The Hebrew word אָבַד,ʾābad occurs 184 times in the Old Testament. It is translated into English, using the NASB, into such words as annihilate, destroy, destruction, lost, perish, ruin, vanished, etc.  Context always determines the meaning.

Below is a table representing the verses where the word is used as they relate to people. I did not cite every listing since 184 would be too many, particularly when many of the contexts don’t deal with people.

Here is a brief summary of what I found in my analysis.

1. Destroyed yet still there
   1. Ezek. 28:16, Coveting cherub (Satan) destoyed, yet he still exists
2. Destruction of…
   1. Harvest, Joel 1:11
   2. Hopes, Job 8:13; Psalm 9:18; Proverbs 11:7
   3. Households, 2 Kings 9:8; Esther 4:14
   4. Idols, 2 Kings 19:18; Is. 37:19; Ezek. 30:13
   5. Names, Deut. 7:24; Psalm. 41:5
   6. Nations, Deut. 8:20; Ps. 10:16; Is. 60:12; Jer. 12:17; Job 12:23
   7. Objects, Numb. 33:52
   8. Places, Deut. 12:2
3. Pysical death, apporoxiately 69 references
4. Physical/spiritual death, approximately 17 references

In none of the verses I examined does the destruction of people mean that they don’t exist in the afterlife or as a final judgment. Though annihilationists frequently insert that particular meaning into many verses, to do so is not justified. So much of what is said in these verses is from the perspective of people on earth, looking at how the wicked have perished and are no longer with them. It doesn’t mean they cease to be in the afterlife. So, the conditionalists must be careful not to read into the texts what is not there and assume that the words perish and destroy automatically mean the person ceases to exist after death and in the final judgment. This mistake is far too common and unwarranted.

• Hebrew word: אָבַד,ʾābad
• Meaning: perish, destroy, ruin
  Strong’s #: H6
• Frequency:  184 occurrences

 

