Son of Perdition

PERDITION, SON OF (Gr. huios tēs apōleias). A phrase used to designate two men in the NT. Christ uses it in referring to Judas Iscariot (John.17.12 kjv, nasb, rsv; niv one doomed to destruction). Paul uses it in 2Thess.2.3, applying it to the “man of lawlessness” (the Antichrist). The phrase comes from the Hebrew custom of of noting a certain trait or characteristic in a person and then referring to him as the son of that trait. The term therefore would designate these two men as being the complete devotees of all that “perdition” signified.