Destruction

There are some thirty Hebrew and four Greek words translated ’destruction,’ with various shades of meaning, some being applied to loss or devastation experienced in this life, and others to future and eternal destruction. There is no thought in scripture of annihilation in any of the passages, and even in material things it is agreed that there is no such thing as annihilation. In some passages destruction is spoken of as a place or a state of existence, thus "Hell and destruction are before the Lord;" "Hell and destruction are never full." Pro 15:11; Pro 27:20. ’Everlasting destruction’ is ’everlasting punishment.’ Compare Mat 25:46 with 2Th 1:9.

The Way That Leads To Destruction

Mat_7:13.

What Destroys People

Pro_11:3; Pro_18:7; Pro_21:7; 1Ti_6:7-9.

What Precedes Destruction

Pro_16:18; Pro_18:12.

When Sudden Destruction Shall Come

1Th_5:1-3.

Who Destroys Much Good

Ecc_9:18.

Who Destroys Their Own Soul

Pro_6:32.

Who Seeks Destruction

Pro_17:19.

Who Shall Be Destroyed

Gen_6:12-13; Exo_15:6-9; Exo_22:20; Deu_4:3; Deu_6:14-15; Deu_7:9-10; Deu_28:15-20; Deu_28:45-47; Deu_32:17-24; Job_15:20-30; Psa_28:3-5; Psa_37:38; Psa_52:1-5; Psa_55:16-23; Psa_73:26-27; Psa_145:20; Pro_10:29; Pro_13:3; Pro_13:13; Pro_13:20; Pro_15:25; Pro_21:15; Pro_29:1; Jer_12:17; Jer_15:6-7; Jer_30:10-11; Jer_46:28; Jer_48:42; Eze_34:11-16; Amo_9:7-8; Zec_12:9; Act_3:22-23; 1Co_3:16-17; Php_3:18-19; 2Th_1:7-9; 2Pe_2:1; Rev_11:18.

Who Shall Not Be Destroyed

Gen_18:23-32; Deu_4:30-31; Isa_65:8-10; Jer_30:10-11; Jer_46:28; Amo_9:7-8.

Who Shall Destroy Many

Dan_8:23-25.

Who Studies Destruction

Pro_24:1-2.

Why People Are Destroyed

Gen_6:5-7; Isa_5:13; Jer_48:42; Hos_4:6.

DESTRUCTION.—The Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 translation of ἀπώλεια in Mat 7:13. In Mat 26:8 and in the parallel passage in Mar 14:4 ἀπώλεια is translated ‘waste’ in both Versions, and in Joh 17:12, the only other instance where the word is used in the Gospels, both render it ‘perdition.’ In Mat 7:13 our Lord speaks of ‘destruction’ as the opposite of life eternal. In profane authors ἀπώλεια invariably means, as its derivation from ἀπόλλυμι implies, extinction, annihilation; and this fact has been largely used by the advocates of the Conditional Immortality theory in support of their contention. Still the ‘destruction, spoken of by our Lord in Mat 7:13 has been held by expositors with practical unanimity from the first to mean a continued life, whether endless or not, of misery after death. All the same, it has been admitted generally, e.g. by Cremer, that eternal misery as a meaning of ἀπώλεια ‘is a signification peculiar to the NT, and without analogy in classical Greek.’ There appears, on the whole, to be general agreement that whether ‘destruction’ means a terminable or interminable life of misery after death, it does, at any rate, mean a prolongation of existence: it is exclusion from salvation, whether final or not. Whether or not there is a term to the duration of misery hereafter—presuming that there is a continuance of life after death for those who go in the way of destruction—does not enter into the scope of this note (See Eternal Punishment), but it may be remarked as significant that the ‘lost sheep’ are spoken of by our Lord as being found again, and that the word for ‘lost’ is the participle of ἀπόλλυμι. This is one of the considerations that have made many feel warranted in holding ‘the larger hope’ even for those who go meanwhile in ‘the way that leadeth to destruction.’

J. Cromarty Smith.

dē̇-struk´shun: In the King James Version this word translates over 30 Hebrew words in the Old Testament, and 4 words in the New Testament. Of these the most interesting, as having a technical sense, is ’ăbhaddōn (from verb ’ābhadh, “to be lost,” “to perish”). It is found 6 times in the Wisdom Literature, and nowhere else in the Old Testament; compare Rev 9:11. See ABADDON.