VARIOUS OCCURRENCES OF THE WORD  אָבַד,ʾābad IN THE O.T. AS THEY RELATED TO PEOPLE
Address	Verse	Meaning
Ex. 10:7	Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?”	Nation destroyed yet still there
Lev. 23:30	“As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.	Physical death
Num. 16:33	So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.	Physical death
Num. 24:19	“One from Jacob shall have dominion, And will destroy the remnant from the city.”	Physical death
Num. 33:52	then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places;	Destroy objects
Deut. 7:10	but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.	Physical death
Deut. 9:3	“Know therefore today that it is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD has spoken to you.	Physical death
Deut. 11:4	and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea to engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the LORD completely destroyed them;	Physical death
Deut. 12:2	“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.	Destroy places
Deut. 4:26	I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.	Physical death
Deut. 7:20	“Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.	Perish unspecified
Deut. 7:24	“He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.	name
Deut. 8:19	“It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.	Physical/spiritual death
Deut. 8:19	“It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.	Physical/spiritual death
Deut. 8:20	“Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.	Nation exists no more
Deut. 8:20	“Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.	Nation exists no more
Deut. 11:17	“Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.	Physical death
Deut. 28:20	“The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.	Physical death
Deut. 28:22	“The LORD will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.	Physical death
Deut. 28:51	“Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish.	Physical death
Deut. 28:63	“It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it.	Physical death
Deut. 30:18	I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.	Physical death
Josh. 7:7	Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!	Physical death
Josh. 23:13	know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.	Physical death
Josh. 23:16	“When you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”	Physical death
Judg 5:31	“Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was undisturbed for forty years.	Physical/spiritual death
2 Sam. 1:27	“How have the mighty fallen, And the weapons of war perished!”	Weapons of war
2 Kings 9:8	‘For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male person both bond and free in Israel.	House of Ahab
2 Kings 10:19	“Now, summon all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in cunning, so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal.	Physical death
2 Kings 11:1	When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring.	Physical death
2 Kings 13:7	For he left to Jehoahaz of the army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.	Physical death
2 Kings 24:2	The LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken through His servants the prophets.	Destroy city
2 Kings 19:18	and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.	Destroy idols
2 Kings 21:3	For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.	Destroy high places
Esther 3:9	“If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.”	Physical death
Esther 3:13	Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.	Physical death
Esther 4:7	Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.	Physical death
Esther 4:14	“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”	House of your father
Esther 4:16	“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”	Physical death
Esther 7:4	for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated . Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.”	Physical death
Esther 8:11	In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoil,	Physical death
Esther 8:5	Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.	Physical death
Esther 9:24	For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them.	Physical death
Esther 9:6	At the citadel in Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,	Physical death
Esther 9:12	The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall even be granted you. And what is your further request? It shall also be done.”	Physical death
Job 14:19	Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.	Hopes destroyed
Job 3:3	“Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’	Day
Job 4:7	“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?	Physical death
Job 4:9	“By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.	Physical death
Job 4:11	“The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.	Physical death
Job 4:20	‘Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unobserved, they perish forever.	Physical/spiritual death
Job 6:18	“The paths of their course wind along, They go up into nothing and perish.	Physical/spiritual death
Job 8:13	“So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,	Hopes
Job 12:23	“He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.	Nations don’t exist
Job 18:17	“Memory of him perishes from the earth, And he has no name abroad.	Memory of
Job 20:7	He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’	Physical/spiritual death
Job 29:13	“The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.	Physical death
Job 30:2	“Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.	Vigor of
Job 31:19	If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering,	Physical death
Ps. 1:6	For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.	Wicked way
Ps. 2:12	Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 5:6	You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 9:3	When my enemies turn back, They stumble and perish before You.	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 9:5	You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 9:6	The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished.	Memory of
Ps. 9:18	For the needy will not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.	Hopes
Ps. 10:16	The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land.	Nation exists no more
Ps. 21:10	Their offspring You will destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of men.	Physical death
Ps. 37:20	But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 41:5	My enemies speak evil against me, “When will he die, and his name perish?”	Name
Ps. 49:10	For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish And leave their wealth to others.	Physical death
Ps. 68:2	As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God.	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 73:27	For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.	Physical death
Ps. 80:16	It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.	Vines
Ps. 83:17	Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish,	Physical/spiritual death
Ps. 92:9	For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For, behold, Your enemies will perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered.	Physical death
Ps. 102:26	“Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.	Heaven & Earth will perish
Ps. 112:10	The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.	Wicked way
Ps. 119:92	If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction.	Physical death
Ps. 119:95	The wicked wait for me to destroy me; I shall diligently consider Your testimonies.	Physical death
Ps. 143:12	And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant.	Physical death
Ps. 146:4	His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.	Thoughts
Prov. 1:32	“For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.	Ruin
Prov. 10:28	The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.	Wicked way
Prov. 11:7	When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong men perishes.	Hopes
Prov. 11:10	When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.	Physical death
Prov. 19:9	A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies will perish.	Physical/spiritual death
Prov. 21:28	A false witness will perish, But the man who listens to the truth will speak forever.	Physical/spiritual death
Prov. 28:28	When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; But when they perish, the righteous increase.	Physical death
Prov. 31:6	Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter.	Physical death
Ecc. 7:15	I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.	Physical death
Ecc. 9:6	Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.	Wicked way
Ecc. 9:18	Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.	Destruction of good
Is. 26:14	The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.	Destroy memories of
Is. 27:13	It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.	Physical death
Is. 29:14	Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”	Physical death
Is. 37:19	and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.	Destroy idols
Is. 41:11	“Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.	Physical death
Is. 57:1	The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; And devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil,	Physical death
Is. 60:12	“For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined.	Nation exists no more
Jer. 1:10	“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”	Physical destruction
Jer. 6:21	Therefore, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish.”	Physical death
Jer. 7:28	“You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.	Truth
Jer. 10:15	They are worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.	Physical/spiritual death
Jer. 12:17	“But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD.	Nation exists no more
Jer. 15:7	“I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways.	Physical death
Jer. 18:7	“At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;	Nation exists no more
Jer. 23:1	“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.	Destroying sheep
Jer. 25:35	“Flight will perish from the shepherds, And escape from the masters of the flock.	Fleeing will perish
Jer. 27:10	“For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish.	Physical death
Jer. 27:15	for I have not sent them,” declares the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”	Physical death
Jer. 31:28	“As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.	Physical destruction
Jer. 40:15	Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?”	Nation exists no more
Jer. 46:8	Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters surge about; And He has said, “I will rise and cover that land; I will surely destroy the city and its inhabitants.”	Destroy city
Jer. 48:46	“Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity.	Perished yet alive
Jer. 49:38	‘Then I will set My throne in Elam And destroy out of it king and princes,’ Declares the LORD.	Physical death
Jer. 51:18	They are worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.	Physical/spiritual death
Jer. 51:55	For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their waves will roar like many waters; The tumult of their voices sounds forth.	Babylon vanishes
Lam 2:9	Her gates have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The law is no more. Also, her prophets find No vision from the LORD.	Physical destruction
Lam. 3:18	So I say, “My strength has perished, And so has my hope from the LORD.”	Strength
Ezek. 6:3	and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.	Physical destruction
Ezek. 22:27	“Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.	Ruin
Ezek. 25:7	therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.”	Physical death
Ezek. 25:16	therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, even cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.	Physical death
Ezek. 26:17	“They will take up a lamentation over you and say to you, ‘How you have perished, O inhabited one, From the seas, O renowned city, Which was mighty on the sea, She and her inhabitants, Who imposed her terror On all her inhabitants!	Nation exists no more
Ezek. 28:16	“By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.	Destroyed yet still there
Ezek. 30:13	‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “I will also destroy the idols And make the images cease from Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.	Destroy idols
Ezek. 32:13	“I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters; And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.	Destroy cattle
Ezek. 37:11	Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’	Hopes
Joel 1:11	Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed .	Destroyed the harvest
Amos 1:8	“I will also cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And him who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon; I will even unleash My power upon Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” Says the Lord GOD.	Physical death
Amos 2:14	“Flight will perish from the swift, And the stalwart will not strengthen his power, Nor the mighty man save his life.	Fleeing will perish
Amos 3:15	“I will also smite the winter house together with the summer house; The houses of ivory will also perish And the great houses will come to an end,” Declares the LORD.	Houses of Ivory
Obad 8	“Will I not on that day,” declares the LORD, “destroy wise men from Edom And understanding from the mountain of Esau?	Physical death
Obad 12	“Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast In the day of their distress.	Physical death
Jonah 1:6	So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”	Physical death
Jonah 1:14	Then they called on the LORD and said, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.”	Physical death
Jonah 3:9	“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”	Physical death
Jonah 4:10	Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.	Plants
Micah 5:10	“It will be in that day,” declares the LORD, “That I will cut off your horses from among you And destroy your chariots.	Destroy chariots
Micah 4:9	“Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, Or has your counselor perished, That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?	Counselor
Micah 7:2	The godly person has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among men. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net.	Physical death
Zeph. 2:5	Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; And I will destroy you So that there will be no inhabitant.	Physical death
Zeph. 2:13	And He will stretch out His hand against the north And destroy Assyria, And He will make Nineveh a desolation, Parched like the wilderness.	Nation destroyed yet still there
Zech. 9:5	Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza too will writhe in great pain; Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded. Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.	Physical death