PERDITION. The word is used several times in the NT in the ordinary sense of ‘destruction,’ with special reference to the destruction of the soul ( Philippians 1:28 , 1 Timothy 6:9 , Hebrews 10:39 , 2 Peter 3:7 , Revelation 17:8; Revelation 17:11 ). It is found twice in the phrase son of perdition a Heb. expression denoting close connexion between product and producer (cf. ‘sons of thunder,’ ‘sons of light,’ etc.). In John 17:12 the phrase is applied to Judas Iscariot, while in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 it is used of the ‘man of sin,’ or Antichrist. In the latter context a great deal of discussion has centred round the meaning of the reference (see art. Antichrist). It will suffice here to point out that the phrase in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 , ‘the son of perdition,’ combined with certain passages in the Apocalypse (ch. 13), points to a constant tradition in the Christian Church of the Apostolic Age, which appears, from the passages alluded to, to have conceived not of a foreign potentate alien to the Church, but rather of a false Messiah who should be ‘sent to them that are perishing’ (namely, the Jews), and was expected to make his appearance at Jerusalem. The phrase ‘son of perdition’ suggest not so much the power of destruction exerted upon those coming under the sphere of the evil influence, as the effect of wickedness upon the soul of the individual to whom the phrase in each case, is applied.
T. A. Moxon.