# G0622 - apollymi

<!-- type: lexicon | created: 2026-05-31 | updated: 2026-05-31 -->

**Strong's:** [G0622](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g622/) · BLB lookup
**Pronunciation:** ap-ol'-loo-mee
**Part of speech:** verb
**Root:** compound from *apo* (ἀπό, "from, away from") + *ollumi* (an unused root verb, "to destroy"); the *apo*- prefix intensifies the verbal force ("destroy utterly," "ruin away") rather than redirecting it
**NT occurrences:** ~92, distributed across Synoptics (heavy in Matt and Luke), John (~10×), Paul (~20×), Hebrews, Catholic Epistles, and Revelation. The verb is one of the most theologically loaded soteriological-eschatological verbs in the NT.
**Hebrew equivalent (LXX):** *ʾāḇaḏ* (אבד, "to perish, be lost, be destroyed"), the principal Hebrew correspondent across the LXX; *šāḥaṯ* (שׁחת, "to ruin, destroy") is a secondary correspondent.

## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

The verb operates across three voice-coded senses; the voice (active vs. middle vs. perfect) does much of the semantic work.

1. **Active, "to destroy, ruin, kill, put to death"**, the *agent-destroying-an-object* sense. Subject is the destroyer; object is what is destroyed. Examples: [Matt 2:13](/codex/matthew-2-13/) (Herod *to destroy* the child); [Mark 1:24](/codex/mark-1-24/) (the demon, *"have You come to destroy us?"*); [Matt 10:28](/codex/matthew-10-28/) (the One who *can destroy both soul and body in hell*); [Matt 21:41](/codex/matthew-21-41/) (the vineyard owner *will destroy those wretches*); [Jude 5](/codex/jude-5/) (Christ *destroyed* those who did not believe).

2. **Middle, "to perish, be destroyed, be ruined, come to an end"**, the *patient-undergoing-destruction* sense. Subject is the one who perishes. Examples: [John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/) (*"shall not perish [apolētai] but have eternal life"*); [2 Pet 3:9](/codex/2-peter-3-9/) (*"not wishing any to perish [apolesthai]"*); [1 Cor 1:18](/codex/1-corinthians-1-18/) (*"to those who are perishing [apollumenois]"*); [Luke 13:3](/codex/luke-13-3/), [5](/codex/luke-13-5/) (*"unless you repent, you will all perish [apoleisthe]"*).

3. **"To lose" (something one had), or middle "to be lost"**, the *separation-from-possession* sense. Examples: [Luke 15:4](/codex/luke-15-4/), [6](/codex/luke-15-6/), [8-9](/codex/luke-15-8-9/), [24](/codex/luke-15-24/), [32](/codex/luke-15-32/) (the *lost* sheep, coin, son, the central parable triad on *apollumi* in this sense); [Luke 19:10](/codex/luke-19-10/) (Christ came to seek and save *what was lost*, *to apolōlos*); [John 6:39](/codex/john-6-39/) (*"that of all He has given Me I lose nothing"*); [John 17:12](/codex/john-17-12/) (*"not one of them perished [apōleto], except the son of perdition [apōleias]"*).

### Sub-distinctions and translational range

- **Destruction vs. ruin vs. annihilation vs. loss.** *Apollymi* has been translated across English versions as *destroy*, *ruin*, *put to death*, *kill*, *perish*, *be lost*, *come to nothing*. The English range deliberately preserves the verb's voice-coded ambiguity: *what kind* of destruction *apollymi* names is determined by context, not by the verb itself.
- **The *apo-* prefix intensifies, does not redirect.** The compound is not "to destroy *away*" (in some directional sense) but "to destroy *utterly*," "to ruin *through and through*." The intensification matters for the soteriological deployment: the *perishing* the gospel rescues from is not partial, not merely undesirable, but *total* in the relevant frame.
- **Voice and aspect carry doctrinal load.** Active = an agent destroys; middle = the patient perishes; perfect = the state of having-been-destroyed / being-lost. The *apolōlos* (perfect participle, "the lost one") in [Luke 15](/codex/luke-15/) and 19:10 names a *settled state* of being-lost that Christ comes to *seek and to save*.

