The Greek noun gangraina (G1044) refers to gangrene — the spreading death of living tissue, a disease that corrupts and spreads uncontrollably if not stopped. It appears once in the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 2:17, describing the corrupting spread of false teaching.
Paul's use of gangraina for false teaching is medically precise and theologically powerful. Gangrene spreads silently and systematically, destroying tissue from within, until amputation or death results. Paul names Hymenaeus and Philetus as examples — their teaching that the resurrection had already passed was spreading through the church like gangrene. Sound doctrine is not optional; spiritual health requires cutting out the corrupting infection.