This is a list of some of the terms under examination in this series of articles on annihilationism dealing with the Old Testament Hebrew words related to perish, destruction, ruin, etc. I provide them here for easy reference. You can click on the links and open up the entire articles.

1. Abad – perish, destroy
   1. 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.  In none of the verses 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.
      1. Destroyed yet still there
         1. Ezek. 28:16, Coveting cherub (Satan) destroyed, 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. Physical death, approximately 69 references
      4. Physical/spiritual death, approximately 17 references
2. Awon – punishment
   1. The Hebrew word ַעָוֹן, awon occurs 232 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. It is translated into English (NASB) as various words: affliction (1), blame (1), brought (1), guilt (22), iniquities (46), iniquity (149), looked (1), punishment (11). The first occurrence of the word “punish/punishment” in the Bible is this word, awon, which occurs in Genesis 4:13 when Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!” In the context of annihilationism, we want to know if typically, a person’s punishment is something experienced or not experienced. After all, annihilationism says that the punishment of God at the final judgment is annihilation. But, nonexistence is not something experienced. Eternal conscious torment is experienced. Of the 232 occurrences of the word in the Old Testament, 11 are translated into English punishment. Of those 11 we find four main categories: consciously experienced punishment (Gen. 4:13; Lev. 5:17; 22:16), the destruction of the city (Gen. 19:15), physical death (Job 19:29; Jer. 51:6), and unspecified punishment (1 Sam. 28:10; 2 Kings 7:9; Ezek. 21:25; 21:29; 35:5).
      1. Consciously experience, Gen. 4:13; Lev. 5:17; 22:16
      2. Destruction of the city, Gen. 19:15
      3. Physical death, Job 19:29; Jer. 51:6
      4. Unspecified, 1 Sam. 28:10; 2 Kings 7:9; Ezek. 21:25; 21:29; 35:5
3. Biqqoreth – punishment
   1. The Hebrew word בִּקֹּרֶת, biqqoreth, occurs only one time in the Old Testament in Leviticus 19:20 where it speaks about a man who lies with a woman carnally. They shall be punished but the punishment shall not be death. Therefore, this punishment is experienced by the people.
      1. Punishment is experienced for a time, Lev. 19:20
4. Naqam – punish
   1. The word נָקַם, naqam occurs 44 times in the Hebrew Old Testament.  In the single verse that speaks of punishment in the English NASB, it means that the person undergoing the punishment experiences it while he’s alive. The word is also used in different contexts dealing with avenging (36), exacting (2), execute (2), punished (1), takes (2), vengence (20).  Due to the large nature of the research necessary in the overall topic of annihilationism, I’ve decided to go with the English translation used in the NASB.  The ESV uses similar if not identical translations into the English.  However, it does not render Exodus 21:20 as punishment, but as being avenged.
      1. Avenge, avenged, avenging, avenger, 36
         1. Deut. 32:43; 2 Kings 9:7, avenge the blood of His servants
         2. Jer. 5:9, 29; 9:9, God will avenge Himself
         3. 1 Sam. 24:12; 2 Kings 9:7; Esther 8:13; Isa. 1:24; Jeremiah 46:10, Ps. 44:16; 99:8, etc.
      2. Consciously Experienced Punishment, 1,
         1. Ex. 21:20, punishment for striking a slave who dies
      3. Vengence
         1. Gen. 4:15, God will take vengeance on whoever kills Cain
         2. Lev. 19:18, do not take vengeance but love your neighbor
         3. Jer 15:15, vengeance on persecutors
         4. Ex. 21:21; Num. 31:2; Jer. 50:15; Ezek. 24:8, 25:12, etc.
5. Paqad – punish
   1. The Hebrew פָּקַד, paqad occurs 303 times in the NASB Old Testament.  Of those 303, 49 are rendered into the English punish, punished, and punishment.  The goal of this word study is to discover if punishment administered by God is something that people experience as an ongoing thing for a period of time, or is it physical death if it is nonexistence, or something else. I found three main categories: Experienced for a time, physical death, and unspecified punishment. In light of the discussion on annihilationism, we can see that punishment is most often experienced by people. This is relevant to annihilationism since they say that eternal punishment is not experienced.  Instead, it is a simple nonexistence. But, it appears from Scripture that when God administers punishment, people experience it which would stand in opposition to conditionalism.
