Note 21 at 2 Th. 2:10: The word "perish" is the Greek verb APOLLUMI, and is translated 92 times in the New Testament in the following ways: "perish" 33 times, "destroy" 26 times, "lose" 22 times, "be lost" 5 times, "lost" 4 times, and miscellaneously 2 times. Metaphorically it means to devote or give over to eternal misery (Thayer).

The reason that people perish, Paul states, is because "they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." The word "received" is the Greek verb DECHOMAI, and is translated "to receive, take, accept or take up." It has the idea of someone who would welcome the truth. The Thessalonians, in contrast to these that "received not the love of the truth," received the gospel, "not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God" (1 Th. 2:13).