Meaning of PERDITION

There are thirty Hebrew words and six Greek words that are translated "destruction" or "perdition" (Gr. "apoleia").

Some of them apply to loss or devastation experienced in this life, and others to future and eternal damnation. There is no suggestion in Scripture of any annihilation in any of the passages, any more than there is annihilation in the material realm.

There are passages in which destruction is spoken of as a state of existence: "Sheol and Abaddon (destruction) are before the Lord" (Prov. 15:11) "Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied" (Prov. 27:20).

The NT speaks of “the perdition of wicked men” (2 Pet. 3:7), and “of those who turn back to perdition” (Heb. 10:39). It is stated that “the way that leads to destruction is broad” (Mt. 7:13).

The traitor who betrayed Jesus was "son of perdition" (John 17:12), a name also given to the Wicked One who will be revealed as the Antichrist in the future (2 Thes. 2:3).

The beast is also “about to ascend out of the abyss and go to perdition” (Rev. 17:8). In 2 Thes. 1:9 the character of this perdition and its duration are expressed: it is an eternal exclusion from the presence of the Lord.