The Hebrew term Abaddon ( , meaning "destruction", "doom") and its Greek equivalent Apollyon (, ''Apollúōn'' meaning "Destroyer") appear in the
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
as both a place of destruction and an
angel
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
of the abyss. In the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Sheol ( ), meaning the resting place of dead peoples.
In the
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
of the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, an angel called Abaddon is described as the king of an army of locusts; his name is first transcribed in Koine Greek (Revelation 9:11—"whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon") as , and then translated , ''Apollyon''. The
Vulgate
The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...
and the Douay–Rheims Bible have additional notes not present in the Greek text, "in Latin ''Exterminans''", being the Latin word for "destroyer".
In medieval Christian literature, Abaddon's portrayal diverges significantly, as seen in the " Song of Roland", an 11th-century epic poem. Abaddon is depicted as part of a fictional trinity, alongside Mahome (Mahound) and Termagant (Termagaunt), which the poem attributes to the religious practices of Muslims.
Semitic root
The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowel ...
and verb stem "perish", transitive "destroy", which occurs 184 times in the Hebrew Bible. The
Septuagint
The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...
, an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, renders "Abaddon" as "" (), while the Greek is the active participle of ἀπόλλυμι , "to destroy".
Judaism
Hebrew Bible
The term ''abaddon'' appears six times in the
Masoretic text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...
of the Hebrew Bible; ''abaddon'' means destruction or "place of destruction", or the realm of the dead, and is accompanied by Sheol.
* Job 26:6: Sheol is naked before Him; Abaddon has no cover.
* Job 28:22: Abaddon and Death say, "We have only a report of it."
* Job 31:12: A fire burning down to Abaddon, Consuming the roots of all my increase.
*
Psalm
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of H ...
88:11: Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
* Proverbs 15:11: Sheol and Abaddon lie exposed to the LORD, How much more the minds of men!
* Proverbs 27:20: Sheol and Abaddon cannot be satisfied, Nor can the eyes of man be satisfied.JPS, 1985
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
in 1947—tell of "the Sheol of Abaddon" and of the "torrents of Belial
hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...
) mention Abaddon as a place (destruction) rather than as an individual. Abaddon is also one of the compartments of Gehenna. By extension, the name can refer to an underworld abode of lost souls, or Gehenna.
Rabbinical literature
In some legends, Abaddon is identified as a realm where the damned lie in fire and snow, one of the places in Gehenna that
Moses
In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
visited.
Christianity
The New Testament contains the first known depiction of ''Abaddon'' as an individual entity instead of a place.
In the Old Testament, Abaddon and Death can be personified:
And,
And,
And,
The Hebrew text of Proverbs 6:32 does not contain the noun () but a participial form of the verb (). But the Septuagint uses (), the accusative case of the noun () with which it also translates in five of the six Hebrew verses that contain the word. (Though an English interlinear of the Septuagint might read "destruction the soul of him obtains", the reader should understand that "adulterer" is the subject, "soul" is the indirect object, and "destruction" is the direct object.)
In
Revelation
Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...
9:11, Abaddon is described as "Destroyer", the angel of the Abyss, and as the king of a plague of locusts resembling horses with crowned human faces, women's hair, lions' teeth, wings, iron breast-plates, and a tail with a scorpion's stinger that torments for five months anyone who does not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
The symbolism of Revelation 9:11 leaves the identity of Abaddon open to interpretation. Protestant commentator Matthew Henry (1708) believed Abaddon to be the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
Satan
Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
.Halley (1922) ''Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version'', p936.
Early in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress the Christian pilgrim fights "over half a day" long with the demon Apollyon. This book permeated Christianity in the English-speaking world for 300 years after its first publication in 1678.
In contrast, the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
publication ''The Interpreter's Bible'' states, "Abaddon, however, is an angel not of Satan but of God, performing his work of destruction at God's bidding", citing the context at Revelation chapter 20, verses 1 through 3.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
also cite Revelation 20:1-3 where the angel having "the key of the abyss" is actually shown to be a representative of God, concluding that "Abaddon" is another name for Jesus after his resurrection.
In Medieval Christian Literature
In medieval Christian literature, the depiction of Abaddon often mirrors the religious and cultural contexts of the time. A notable illustration of this is found in the Song of Roland, an 11th-century epic poem. This work associates Abaddon with figures such as Mahome ( Mahound), Apollyon (Appolin), and Termagant, which are presented as deities in the context of the poem's portrayal of Muslims. The inclusion of Apollyon, a name sometimes linked with Abaddon in Christian texts, highlights the interpretative approaches of the period towards Islamic practices.
Such literary representations in medieval Christian literature are indicative of the broader context of interfaith understanding and relations during the Middle Ages. They reflect the complexities and nuances in the depiction of figures like Abaddon and their perceived associations with other faiths.
Ginza Rabba
The Ginza Rabba (), Ginza Rba, or Sidra Rabba (), and formerly the Codex Nasaraeus, is the longest and the most important holy scripture of Mandaeism.
The Ginza Rabba is composed of two parts: the Right Ginza (GR) and the Left Ginza (GL). T ...
'' mention the Abaddons () as part of the World of Darkness. The '' Right Ginza'' mentions the existence of the "upper Abaddons" () as well as the "lower Abaddons" (). The final poem of the '' Left Ginza'' mentions the "House of the Abaddons" ().Häberl (2022) considers the Mandaic word
''ʿbdunia'' to be a borrowing from Hebrew.
Apocryphal texts
In the 3rd-century
Gnostic
Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...
text Acts of Thomas, Abaddon is the name of a demon, or the
devil
A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
himself.
Abaddon is given particularly important roles in two sources, a
homily
A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ...
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
of collecting the earth that would be used in the creation of
Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam).
According to Christianity, Adam ...
. Upon completion of this task, the angel was appointed as a guardian. Everyone, including the angels, demons, and corporeal entities feared him. Abaddon was promised that any who venerated him in life could be saved. Abaddon is also said to have a prominent role in the Last Judgment, as the one who will take the souls to the
Valley of Josaphat
The Valley of Josaphat (; variants: Valley of Jehoshaphat and Valley of Yehoshephat) is a Biblical place mentioned by name in the Book of Joel ( and ): "I will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat: "The ...
. He is described in the ''Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ'' as being present in the Tomb of Jesus at the moment of the
resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus () is Christianity, Christian belief that God in Christianity, God Resurrection, raised Jesus in Christianity, Jesus from the dead on the third day after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion, starting—or Preexis ...