How long does something that's destroyed last?
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN HELL” (Matthew 10:28).
You can’t really go by the English definition of a word for gathering nuance on meaning in the original Greek.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon:
DESTROY (in Matthew 10:28) =
apollymi = STRONGS NT 622: ἀπόλλυμι
ἀπόλλυμι and ἀπολλύω ((ἀπολλύει
John 12:25 T Tr WH), imperative ἀπόλλυε
Romans 14:15 (cf. Buttmann, 45 (39); WH's Appendix, p. 168f)); future ἀπολέσωand (
1 Corinthians 1:19 ἀπολῶ from a passage in the O. T., where often) ἀπολῶ (cf. Winers Grammar, 83 (80); (Buttmann, 64 (56))); 1 aorist ἀπώλεσα; to destroy; middle, present ἀπόλλυμαι; (imperfect 3 person plural ἀπώλλυντο
1 Corinthians 10:9 T Tr WH); future ἀπολοῦμαι; 2 aorist ἀπωλόμην; (2 perfect active participle ἀπολωλώς); (from Homer down); to perish.
1. to destroy i. e. to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to, ruin:
Mark 1:24;
Luke 4:34;
Luke 17:27,
29;
Jude 1:5; τήν σοφίαν render useless, cause its emptiness to be perceived,
1 Corinthians 1:19 (from the Sept. of
Isaiah 29:14); to kill:
Matthew 2:13;
Matthew 12:14;
Mark 9:22;
Mark 11:18;
John 10:10, etc.; contextually, to declare that one must be put to death:
Matthew 27:20;
metaphorically, to devote or give over to eternal misery: Matthew 10:28;
James 4:12; contextually, by one's conduct to cause another to lose eternal salvation:
Romans 14:15. Middle to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed;
a. of persons; (a). properly:
Matthew 8:25;
Luke 13:3,
5,
33;
John 11:50;
2 Peter 3:6;
Jude 1:11, etc.; ἀπόλλυμαι λιμῷ,
Luke 15:17; ἐν μαχαρια,
Matthew 26:52; καταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι,
2 Corinthians 4:9. (b). tropically, to incur the loss of true or eternal life; to be delivered up to eternal misery:
John 3:15 (R Lbr.),
John 3:16;
John 10:28;
17:12 (it must be borne in mind, that according to John's conception eternal life begins on earth, just as soon as one becomes united to Christ by faith);
Romans 2:12;
1 Corinthians 8:11;
1 Corinthians 15:18;
2 Peter 3:9. Hence, οἱ σῳζόμενοι they to whom it belongs to partake of salvation, and οἱ ἀπολλύμενοι those to whom it belongs to perish or to be consigned to eternal misery, are contrasted by Paul:
1 Corinthians 1:18;
2 Corinthians 2:15;
2 Corinthians 4:8;
2 Thessalonians 2:10 (on these present participles, cf. Winers Grammar, 342 (321); Buttmann, 206 (178)).
b. of things; to be blotted out, to vanish away: ἡ εὐπρέπεια,
James 1:11; the heavens,
Hebrews 1:11 (from Psalm 101:27 (
Ps. 102:27); to perish — "of things which on being thrown away are decomposed, as μέλος τοῦ σώματος,
Matthew 5:29f; remnants of bread,
John 6:12; — or which perish in some other way, as βρῶσις,
John 6:27; χρυσίον,
1 Peter 1:7; — or which are mined so that they can no longer subserve the use for which they were designed, as οἱ ἀσκοί:
Matthew 9:17;
Mark 2:22;
Luke 5:37.
2. to destroy i. e. to lose;
a. properly:
Matthew 10:42;
Mark 9:41 (τόν μισθόν αὐτοῦ);
Luke 15:4,
8,
9;
Luke 9:25;
Luke 17:33;
John 12:25;
2 John 1:8, etc.
b. metaphorically, Christ is said to lose anyone of his followers (whom the Father has drawn to discipleship) if such a one becomes wicked and fails of salvation:
John 6:39, cf.
John 18:9. Middle to be lost: θρίξ ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς,
Luke 21:18; θρίξἀπό τῆς κεφαλῆς,
Acts 27:34 (Rec. πεσεῖται); τά λαμπρά ἀπώλετο ἀπό σου,
Revelation 18:14 (Rec. ἀπῆλθε). Used of sheep, straying from the flock: properly,
Luke 15:4 (τό ἀπολωλός, in
Matthew 18:12 τό πλανώμενον). Metaphorically, in accordance with the O. T. comparison of the people of Israel to a flock (
Jeremiah 27:6 (
Jer. 50:6);
Ezekiel 34:4,
16), the Jews, neglected by their religious teachers, left to themselves and thereby in danger of losing eternal salvation, wandering about as it were without guidance, are called τά πρόβατα τά ἀπολωλότα τοῦ οἴκου Ἰσραήλ:
Matthew 10:6;
Matthew 15:24 (
Isaiah 53:6;
1 Peter 2:25); and Christ, reclaiming them from wickedness, is likened to a shepherd and is said ζητεῖν καί σῴζειν τό ἀπολωλός:
Luke 19:10;
Matthew 18:11 Rec.(Compare: συναπόλλυμι.)
