The Hebrew Greek word שָׁחַת, shachath occurs 148 times, in 136 verses in the Old Testament. It has a variety of meanings including corrupt, destroy, felled, jeopardize, pollute, ravage, ruin.  Since our context is annihilationism and the destruction of people, I have presented an analysis of every occurrence of shachath, variously rendered in English as destroy, destroyed, destroyer, destroying (line 2 below), as is found in the NASB translation.  People are obviously destroyed in reference to physical death, body parts, pride, etc.  But, the context is physical death here on earth. Not a single verse necessitates the nonexistence of anyone thus destroyed in the afterlife.

• Hebrew word: שָׁחַת shachath
• Meaning:   Destroy; ruin; corrupt
• Strong’s #: H7843
• Frequency:  148 occurrences

 

1. Corrupt, 15 occurrences
   1. Ge 6:11; Ge 6:12; Ex 32:7; Dt 4:16; Dt 4:25; Dt 9:12; Dt 31:29; Dt 32:5; Jdg 2:19; 2 Ch 26:16; 2 Ch 27:2; Ps 14:1; Ps 53:1
2. Destroy; 63 occurrences
   1. This is a list of all the occurrences of the Hebrew word שָׁחַת shachath.  The context of each verse is presented.
   2. Ge 6:13; Ge 6:17; Ge 9:11; Ge 9:15; Ge 13:10; Ge 18:28; Ge 18:31; Ge 18:32; Ge 19:13; Ge 19:14; Ge 19:29; Ex 21:26; Nu 32:15; Dt 4:31; ; Dt 10:10; Dt 20:19; Dt 20:20; Jos 22:33; Jdg 6:4; Jdg 20:35; Jdg 20:42; 1 Sa 23:10; 1 Sa 26:9; 1 Sa 26:15; 2 Sa 1:14; 2 Sa 11:1; 2 Sa 14:11; 2 Sa 20:20; 2 Sa 24:16; 2 Ki 8:19; 2 Ki 13:23; 2 Ki 18:25; 2 Ki 19:12; 1 Ch 21:12; 1 Ch 21:15; 2 Ch 12:7; 2 Ch 12:12; 2 Ch 21:7; 2 Ch 24:23; 2 Ch 25:16; 2 Ch 35:21; 2 Ch 36:19; Ps 78:38; Ps 78:45; Ps 106:23; Pr 6:32; Pr 11:9; Is 11:9; Is 36:10; Is 37:12; Is 51:13; Is 65:8; Je 2:30; Je 4:7; Je 5:10; Je 6:5; Je 11:19; Je 13:9; Je 13:14; Je 15:3; Je 15:6; Je 36:29
      1. Bring to ruin, Prov. 6:32; 11:9; Isaiah 11:6; Isaiah 51:13; Jer. 15:3
      2. Destruction of an eye, Ex. 21:26
      3. Destruction of cities, 1 Sam. 23:10; 2 Sam. 20:20; 24:16; 1 Chron. 21:15
      4. Destruction of the earth by the flood, Gen. 6:13, 9:11
      5. Destruction of of evil people in the flood, Gen. 6:13, 17; 9:15
      6. Destruction of land, Josh. 22:33; 2 Kings 18:25; Isaiah 36:10; Jer. 36:29
      7. Destruction of nations, 2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12; Jer. 4:7
      8. Destruction of palaces, Jer. 6:5
      9. Destruction of people, Num. 32:15; Deut. 4:31; 9:26; 10:10; Judg. 20:35; Judg. 20:42; 1 Sam. 26:9, 15; 2 Sam. 1:14; 11:1; 14:11; 2 King 8:19; 13:23; 1 Chron. 21:12; 2 Chron. 12:7, 12; 21:7; 24:23; 25:16; 35:21; Psalm 78?38, 45; 106:23; Jer. 2:30; Jer. 13:14; 15:6
      10. Destruction of pride, Jer. 13:9
      11. Destruction of produce of the land, Judg. 6:4
      12. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. 13:10; 18:28, 31-32; 19:13-14; 19:29
      13. Destruction of trees, Deut. 20:19-20; Jer. 11:19
      14. Destruction of valuables, 2 Chron. 36:19
      15. Destruction of Vines, Jer. 5:10
      16. Destruction of Wine, Isaiah 65:8
3. Felled, 2 occurrences
   1. Judg. 20:21, 25
4. Jeopardize, 1 occurrence
   1. Ruth 4:6
5. Pollute, 1 occurrence
   1. Prov. 25:26
6. Ravage, 2 occurrences
   1. 1 Sam. 6:5; 1 Chron. 20:1
7. Ruin, 3 occurrences
   1. Isa. 14:20; Jer. 12:10; 13:7

The table listing every single verse was too large to produce in this article.

 

Dictionaries and Lexicons consulted

• “be corrupt, be marred, be ruined, i.e., pertaining to an object being in a ruined state, implying the object is now useless (Ex 8:20; Jer 13:7; 18:4+); (piel) destroy, ruin, ravage, devastate (Ge 6:17), note: destruction of animate life, see also domain LN 20.61–20.88; (hif) destroy, bring to ruin (Ge 6:13); (hof pt.) blemished, corrupted (Pr 25:26; Mal 1:14+), note: this may refer to male castration or water pollution; 2. LN 88.256–88.261 (nif) be corrupt, marred, i.e., be ruined morally and so be in an impure state, as a figurative extension of an object being in a ruined or decayed condition (Ge 6:11, 12; Eze 20:44+); (piel) become corrupt (Ex 32:7); (hif) corrupt, bring to ruin (Dt 4:25)”
  • Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.
  • “(Niphal) to be marred, be spoiled, be corrupted, be corrupt, be injured, be ruined, be rotted. 1B (Piel). 1B1 to spoil, ruin. 1B2 to pervert, corrupt, deal corruptly (morally). 1C (Hiphil). 1C1 to spoil, ruin, destroy. 1C2 to pervert, corrupt (morally). 1C3 destroyer (participle). 1D (Hophal) spoiled, ruined (participle).”
    • Strong; James. Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship; 1995.