be completely ruined

πίπτω (Hom.+) impf. ἔπιπτον; fut. πεσοῦμαι (B-D-F §77; Rob. 356); 2 aor. ἔπεσον and ἔπεσα (B-D-F §81, 3; W-S. §13, 13; Mlt-H. 208; W-H., app. p. 164; Tdf., Prol. p. 123); pf. 2 sg. πέπτωκας Rv 2:5 (πέπτωκες v.l.; B-D-F §83, 2; W-S. §13, 16; Mlt-H 221), 3 pl. πέπτωκαν Rv 18:3 v.l. (W-S. §13, 15; Mlt-H. 221)

① to move w. relative rapidity in a downward direction, fall, the passive of the idea conveyed in βάλλω.

ⓐ fall (down) from a higher point, w. the ‘point from which’ designated by ἀπό (Hom. et al.) ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης from the table Mt 15:27; Lk 16:21. ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Mt 24:29. ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς Ac 27:34 v.l. (of the falling out of hair, as Synes., Calvit. 1, p. 63b). The direction or destination of the fall is expressed by an adv. ἀπὸ τοῦ τριστέγου κάτω down from the third story Ac 20:9. ἀπὸ τοῦ κεράμου χαμαί from the roof to the ground Hm 11:20. ἔκ τινος from someth.: ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (Sallust. 4 p. 8, 19; Job 1:16; 3 Km 18:38.—SibOr 5, 72 ἐξ ἄστρων) Mk 13:25; of lightning (Ps.-Plut., Vi. Hom. 111 εἰ ἐκπίπτοι ἡ ἀστράπη; Ps.-Clem., Hom. 9, 5; 6) Lk 10:18 (Lycophron, vs. 363 of the image of Athena ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πεσοῦσα. Cp. σατάν; be thrown is also possible here); Rv 8:10a; the destination is added ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ εἰς τὴν γῆν 9:1 (Ps.-Callisth. 2, 10, 10 ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εἰς τὸ ἔδαφος πεπτωκότες). W. only the destination given ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀκανθῶν among the thorns Lk 8:7. ἐπί τι on someth. Rv 8:10b. ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν (Aeschyl., Ag. 1019; Am 3:5; JosAs 16:16) Mt 10:29 (with the patristic v.l. εἰς παγίδα cp. Am 3:5 and Aesop, Fab. 193 P.=340 H./284 Ch./207 H-H. of a bird: ἐμπίπτειν εἰς τοὺς βρόχους); 13:8; Hm 11:21 (here the ‘place from which’ is designated by an adv.: ἄνωθεν).—ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη Mt 13:5; cp. Mk 4:5 (ἐπί 4bγ). ἐπὶ τὰς ἀκάνθας Mt 13:7 (ἐπί 4bδ). A pers. falls down ἐπὶ τὸν λίθον on the stone Mt 21:44a; Lk 20:18a. Conversely the stone falls on a pers. Mt 21:44b; Lk 20:18b. Likew. ἐπί τινα 23:30; Rv 6:16 (cp. on both Hos 10:8).—In imagery ὁ ἥλιος π. ἐπί τινα the (heat of the) sun falls upon someone Rv 7:16 (Maximus Tyr. 4, 1a ἡλίου φῶς πίπτον εἰς γῆν; Alex. Aphr., An. Mant. p. 146, 9 Br. τὸ φῶς ἐπὶ πάντα πίπτει). ὁ κλῆρος π. ἐπί τινα (κλῆρος 1) Ac 1:26. come (upon) ἐπί τινα someone ἀχλὺς καὶ σκότος Ac 13:11. Rv 11:11 v.l. (φόβος 2a).—εἴς τι (Hes., Op. 620) εἰς τὴν γῆν (Phlegon: 257 Fgm. 36, 1, 5 Jac. πίπτειν εἰς τὴν γῆν) Mk 4:8; Lk 8:8; J 12:24; Rv 6:13; 1 Cl 24:5. εἰς τὴν ὁδόν Hv 3, 7, 1. εἰς βόθυνον Mt 15:14; cp. Lk 14:5. εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας Mk 4:7; Lk 8:14. εἰς τὸ πῦρ Hv 3, 7, 2. παρά τι on someth. παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν (Iambl. Erot. p. 222, 22) Mt 13:4; Mk 4:4; Lk 8:5. ἐγγύς τινος near someth. ἐγγὺς (τῶν) ὑδάτων Hv 3, 2, 9; 3, 7, 3.