The material is scanty in St. Paul’s writings for ‘a detailed theory on this most awe-inspiring of all subjects,’ and it is proper for us to note ‘the “wise Agnosticism” (the phrase is Dr. Orr’s in discussing the teaching of Scripture on eternal punishment) of St. Paul with the attempted theories of the Synagogue-theologians’ (H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Paul’s Conceptions of the Last Things, 1904, pp. 313, 315; cf. also 4 Ezr_9:13, ‘Enquire not further how the ungodly are to be tormented, but rather investigate the manner in which the righteous are to be saved’). But there can be little doubt that the term ‘destruction’ to St. Paul meant, not annihilation, but a continual existence of some sort in the outer darkness away from God. St. Paul has a group of words for this idea. ὀñãÞ (1Th_1:10, Rom_2:5; Rom_2:9; Rom_5:9) is a more general term and applies to the Day of Judgment. èÜíáôïò (Rom_6:21; Rom_6:23; Rom_8:6) is not the death of the body, which is true of all, but rather the second death of Rev_20:6; Rev_20:14. The NT gives no scientific description of death, nor is one possible in the spiritual sphere. The analogy of Nature (see Butler’s Analogy, ed. Gladstone, 1896, and Drummond’s Natural Law in the Spiritual World, 1883) does not make annihilation necessary. The words öèåßñù and öèïñÜ (Gal_6:8, 2Pe_2:12) have the notion of corruption. Note the contrast in 1Co_15:42 between ἐí öèïñᾷ and ἐí ἀöèáñóßᾳ. St. Paul uses öèåßñù in 1Co_3:17 for the punishment of one who destroys (öèåßñù) the Temple of God. In Rom_3:16 destruction (óýíôñéììá) and misery (ôáëáéðùñἰá) are coupled together for the ways of the sinful. But the chief words for the idea of destruction of the unbelieving are ἀðþëåéá (ἀðïëëýù) and ὄëåèñïò, both from ὂëëõìé, ‘to destroy.’ In Rev_9:11 ὁ Ἀðïëëýùí, the destroyer, is the title of Satan. The use of ἀðü in ἀðüëëõìé and ἀðþëåéá is perfective, and in Greek literature generally the terms mean ‘destruction.’ This fact is used by the advocates of conditional immortality in favour of the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked, but it is by no means clear that the words connote extinction of consciousness. Least of all is this true of the Septuagint use of the words. In 2Pe_3:7 ἀðþëåéá is used for the Day of Judgment and punishment of the wicked, which implies life after death. In Php_1:28 the word is in opposition to óùôçñßá, in Heb_10:39 it is opposed to ðåñéðïßçóéò ôῆò øõ÷ῆò (see also Jam_4:12, Jud_1:5, 1Co_1:19; 1Co_10:9; 1Co_15:18, 2Co_2:15 f., 4:3, Rom_2:12, Php_3:19, Rev_17:8; Rev_17:11). There seems no good reason for reading into the context the notion of annihilation of the soul, for that was probably an idea wholly foreign to St. Paul. The term ὄëåèñïò meets us in 1Th_5:3, 2Th_1:9, 1Ti_6:9 (åἰò ὄëåèñïí êáὶ ἀðþëåéáí). In 2Th_1:9 we have ôßóïõóéí ὄëåèñïí áἰþíéïí, which is the only passage that makes a statement about the duration of the destruction of the wicked. Aristotle (de Cœlo, i. 9, 15) defines áἰþí as the limit (ôὸ ôÝëïò) either of a man’s epoch or the limit of all things (eternity). The word does not in itself denote eternity, but it lends itself readily to that idea. The context in 2Th_1:9 makes the notion of finality or eternity necessary (Milligan, Thess., 1908, ad loc.). The word ὄëåèñïò denotes hopeless ruin (cf. Beet, The Last Things, ed. 1905, p. 122ff.). In 4Ma_10:15 we have ôὸí áἰþíéïí ôïῦ ôõñÜííïõ ὄëåèñïí in contrast with ôὸí ἀïßäéìïí ôῶí åὐóåâῶí âßïí (cf. Milligan, op. cit. p. 65). St. Paul’s natural meaning is the ruin of the wicked, which goes on for ever. It is a dark subject from any point of view, but eternal sinning seems to call for eternal punishing. See also articles on Life and Death, Punishment, and Perdition.

A. T. Robertson.