## Theological force

Three doctrinal-theological streams converge on this verb. Together they make *apollymi* the lexical pivot for biblical soteriology and biblical eschatology.

### Stream 1, The salvation contrast (perish vs. eternal life)

The single most-deployed structural use of *apollymi* in the NT is the *perish vs. eternal-life* antithesis. The verb names *what salvation rescues from*; *zōē aiōnios* (eternal life) names *what salvation rescues to*.

- **[John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/)**, the load-bearing locus: *"whoever believes in Him shall not perish [apolētai], but have eternal life [zōēn aiōnion]"*, the verb sets the antithesis Christ's atonement resolves
- **[John 10.28-29](/codex/john-10-28-29/)**, *"I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish [apolōntai]; and no one will snatch them out of My hand"*, the perish/eternal-life antithesis as security-of-the-elect
- **[John 17:12](/codex/john-17-12/)**, *"none of them perished [apōleto] but the son of perdition [apōleias]"*, the verbal noun *apōleia* shares the same root
- **[Romans 2:12](/codex/romans-2-12/)**, *"those who have sinned without the Law will perish [apolountai] without the Law"*, Pauline universalization
- **[2 Peter 3.9](/codex/2-peter-3-9/)**, *"the Lord... is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish [apolesthai] but for all to come to repentance"*, the divine-disposition counterpart

### Stream 2, The lost-and-found pattern (lostness, seeking, salvation)

*Apollymi* in the perfect-participle *apolōlos* names the *state of being lost*, which Christ's mission specifically targets. The Lukan-Synoptic depiction of salvation as *seeking-and-saving the lost* runs through this lexeme:

- **[Luke 19.10](/codex/luke-19-10/)**, *"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost [to apolōlos]"*, the *single-sentence mission-statement* of Christ's earthly ministry, deploying the perfect-participle of *apollymi*
- **[Luke 15:4-7](/codex/luke-15-4-7/)** (the lost sheep), 15:8-10 (the lost coin), 15:11-32 (the lost son), three parables triangulating on the *apolōlos* / *apōleia* / *apōllumi* word-cluster; [Luke 15:32](/codex/luke-15-32/), *"this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost [apolōlōs] and has been found"*
- **[Matt 18:14](/codex/matthew-18-14/)**, *"it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish [apolētai]"*, the lost-sheep parable's conclusion
- **[Matt 10:6](/codex/matthew-10-6/); 15:24**, *"the lost [apolōlota] sheep of the house of Israel"*, Jesus's articulation of His mission's scope

### Stream 3, The destruction-of-soul-and-body eschatological line

The active sense of *apollymi* (an agent destroys an object) is deployed in three load-bearing eschatological texts to name what happens to the unredeemed at final judgment. The lexical-doctrinal question this stream surfaces is the *meaning of perishing* at the eschatological boundary:

- **[Matthew 10.28](/codex/matthew-10-28/)**, *"do not fear those who kill [apoktennontōn] the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy [apolesai] both soul and body in hell [gehenna]"*, the single most-cited verse in the conditional-immortality / annihilationism debate. The verb shifts from *kill* (apoktennō) to *destroy* (apollymi) deliberately, and the divine-agent is named as the one who *can* (*dunamenos*) destroy *both soul and body* in Gehenna.
- **[John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/)** as inverse: what believers *do not* undergo (*apolētai*); the verb's eschatological-outcome sense
- **[2 Thessalonians 2.10](/codex/2-thessalonians-2-10/)** (apōleia, the noun, same root): *"with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish [tois apollumenois]"*, the present-participle naming the in-process state of those headed for eschatological destruction
- **[1 Cor 1:18-19](/codex/1-corinthians-1-18-19/)**, *"the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing [tois apollumenois]"*, again the present-participle naming the *trajectory* the gospel reverses

### The conditional-immortality / traditionalist exegetical question

*Apollymi* is the lexical center of the long-running debate between **traditionalist** (eternal-conscious-torment) and **conditionalist** (annihilationist / conditional-immortality) readings of biblical eschatology. The lexical-exegetical question is whether *apollymi* in eschatological contexts ([Matt 10:28](/codex/matthew-10-28/); [John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/); [2 Thess 1:9](/codex/2-thessalonians-1-9/) cognate *olethros*) names:

