noun · feminine
apōleias
Strong’sG684
destruction, ruin, loss
stem apōlei-18 times in the New Testamentin 11 of 27 books3 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Destruction, ruin, or loss — the wasting, perishing, or wrecking of something, including material loss such as money 1234. In this everyday sense the word can also denote a thing that has been lost 3.
The word also carries a special, stronger sense of eternal ruin or perdition — the loss of eternal life, standing as the opposite of salvation 13. Strong's likewise notes this range extending to spiritual and eternal ruin, including the ideas of damnation and dying 2.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἀπώλεια, -ας, ἡ
(< ἀπόλλυμι), [in LXX (Cremer, 797) for אבד, אֵיד, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G684 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidap-o'-li-a
ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal)
Fromfrom a presumed derivative of G622;
King Jamesdamnable(-nation), destruction, die, perdition, X perish, pernicious ways, waste.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
destruction, Refs 4th c.BC+
II loss, Refs; opposed to τήρησις, Refs 2nd c.BC+; τῶν χρόνων ἀ.Refs 2nd c.AD+
II.2 perdition, NT
II.3 thing lost, LXX
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | apōleias4×ἀπώλεια | apōleiais |
| object accusative | apōleian9×ἀπώλειαν | apōleiain |
| direct address vocative | apōleiar | apōleiair |
| of, belonging to genitive | apōleiau5×ἀπωλείας | apōleiaiu |
| to, for dative | apōleia | apōleiai |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
apōleia is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
18 occurrences, every one of them listed
apōleias“destruction”subjectnominative singular4×
Matthew 26:8… mathētois aganaktala legarōntois; Eis tinem tas apōleias houtas?… were indignant and asked, “Why this waste?
Mark 14:4“wasted”… aganaktarōntois pros heautoin; Eis tinem tas apōleias houtas teu mureu genatē?… their indignation to one another: “Why this waste of perfume?
Philippians 3:19hoiu tem telem apōleias, hoiu tos theos tas koilias kai …Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and …
2 Peter 2:3… krimem ekpalai ouk argatō, kai tas apōleias autoiu ouk nustazatō.… them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
apōleian“destruction”objectaccusative singular9×
Matthew 7:13… tas hodas tas apagarōntas eis tan apōleian, kai pollois alō tois eiserchorōntois dia …… is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Acts 8:20“destroyed”… arguriem su sun si atoiō eis apōleian hoti tan dōrean tou theou nomizasa …… replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
Romans 9:22… polla makrothumia skeveim orgau katartizorēnteim eis apōleian,… vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?
1 Timothy 6:9… buthizalō toin anthrōpoin eis olethron kai apōleian;… that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Hebrews 10:39nis de ouk anō hupostolau eis apōleian, alla pistiau eis peripoiēsian psuchau.… those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith …
2 Peter 2:1… autoin despoton arnorōntois, epagarōntois heautoi tachinan apōleian;… Master who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Peter 3:16… loipain grafain pros tan idian autoiu apōleian.… of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Revelation 17:8… anabainarō ek tau abussau, kai eis apōleian hupagatō; kai thaumazili tois katoikarōntois epi …… the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the …
Revelation 17:11… ek toiu hepta atō, kai eis apōleian hupagatō.… other seven and is going into destruction.
apōleiau“destruction”of, belonging togenitive singular5×
John 17:12… apoleta ei mē tos huios tau apōleiau, hina tas grafas plēriteia.… been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be …
Philippians 1:28… toiu antikeiorōntoiu hotinas atō autoi endeixias apōleiau, vu de sōtērēau, kai houtem apo …… is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it …
2 Thessalonians 2:3… anthrōpos tau anomiau, tos huios tau apōleiau,… man of lawlessness — the son of destruction — is revealed.
2 Peter 2:1… vi eli pseudodidaskalois, hotinois pareisagali hairesiain apōleiau, kai ton agorazaranton autoin despoton arnorōntois, …… among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who …
2 Peter 3:7… pure tērorōntois eis hēmeran krisiau kai apōleiau toiu aseboiu anthrōpoiu.… for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.