Perdition is an English translation of the Greek word apoleias, which means “destruction, perishing, loss, or ruin.” However, within the word there is a connotation of self, as in “one who chooses destruction, loss, or ruin.” Therefore, in this context, the Lord appears to be referring specifically to Judas: “While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12) and, “The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24).