ⓑ of someth. that, until recently, has been standing (upright) fall (down), fall to pieces

α. of persons

א. fall to the ground, fall down (violently) εἰς τὸ πῦρ καὶ εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ Mt 17:15 (but HZimmern, Die Keilinschriften u. d. AT³ 1903, 366; 363f, and JWeiss ad loc. take the falling into fire and water to mean fever and chills). ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς (SibOr 4, 110; 5, 100) Mk 9:20 (π. under the infl. of a hostile spirit; sim. Jos., Ant. 8, 47). ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν (SibOr 4, 110 v.l.) Ac 9:4; cp. 22:7 (s. ἔδαφος). χαμαί (Job 1:20; Philo, Agr. 74) J 18:6. ἔπεσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὡς νεκρός Rv 1:17.—Abs. fall down GPt 5:18 v.l. Fall dead (Paradox. Vat. 37 Keller πίπτει; Mel., P. 26, 184 πρηνὴς δὲ ἔπιπτε σιγῶν) Ac 5:5, 10; 1 Cor 10:8 (cp. Ex 32:28); Hb 3:17 (Num 14:29). Specifically fall in battle (Ael. Aristid. 46 p. 233 D.; Appian, Hann. 56 §236; Jos., Vi. 341; 354) Lk 21:24 (cp. στόμα 4 and Sir 28:18; 4 [6] Esdr [POxy 1010, 3–11 σὺ ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ πεσῇ … πεσοῦνται ἐν μαχαίρῃ]).

ב. fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings, esp. when one approaches w. a petition (LXX; TestAbr A 18 p. 100, 29 [Stone p. 48]; JosAs 14:4; ApcSed 14:2), abs. Mt 2:11; 4:9; 18:26, 29; Rv 5:14; 19:4; 22:8 (in all these places [except Mt 18:29] π. is closely connected w. προσκυνεῖν [as Jos., Ant. 10, 213 after Da 3:5 and ApcMos 27]. Sim. in many of the places already mentioned). W. var. words added (Jos., Ant. 10, 11 πεσὼν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τ. θεὸν ἱκέτευε; Gen 17:3, 17; Num 14:5) ἐπὶ πρόσωπον (αὐτοῦ, αὐτῶν) Mt 17:6; 26:39; Lk 5:12; 17:16 (ἐπὶ πρόσωπον παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ); 1 Cor 14:25; ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν Rv 7:11; 11:16; ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς Mk 14:35. Further, the one to whom devotion is given can be added in var. ways: ἐνώπιόν τινος (cp. 2 Km 3:34) Rv 4:10; 5:8; 7:11. ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ποδῶν τινος 19:10. εἰς τοὺς πόδας τινός (Diog. L. 2, 79) Mt 18:29 v.l.; J 11:32 v.l. ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας Ac 10:25 (v.l. adds αὐτοῦ). παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τινός Lk 8:41; 17:16 (s. above). πρὸς τοὺς πόδας τινός Mk 5:22; J 11:32; Ac 10:25 D; Hv 3, 2, 3.

