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. “As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?” 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. VARIOUS OCCURRENCES OF THE WORD אָבַד,ʾābad IN THE O.T. Meaning: perish, destroy, ruin Strong’s #: H6.This mistake is far too common and unwarranted. 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.

It doesn’t mean they cease to be in the afterlife. 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. Though annihilationists frequently insert that particular meaning into many verses, to do so is not justified. 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.

Physical/spiritual death, approximately 17 references.

Pysical death, apporoxiately 69 references.28:16, Coveting cherub (Satan) destoyed, yet he still exists Here is a brief summary of what I found in my analysis. I did not cite every listing since 184 would be too many, particularly when many of the contexts don’t deal with people. Context always determines the meaning.īelow is a table representing the verses where the word is used as they relate to people. It is translated into English, using the NASB, into such words as annihilate, destroy, destruction, lost, perish, ruin, vanished, etc. The Hebrew word אָבַד,ʾābad occurs 184 times in the Old Testament.

Definition of perish