Corruption

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Corruption . Jewish anthropology conceived of man as composed of two elements, the physical body and the soul. At death the soul went to Sheol, and the body decayed. The term ‘corruption’ came, therefore, to stand for the physical aspects of that state which followed death and preceded the resurrection. In this sense it is used in   Acts 2:27;   Acts 2:31;   Acts 13:34-37 ,   1 Corinthians 15:42;   1 Corinthians 15:50; cf. also   1 Corinthians 15:53-54 . There is no evidence that it had a moral force, although some have found such an implication in   Galatians 6:8 , where the reference is rather to a belief that the wicked will not share in the glories of the resurrection. Neither is it a term to indicate annihilation, which idea does not seem to have been held by the Palestinian Jews. Jesus through His resurrection is represented (  2 Timothy 1:10 ) as having brought life and incorruption to light. The resurrection as a part of salvation is thus placed in sharpest contrast with the condition of the personality following physical death, since, as St. Paul says (  2 Corinthians 5:1 f.), for a man who is saved, the decomposition of the physical body is but an occasion for the assumption of an incorruptible heavenly body.

Shailer Mathews.

King James Dictionary

CORRUPTION, n. L.

1. The act of corrupting, or state of being corrupt or putrid the destruction of the natural form of bodies, by the separation of the component parts, or by disorganization, in the process of putrefaction.

Thou wilt not suffer thy holy One to see corruption.  Psalms 16 .

2. Putrid matter pus. 3. Putrescence a foul state occasioned by putrefaction. 4. Depravity wickedness perversion or deterioration of moral principles loss of purity or integrity.

Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  2 Peter 1 .

Corruption in elections is the great enemy of freedom.

5. Debasement taint or tendency to a worse state.

Keep my honor from corruption.

6. Impurity depravation debasement as a corruption of language. 7. Bribery. He obtained his suit by corruption. 8. In law, taint impurity of blood, in consequence of an act of attainder of treason or felony, by which a person is disabled to inherit lands from an ancestor, nor can retain those in his possession, nor transmit them by descent to his heirs.

Corruption of blood can be removed only by act of parliament.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.

(2): (n.) The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid; decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction; putrefaction; deterioration.

(3): (n.) The product of corruption; putrid matter.

(4): (n.) The act of changing, or of being changed, for the worse; departure from what is pure, simple, or correct; as, a corruption of style; corruption in language.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Isaiah 38:17 (b) Hezekiah is comparing hell to a place of seething rottenness, filled with terrible wickedness, from which he has been graciously delivered.

 Daniel 10:8 (a) When Daniel examined his own life, faith, and many virtues in the light of GOD's presence, they seemed wholly filthy and vile.

 Romans 8:21 (b) The bondage of living in this world of sin and death is compared to vile, rotten, evil things. (See also2Pe  1:4).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Romans 8:21 1 Corinthians 15:42-57 1 Peter 1:4

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kō̇ - rup´shun  : The Hebrew words משׁחת , mishḥāth , משׁחת , mashḥāth , משׁחית , mashḥı̄th , and their Greek equivalents, φθορά , phthorá , and διαφθορά , diaphthorá , with numerous derivatives and cognate verbs, imply primarily physical degeneration and decay ( Job 17:14;  Acts 2:27 , etc.). The term שׁחת , shaḥath , which the King James Version translates with "corruption" in  Jonah 2:6 , ought to be rendered "pit,". as in  Psalm 30:9;  Psalm 35:7 et passim , while shaḥath belı̄ in  Isaiah 38:17 means the "pit of nothingness," i.e. of destruction.

Figurative: At an early time we find the above-given words in a non-literal sense denoting moral depravity and corruption ( Genesis 6:11;  Exodus 32:7;  Hosea 9:9;  Galatians 6:8 , etc.), which ends in utter moral ruin and hopelessness, the second death. The question has been raised whether the meaning of these words might be extended so as to include the idea of final destruction and annihilation of the spirit. Upon careful examination, however, this question must be denied both from the standpoint of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. Apart from other considerations we see this from the metaphors used in the Scriptures to illustrate the condition of "corruption," such as the "unquenchable fire," the "worm" which "dieth not" ( Mark 9:43 ,  Mark 9:18; compare  Isaiah 66:24 ), and "sleep" ( Daniel 12:2 ), where a careful distinction is made between the blissful state after death of the righteous and the everlasting disgrace of the godless. The later Jewish theology is also fully agreed on this point. The meaning of the words cannot therefore extend beyond the idea of utter moral degradation and depravity.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(prop. some form of שָׁחָה , Shachah'' , Διαφθείρω ). This term is used in Scripture to signify the putrefaction of dead bodies ( Psalms 16:10), the blemishes which rendered an animal unfit for sacrifice ( Leviticus 22:25), sinful inclinations, habits, and practices, which defile and ruin men ( Romans 8:21;  2 Peter 2:12;  2 Peter 2:19), everlasting ruin ( Galatians 6:8), men in their mortal and imperfect state ( 1 Corinthians 15:42;  1 Corinthians 15:50).

Mount Of Corruption ( הִר הִמִּשְׁחַית , Sept. Ὄρος Τοῦ Μοσχίθ v. r. Μοσθάθ , Vulg. Mons Offensionis ), a hill in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, where Solomon had established the worship of the Ammonitish deity Milcom, which Josiah overthrew ( 2 Kings 23:13). Tradition assigns the locality of the "Mount of Offence" to the eminence immediately south of the Mount of Olives (see Barclay, City Of The Great King , p. 64 sq.; Stanley, Palest. p. 185, note). (See Jerusalem).