β. of things, esp. structures fall, fall to pieces, collapse, go down (Appian, Iber. 54 §228; Jos., C. Ap. 1, 192, Ant. 16, 18) of the σκηνὴ Δαυίδ (σκηνή end) Ac 15:16 (Am 9:11). Of a house fall (in) (Diod S 11, 63, 2 τῶν οἰκιῶν πιπτουσῶν; Dio Chrys. 6, 61; 30 [47], 25; Aristeas Hist.: 725 Fgm. 1, 3 Jac. [in Eus., PE 9, 25, 3]; Job 1:19) Mt 7:25, 27; Lk 6:49 v.l. (Diod S 15, 12, 2 τῶν οἰκιῶν πιπτουσῶν because of the influx of the ποταμός). τὰ τείχη Ἰεριχὼ ἔπεσαν Hb 11:30 (cp. Josh 6:5, 20.—Appian, Bell. Civ. 1, 112 §524; Ael. Aristid. 25, 42 K.=43 p. 813 D.: τὰ τείχη π.). ἐφʼ οὓς ἔπεσεν ὁ πύργος upon whom the tower fell Lk 13:4 (of a πύργος X., Hell. 5, 2, 5; Arrian, Anab. 6, 7, 5; Polyaenus 6, 50; Jos., Bell. 5, 292; SibOr 11, 12.—π. ἐπί τινα Job 1:19). οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον πίπτει house falls upon house 11:17 (Jülicher, Gleichn. 221f). Of a city (Oenomaus in Eus., PE 5, 25, 6) Ox 1, 18f (=GTh 32); cp. Rv 11:13; 16:19.—Fig. become invalid, come to an end, fail (Pla., Euthyphr. 14d; Philostrat., Ep. 9) Lk 16:17 (cp. Josh 23:14 v.l.; Ruth 3:18); 1 Cor 13:8.

② to experience loss of status or condition, fall, be destroyed, in ext. sense of 1.

ⓐ fall, be destroyed ἔπεσεν, ἔπεσεν Βαβυλών (Β. as symbol of humans in opposition to God and God’s people; cp. Is 21:9; Jer 28:8.; Just., D. 49, 8.—Repetition of the verb for emphasis as Sappho, Fgm. 131 D.² οὔκετι ἴξω … οὔκετι ἴξω [Campbell 114 p. 138: οὐκέτι ἤξω … οὐκέτι ἤξω]; Aristoph., Equ. 247; M. Ant. 5, 7; Ps.-Libanius, Char. Ep. p. 33, 5 ἐρῶ, ἐρῶ. This is to remove all possibility of doubt, as Theod. Prodr. 5, 66 εἶδον, εἶδον=‘I have really seen’; Theocr. 14, 24 ἔστι Λύκος, Λύκος ἐστί=it really is a wolf; in Rv w. focus on lamentation, s. reff. Schwyzer II 60) Rv 14:8; 18:2.

ⓑ fall in a transcendent or moral sense, be completely ruined (Polyb. 1, 35, 5; Diod S 13, 37, 5; Pr 11:28; Sir 1:30; 2:7; TestGad 4:3)=fall from a state of grace Ro 11:11 (fig. w. πταίω [q.v. 1]), 22; Hb 4:11 (perh. w. ref. to the final judgment). Also in a less severe sense= go astray morally τοὺς πεπτωκότας ἔγειρον 1 Cl 59:4.—In wordplay ‘stand and fall’ (cp. Pr 24:16) Ro 14:4; 1 Cor 10:12; 2 Cl 2:6. μνημόνευε πόθεν πέπτωκες remember (the heights) from which you have fallen Rv 2:5.

ⓒ ὑπὸ κρίσιν π. fall under condemnation Js 5:12 (on π. ὑπό τι cp. Diod S 4, 17, 5 π. ὑπʼ ἐξουσίαν [Just., D. 105, 4]; Herodian 1, 4, 2; 2 Km 22:39; Tat. 8, 2 ὑπὸ τὴν εἱμαρμένην; Hippol., Ref. 4, 3, 5 ὑπὸ τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν fall under scrutiny; Did., Gen. 211, 5 ὑπὸ κατάραν; Theoph. Ant. 2, 25 [p. 162, 12] ὑπὸ θάνατον).

ⓓ π. … εἰς νόσον καὶ ἔσχατον κίνδυνον in sickness and extreme peril AcPl Ha 4, 15.

ⓔ fall, perish (Philo, Aet. M. 128) πίπτοντος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ B 12:5. οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν five have perished, disappeared, passed from the scene Rv 17:10 (cp. also π.=‘die’ Job 14:10).—B. 671. DELG. M-M. TW. Spicq.