What Does 1 Corinthians 15:33 Mean?
Do not wander; bad company rots good habits.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.THE KEY
“Communications” means company and association, so the verse says that character is shaped by who shares your life, not only by what is said.
THE MEANING
The company and conversation around you enter your habits and can wear down what is sound. The verse describes good conduct as something that can be spoiled through repeated exposure. That influence is active now, even when it is easy to overlook.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that good intentions make you immune to the company and conversation you repeatedly absorb.
THE ROOT
ὁμιλίαι
homiliai
GROWS FROM
ὁμιλ-
homil-
company, association, being together
“bad company” in this verse is homiliai. The word reaches beyond spoken messages to the company and association people share. The same word family can describe people simply talking together, so the verse shows that harmful influence comes from company that corrupts; company itself is not inherently harmful.
ALSO GROWS
homileō: to converse or associate with
ὁμιλέω
This verb appears in Luke 24:14 for people talking together, showing how the word family holds conversation and shared company together.
homilos: a crowd or company
ὅμιλος
This related word makes the social sense plain: the verse concerns the company surrounding a person, not just isolated words.
ἤθη χρηστά
ēthē chrēsta
GROWS FROM
ἦθος
ēthos
habit, custom, customary disposition
“Manners” here means habits and customary character, not merely politeness. The verse says that what has become a settled way of being can still be damaged by the company kept around it.
ALSO GROWS
ethos: a custom or habitual practice
ἔθος
This related form underscores that the verse concerns conduct made familiar through repetition.
ēthikos: ethical or relating to character
ἠθικός
This derivative connects habitual conduct with the character it expresses.
φθείρουσιν
phtheirousin
GROWS FROM
φθειρ-
phtheir-
to spoil, ruin, or bring to decay
“rots” in this verse is phtheirousin. The verb describes damage and decay, not a mere difference in opinion. It presents good habits as something that can be worn down through exposure to corrupting company.
ALSO GROWS
phthora: decay, corruption, ruin
φθορά
The related noun names the damaged state toward which the verb points.
diaphtheirō: to corrupt or destroy thoroughly
διαφθείρω
This compound form intensifies the same sense of spoiling or ruin.
THE PATTERN
Influence works through proximity: company, small inputs, and small actions can reshape the wider pattern they enter.
The one who walks with the wise becomes wise; the one who grazes beside the dull is broken.A little leaven leavens the whole kneaded mass.Even so the tongue is a small limb, and it lifts its neck over great things. Look how great a forest a little fire kindles!THE THREAD
And they talked with one another about all these things that had come together.“Talked together” translates ὡμίλουν (homiloun), from the same Greek word family as “communications” here. That shared root shows the range of the word: it can describe ordinary conversation, while this verse names the harm that comes from corrupting company.
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