phthora (corruption)

Meaning

Usually translated “decay”, “destruction” and “corruption”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated

decay 5
destruction 2
of decay 1
of corruption 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most

2 Peter 3
1 Corinthians 2
Romans 1
Galatians 1
Colossians 1

5 books in all.

Related words

Explore in Scripture

2 Peter 2:12In contextBut these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
2 Peter 2:19In contextWhile they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
Romans 8:21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
1 Corinthians 15:42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1 Corinthians 15:50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Galatians 6:8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

All 8 verses, by book

Romans 1: 8:21
1 Corinthians 2: 15:42 15:50
Galatians 1: 6:8
Colossians 1: 2:22
2 Peter 3: 1:4 2:12 2:19

Greek dictionary

φθορά phthora · corruption

φθορά, -ᾶς, ἡ (φθείρω) [in LXX for שַׁחַת, חֶבֶל, etc. ;] destruction, corruption, decay (see Mayor on 2Pe, App.,175 ff.): Rom.8:21, 1Co.15:42, Col.2:22, 2Pe.2:12; opposite to ζωὴ αἰώνιος, Gal.6:8; by meton., of that which is subject to corruption, 1Co.15:50; of moral decay, 2Pe.1:4 2:12 2:19 (cf. Wis.14:12).† (AS)

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “corruption” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

CORRUPTION, noun

[Latin]

The act of corrupting, or state of being corrupt or putrid; the destruction of the natural form of bodies, by the separation of the component parts, or by disorganization, in the process of putrefaction.“Thou wilt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption” Psalms 16:10
Putrid matter; pus.
Putrescence; a foul state occasioned by putrefaction.
Depravity; wickedness; perversion or deterioration of moral principles; loss of purity or integrity.“Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” 2 Peter 1:4

All definitions

Debasement; taint; or tendency to a worse state.
Impurity; depravation; debasement; as a corruption of language.
Bribery.
In law, taint; impurity of blood, in consequence of an act of attainder of treason or felony, by which a person is disabled to inherit lands from an ancestor, nor can retain those in his possession, nor transmit them by descent to his heirs.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.