- **A**, *destruction-as-cessation-of-existence* (conditionalist), the verb's primary classical sense (a destroyed object ceases-to-be); the *apo*-intensifier makes the destruction *total*; the consistent OT *ʾāḇaḏ* correspondence (which names *perishing-as-coming-to-an-end*); the antithesis with *zōē* (life) in [John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/) (the inverse of *life* is *not-life*, i.e., death-as-cessation)
- **B**, *destruction-as-ruin-of-function-while-existence-persists* (traditionalist), the verb in some contexts means *ruin* without cessation ([Mark 2:22](/codex/mark-2-22/), wineskins are *destroyed* but the wineskins still exist as ruined objects; [Matt 9:17](/codex/matthew-9-17/) same); the parallel with *aiōnios kolasis* (eternal punishment) in [Matt 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/) requires conscious endurance for punishment to *be* punishment; the patristic-Augustinian-medieval tradition reading

Both readings have weight; the lexical evidence alone does not settle the question, which is why the broader doctrinal debate requires engaging [Matt 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/), [Rev 14:9-11](/codex/revelation-14-9-11/), [Rev 20:10-15](/codex/revelation-20-10-15/), and the patristic-trajectory alongside the lexical analysis. (See [Conditional Immortality](/codex/conditional-immortality/) for the codex's extended treatment.) What the lexicon-level analysis does establish is that *apollymi* itself does not *require* the eternal-conscious-torment reading; the eternal-conscious reading is built by combining *apollymi* with other texts. The conditionalist case rests on letting *apollymi* mean what it most-natively means (the OT *ʾāḇaḏ* trajectory of *perishing-as-coming-to-an-end*) and reading the harder texts ([Matt 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/); [Rev 20:10](/codex/revelation-20-10/)) in that light, rather than the inverse.

## Notable verses

### Salvation contrast (perish vs. eternal life)
- **[John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/)**, *"whoever believes in Him shall not perish [apolētai] but have eternal life"*, the structural antithesis
- **[John 10.28-29](/codex/john-10-28-29/)**, *"they shall never perish [apolōntai], no one shall snatch them"*, security
- **[John 17:12](/codex/john-17-12/)**, *"none perished except the son of perdition"*
- **[Romans 2:12](/codex/romans-2-12/)**, *"those who sinned without the Law will perish [apolountai] without the Law"*

### Lost-and-found pattern
- **[Luke 19.10](/codex/luke-19-10/)**, *"the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost [to apolōlos]"*, mission statement
- **[Luke 15:4-7](/codex/luke-15-4-7/), [8-10](/codex/luke-15-8-10/), [11-32](/codex/luke-15-11-32/)**, the three lost-and-found parables (sheep / coin / son)
- **[Matt 18:14](/codex/matthew-18-14/)**, *"it is not the will of your Father that one of these little ones perish"*
- **[Matt 10:6](/codex/matthew-10-6/); 15:24**, *"lost sheep of the house of Israel"*

### Eschatological-destruction line
- **[Matthew 10.28](/codex/matthew-10-28/)**, *"fear Him who is able to destroy [apolesai] both soul and body in hell"*
- **[2 Peter 3.9](/codex/2-peter-3-9/)**, *"not wishing for any to perish [apolesthai]"*
- **[2 Thessalonians 2.10](/codex/2-thessalonians-2-10/)**, *"those who perish [tois apollumenois]"*
- **[1 Cor 1:18-19](/codex/1-corinthians-1-18-19/)**, *"the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing [tois apollumenois]"*

### Active-destruction sense
- **[Matt 2:13](/codex/matthew-2-13/)**, Herod sought *to destroy* the child
- **[Mark 1:24](/codex/mark-1-24/)**, the demon, *"have You come to destroy us?"*
- **[Matt 21:41](/codex/matthew-21-41/)**, *"will destroy those wretches"* (parable)
- **[Jude 5](/codex/jude-5/)**, Christ *destroyed* those who did not believe

