The Bible Commentaries and Others: Abaddon

Abaddon

ABADDON [Heb ˒ăbaddôn (אֲבַדֹּון)]. Derived from Heb ˒ābad, “became lost,” “be ruined, destroyed,” “perish,” Abaddon has a variety of nuanced meanings.

A poetic synonym for the abode of the dead, meaning “Destruction,” or “(the place of) destruction.” Abaddon occurs in parallel and in conjunction with Sheol (Job 26:6 and Prov 15:11; 27:20). It is also found in conjunction with Death (Job 28:22) and in parallel with the grave (Ps 88:12—Eng 88:11). Although a place of mystery which is hidden from human eyes, Abaddon is clearly known by God (Job 26:6; Prov 15:11). It is twice personified: (1) along with Death, it speaks (Job 28:22); and (2) along with Sheol, it is insatiable (Prov 27:20). It is also remote: in Job 31:12, adultery becomes “a fire that consumes unto [as far as] Abaddon.” See also DEAD, ABODE OF THE.

In Rev 9:11, the word “Abaddon” is personified as “the angel of the bottomless pit.” It is also identified as the king of the demonic “locusts” described in Rev 9:3, 7–10, and is explained for Greek-speaking readers as Apollyon (Gk apollyōn), “destroyer.”

The LXX usually translates Heb ˒abaddon as Gk apōleia, “destruction”; the Vg renders it as Latin perditio, “ruin, destruction” (whence Eng “perdition,” which ordinarily means “hell”); in Syr (Peshitta), the cognate word means “destruction,” and is sometimes used in the Psalms to render “the Pit,” which is another OT synonym of Sheol.

In rabbinic literature, the word has come to mean the place of punishment reserved for the wicked. Current English versions render this word variously in the OT: “Abaddon,” “Destruction/destruction,” “the place of destruction,” “Perdition/perdition,” “the abyss,” “the world of the dead.” In the single NT occurrence, the word is consistently transliterated as “Abaddon.”

Herbert G. Grether

Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1:6). New York: Doubleday.

ABADDON The name of hell in Job (26:6; 28:22; 31:12) is Abaddon (Heb. ‚abaddon, “destruction”). It is paralleled with Sheol (Job 26:6; Prov. 15:11; 27:20), death (Job 28:22), and the grave (Ps. 88:11). In Rev. 9:11 it is the name of the angel who rules over “the place of destruction,” the Greek equivalent being Apollyon. Milton uses Abaddon as a name for hell in Paradise Regained (4.624), while in Pilgrim’s Progress Bunyan calls the field over which Christian triumphs Apollyon. The “great black bird, Apollyon’s bosom friend” is one of the beasts encountered by the knight in Browning’s “Childe Roland.”

Jeffrey, D. L. (1992). A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.

Abaddon — destruction, the Hebrew name (equivalent to the Greek Apollyon, i.e., destroyer) of “the angel of the bottomless pit” (Rev. 9:11). It is rendered “destruction” in Job 28:22; 31:12; 26:6; Prov. 15:11; 27:20. In the last three of these passages the Revised Version retains the word “Abaddon.” We may regard this word as a personification of the idea of destruction, or as sheol, the realm of the dead.

Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

ABADDON Hebrew word that means “place of destruction.” The word occurs six times in the OT, generally referring to the place of the dead (Jb 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Ps 88:11; Prv 15:11; 27:20). It serves as a synonym for Sheol and is variously translated “hell,” “death,” “the grave,” or “destruction.” The same Hebrew word occurs once in the NT in its Greek equivalent, Apollyon (Rv 9:11). Here the idea of destruction is personified as the “angel from the bottomless pit,” so the word is often translated “destroyer.” Abaddon (or Apollyon) was the angel reigning over the realm of the dead, who appeared after the fifth trumpet in John’s vision (Rv 9:1).