Sapros describes what is spoiled or bad, applied to trees and fruit, discarded catch, and speech that should not proceed from the mouth.

The dominant use places the term in contrasts between good and bad trees or fruit; it also describes what is thrown out from a catch and a word that should not come from the mouth. Across these clauses, the term marks something unsuitable in contrast to what is good.

1. Spoiled or bad in tree-and-fruit contrasts · dominant

   In Matthew 7:17 and Matthew 7:18, the form occurs in clauses contrasting a good tree with a tree that produces evil fruit or cannot produce good fruit. Luke 6:43 likewise sets a good tree and good fruit against the reverse combination, while Matthew 12:33 makes the tree known by its fruit; the APB renders the relevant contrasts with "rotten" in Luke 6:43 and "bad" in Matthew 12:33.

   Luke 6:43Matthew 12:33Matthew 7:17Matthew 7:18
2. Unfit catch thrown outside · occasional

   In Matthew 13:48, the accusative plural neuter form occurs in the sorting of a full net: the good are collected into vessels, while the others are thrown outside. The APB renders this group as "the rotten."

   Matthew 13:48
3. A harmful word excluded from speech · occasional

   In Ephesians 4:29, the nominative singular masculine form stands in the instruction that no such word should come out of the mouth, contrasted with speech that is good for building up and gives grace to hearers. The APB renders the phrase "no rotten word."

   Ephesians 4:29

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses "rotten," including for fruit, a tree, discarded catch, and a word; Matthew 12:33 instead uses "bad" in its tree-and-fruit contrast. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings show the clauses' presentation rather than fixed one-to-one equivalents.