      1. Experienced for a time, Psalm 89:32; Isaiah 24:22; 29:6; Jeremiah 5:9; 6:6; 6:15; 21:14; 25:12; 27:8; 44:13; 51:47; 51:52; Lam. 4:22; Hosea 2:13; 4:9; 8:13; Amos 3:14; Zeph. 1:8; 1:9; 1:12
      2. Physical death, Exodus 32:34; 1 Samuel 15:2; Isaiah 26:14; 27:1; Jeremiah 11:22; 29:32; 44:29; 46:25; 50:31
      3. Unspecified punishment, Isaiah 10:12; 13:11; 26:21; Jeremiah 5:29; 9:9; 9:25; 23:34; 30:20; 36:31; 49:8; 50:18; 51:44; Hosea 4:14; 9:9; 12:2; Amos 3:2; Zechariah 10:3
6. Rasha – punish
   1. The Hebrew word:רָשַׁע, rasha occurs 34 times in the Old Testament: accounted (1), acted (1), behaved (1), condemn (10), condemned (2), condemning (1), condemns (3), guilty (1), punishment (1), wicked (3), wickedly (10).  When it speaks of condemnation of people, the Scriptures don’t specify what the nature of that condemnation is. It’s generic. However, there is one instance of the condemnation resulting in death (Psalm 94:21).  There is another instance where the punishment is experienced by people for a while when Saul afflicted his enemies (1 Sam. 14:47).  So, the summation is that aside from the generic because of the condemnation, we have one instance where it results in death and another where punishment is experienced for a period of time.  This does not lend support to the annihilationist idea that God’s punishment in the final judgment is not experienced, but is ‘nothingness.’
      1. Condemnation, Ex. 22:9, Deut. 25:1, 1 Kings 8:32; Job 9:20; 10:2; 15:6; 32:3; 34:17; 34:29; Psalm 37:33; Prov. 12:2; 17:15; Is. 50:9; 54:17
      2. Condemnation to death, Psalm 94:21
      3. Ongoing experience of punishment, 1 Sam. 14:47
7. Yacaph – punishment
   1. The Hebrew word יָסַף, סֶפֶת, yacaph, occurs 212 times in the Old Testament.   It has a wide variety of meanings:  add (27), added (12),  adds (4), again, (62), also (2), another (2), answered (1), anymore (5), became (1), bore (1), can (2), come (1), continue (5), continued (3), do (2), done (1), else (1), exceed (1), exult (1), farther (1), further (2), give (1), hated (2), have (1), hear (1), increase (7), increased (6), increases (3), increasing (2), intensify (1), join (1), longer (11), made (1), more (19), never (3), once (1), prolong (1), prolongs (1), prophesy (1), punish (1), repeated (1), return (1), sent (1), spare (2), surpass (1), touch (1), will grow stronger (1), worse (1), yet more and more (1). The only one that relates to our topic of annihilationism is Lev. 26:18 where the punishment is said to be an ongoing experience.  This does not support the idea within annihilationism, that the final judgment is where punishment means nonexistence. The pattern, at least of this word, is that punishment is something experienced over a period of time.
      1. Ongoing experience of punishment, Lev. 26:18
8. Yacar – punishment
   1. The Hebrew word יָסַר, yacar occurs 44 times in the Old Testament. It has a variety of meanings including admonished (2), chasten (5), chastens (1), chastise (4), chastised (2), correct (4), corrects (1), discipline (4), disciplined (6), disciplines (1), disciplining (1), instructed (2), instruction (1), instructs (2), punish (2), take (1), taught (1), trained (1), turned (1), warned (1).  Of the 44 occurrences, only two relate to the topic of annihilationism (Lev. 26:18, 28).  In both of these instances, the punishment experienced is said to be seven times more for sins committed. Therefore, it is an ongoing experience.
      1. Ongoing experience of punishment, Lev. 26:18; 26:28
9. Shachath – destroy, ruin, corrupt
   1. 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 the word in English of destroy, destroyed, destroyer, destroying (line 2 below), as is found in the English NASB.  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.
      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 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

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