The following is a summation of research on word studies that I’ve done in the Old and New Testaments dealing with punishment, execution of justice, penalty, discipline, etc. The source documents I created for this are as follows.

Hebrew O.T. Word Studies	Greek N.T. Word Studies
Word study on awon, punishment Word study on biqqoreth, punishment Word study on naqam, punish Word study on paqad, punish Word study on rasha, punish Word study on yacaph, punish Word study on yacar, punish	Word study on dike, penalty Word study on ekdikeo, execute justice Word study on ekdikesis, execute justice Word study on kolazo, prune, punish Word study on kolasis, punish Word study on epitimia, punishment Word study on paideuo, punish Word study on timoreo, punish Word study on timoria, punish

I compiled the results of my study in these two articles:

• Word study on Hebrew words for English punish, avenge, vengeance in the Old Testament
• Word study of Greek words as English punish, penalty, condemn

In both of those articles, there are percentages that represent the analysis of word usage. I reproduced them here and then summarized them for the entirety of the Old and New Testament usage.

Old Testament: 125 occurrences

1. Death or physical destruction, 28 occurrences, 22% of total uses
2. Duration and nature not specified, 49 occurrences, 40% of total uses
3. Experienced for a period of time, 48 occurrences, 38% of total uses

New Testament: 40 occurrences (Note the Greek study had two instances of ‘instruction’)

1. Death or physical destruction, 2 occurrences, 5% of total uses
2. Duration and nature not specified, 17 occurrences 43% of total uses
3. Experienced for a period of time, 18 occurrences, 45% of total uses
4. Instruction, 2 occurrences, 5% of total uses

Old and New Testament combined:  165 occurrences

1. Death or physical destruction, 30 occurrences, 18% of total uses
2. Duration and nature not specified, 66 occurrences, 40% of total uses
3. Experienced for a period of time, 66 occurrences, 40% of total uses
4. Instruction, 2 occurrences, 1% of total uses

What Conclusion Can We Draw From These Word Studies?

The only thing we can conclude from all this analysis is that various words are used various numbers of times. Words mean what they mean in context. Percentages don’t make interpretations valid. They only reveal statistics. Nevertheless, I believe that what arises from this analysis is that 18% of the time in the Bible, the concept of punishment, discipline, retribution, etc., deals with death or physical destruction. 40% of the time, the nature and duration of the ‘punishment’ are not specified. Finally, 40% of the time, people experience their ‘punishment.’ I do not find any place where punishment is understood to be something that is not experienced. This means that I could find no clear support for the annihilationist concept that eternal punishment means eternal nonexistence. Of course, they will say the context demands their interpretation, but isn’t that what the debate is about?