroy; 2673; katargeó;
Definition: to render inoperative, abolish
Usage: (a) I make idle (inactive), make of no effect, annul, abolish, bring to naught, 
(b) I discharge, sever, separate from.

2673 katargéō (from 2596 /katá, "down to a point," intensifying 691 /argéō, "inactive, idle") – properly, idle down, rendering something inert ("completely inoperative"); i.e. being of no effect(totally without force, completely brought down); done away with, cause to cease and therefore abolish; make invalid, abrogate (bring to nought); "to make idle or inactive" (so also in Euripides, Phoen., 753, Abbott-Smith).

["2673 (katargéō) means 'to make completely inoperative' or 'to put out of use,' 

according to TDNT (1.453)" (J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology "God, the 

World & Redemption," 389).]

Revelation 11:18
• destroy; 1311; diaphtheiró;
Definition: to destroy utterly, to spoil, corrupt
Usage: I destroy, waste; hence met: I corrupt.

1311 diaphtheírō (from 1223 /diá, "thoroughly," which intensifies 5351 /phtheírō, 

"defile, corrupt") – properly, thoroughly corrupt, totally degenerate (disintegrate); 

waste away by the decaying influence of moral (spiritual) impurity; "utterly corrupt"; becoming thoroughly disabled (morally depraved), "all the way through" ("utterly decayed").

[Vine, Unger, White (NT, 130), "1311 (diaphtheírō) comes from dia, 'through,' 

'intensive,' to corrupt utterly, through and through." The noun form, 1312 

(diaphthorá), likewise means "thorough decay."]

John 3:15-16

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so 

loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 

should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 10:28

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.