### Loss sense (lose something one had)
- **[John 6:39](/codex/john-6-39/)**, *"I should lose [apolesō] nothing"*
- **[Matt 10:42](/codex/matthew-10-42/)**, *"will not lose [apolesē] his reward"*
- **[Mark 8:35](/codex/mark-8-35/) par. [Matt 16:25](/codex/matthew-16-25/); [Luke 9:24](/codex/luke-9-24/); 17:33; [John 12:25](/codex/john-12-25/)**, the *save-your-life-by-losing-it* logion: *"whoever loses [apolesē] his life for My sake will find it"*

## Patristic / scholarly note

The patristic tradition treats *apollymi* with significant interpretive variation. **Athanasius** (*On the Incarnation* §§3-9) deploys *apollymi* / *apōleia* / *phthora* as a single death-corruption-perishing cluster naming what the incarnation undoes; the salvation-from-perishing is *salvation-from-corruption-and-death*. **Irenaeus** (*Against Heresies* 4.39-41) reads *apollymi* in conditional-immortality-friendly terms: humans were created mortal and given the *possibility* of immortality through union with the Logos; those who refuse perish as *cessation*, those who receive live eternally.

**Augustine** (*City of God* 21.2-13) develops the eternal-conscious-torment reading by combining *apollymi*-texts with [Matt 25:46](/codex/matthew-25-46/) and [Rev 20:10](/codex/revelation-20-10/) and pressing the lexical range toward the *ruin-without-cessation* sense; the Augustinian-medieval-Reformed tradition follows this trajectory and becomes the dominant Western reading by Aquinas (*Summa Theologiae* Suppl. q. 99) and Calvin (*Institutes* 3.25.12).

The modern **conditionalist revival** (Edward Fudge, *The Fire That Consumes*, 1982; John Stott in *Essentials*, 1988; Richard Bauckham; Glenn Peoples; Chris Date; Joseph Dear) returns to the Irenaean trajectory and presses the lexical-exegetical case that *apollymi* in eschatological contexts most-natively means *cessation-of-existence*. The traditionalist response (Robert Peterson, *Hell on Trial*; Christopher Morgan & Robert Peterson, *Hell Under Fire*; J. P. Moreland) defends the Augustinian reading on combined-text and historical-tradition grounds. The codex's treatment of the broader doctrinal debate lives at [Conditional Immortality](/codex/conditional-immortality/) and [Hell and Eternal Punishment](/codex/hell-and-eternal-punishment/).

## Verses in this codex

_See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/) (perish vs. eternal life), [John 10.28-29](/codex/john-10-28-29/) (never perish, security), [Matthew 10.28](/codex/matthew-10-28/) (destroy soul and body in hell), [Luke 19.10](/codex/luke-19-10/) (seek and save the lost), [2 Peter 3.9](/codex/2-peter-3-9/) (not wishing any to perish), [2 Thessalonians 2.10](/codex/2-thessalonians-2-10/) (those who perish).

## See also

- [G2222 - zoe](/codex/g2222-zoe/), *zōē* (life), the antithetical noun: *zōē aiōnios* is what *apollymi* names the failure of
- G684 - apoleia, *apōleia* (destruction, perdition, ruin), the cognate noun
- [G1067 - geenna](/codex/g1067-geenna/), *gehenna* (hell), the locative-eschatological term *apollymi* attaches to in [Matt 10:28](/codex/matthew-10-28/)
- [G2288 - thanatos](/codex/g2288-thanatos/), *thanatos* (death), adjacent eschatological term
- [Conditional Immortality](/codex/conditional-immortality/), the doctrinal framework in which *apollymi*'s lexical sense becomes central
- [Hell and Eternal Punishment](/codex/hell-and-eternal-punishment/), the broader doctrinal hub
- [Eschatology](/codex/eschatology/), the domain hub
- [John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/), the canonical-mandate-text for the perish-vs.-life antithesis
- [Matthew 10.28](/codex/matthew-10-28/), the locus for the destroy-soul-and-body eschatological question
- [Luke 19.10](/codex/luke-19-10/), the seek-and-save-the-lost mission-statement
- Passages: [John 3.16](/codex/john-3-16/), [John 10.28-29](/codex/john-10-28-29/), [Matthew 10.28](/codex/matthew-10-28/), [Luke 19.10](/codex/luke-19-10/), [2 Peter 3.9](/codex/2-peter-3-9/), [2 Thessalonians 2.10](/codex/2-thessalonians-2-10/)