View source for Abaddon

{{Short description|Place of destruction and the archangel of the abyss in the Hebrew Bible}}
{{Redirect|Apollyon}}
{{About|the Hebrew word}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

[[Image:Christianandapollyon.jpg|right|Apollyon (top) battling Christian in [[John Bunyan]]'s ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''.|250px|thumb]]
The Hebrew term '''Abaddon''' ({{langx|he|אֲבַדּוֹן}} ''’Ăḇaddōn'', meaning "destruction", "doom"), and its Greek equivalent '''Apollyon''' ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Ἀπολλύων}}, ''Apollúōn'' meaning "Destroyer") appear in the [[Bible]] as both a place of destruction and an [[angel]] of the abyss. In the [[Hebrew Bible]], ''abaddon'' is used with reference to a bottomless pit, often appearing alongside the place [[Sheol]] ({{lang|he|שְׁאוֹל}} ''Šəʾōl''), meaning the resting place of dead peoples.

In the [[Book of Revelation]] of the [[New Testament]], an angel called Abaddon is described as the king of an army of [[locust]]s; his name is first transcribed in Koine Greek (Revelation 9:11—"whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon,") as {{lang|grc|Ἀβαδδών}}, and then translated {{lang|grc|Ἀπολλύων}}, ''Apollyon''. The [[Vulgate]] and the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]] have additional notes not present in the Greek text, "in Latin ''Exterminans''", ''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 [[Muhammad|Mahome]] (Mahound) and [[Termagant]] (Termagaunt), which the poem attributes to the religious practices of Muslims.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://faculty.sgsc.edu/rkelley/rolandsg.htm |title=The Song of Roland: An Analytical Edition |access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref>

==Etymology==
According to the [[Brown–Driver–Briggs]] lexicon, the Hebrew {{lang|he|אבדון}} {{transliteration|he|’ăḇadōn}} is an [[intensive word form|intensive]] form of the [[Semitic root]] and verb stem {{lang|he|אָבַד}} {{transliteration|he|’ăḇāḏ}} "perish", transitive "destroy", which occurs 184 times in the Hebrew Bible. The [[Septuagint]], an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, renders "Abaddon" as "{{lang|grc|ἀπώλεια}}" ({{transliteration|grc|apṓleia}}), while the Greek {{transliteration|grc|Apollýon}} is the [[active participle]] of [[:wikt:ἀπόλλυμι|ἀπόλλυμι]] {{transliteration|grc|apóllymi}}, "to destroy".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=a%29po%2Flluwn&la=greek |title=Greek Word Study Tool |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

==Judaism==

===Hebrew Bible===
The term ''abaddon'' appears six times in the [[Masoretic text]] of the Hebrew Bible; ''abaddon'' means destruction or "place of destruction", or the realm of the dead, and is accompanied by [[Sheol]]. 
* [[Book of Job|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.
* [[Book of Psalms|Psalm]] 88:11: Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
* [[Book of Proverbs|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. <ref name="JPS">[[New_Jewish_Publication_Society_of_America_Tanakh|JPS]], 1985</ref>

===Second Temple era texts===
The [[Thanksgiving Hymns]] — a text found amongst the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] in 1947 — tell of "the Sheol of Abaddon" and of the "torrents of [[Belial]] [that] burst into Abaddon". The [[Pseudo-Philo| ''Biblical Antiquities'']] (misattributed to [[Philo]]) mention Abaddon as a place (destruction) rather than as an individual. Abaddon is also one of the compartments of [[Gehenna]].<ref name="oxford">{{cite book|last1= Metzger|first1= Bruce M.|last2= Coogan|first2= Michael David|title= The Oxford Companion to the Bible|url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458|url-access= registration|date= 1993|publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 0199743916|page= [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458/page/3 3]}}</ref> 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 [[Damnation|damned]] lie in fire and snow, one of the places in [[Gehenna]] that [[Moses]] visited.<ref name="Ginzberg">{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/loj/loj206.htm |title=Chapter IV: Moses in Egypt |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref>

==Christianity==
The New Testament contains the first known depiction of ''Abaddon'' as an individual entity instead of a place.
{{quotation|A king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon; in Latin Exterminans.|Revelation 9:11, Douay–Rheims Bible}}

In the Old Testament, Abaddon and Death can be personified:
{{quotation|Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’|Job 28:22, English Standard Version}} 
And,
{{quotation|Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.|Job 26:6, English Standard Version}}
And,
{{quotation|Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.|Proverbs 27:20, English Standard Version}} 
{{quotation|Hell and destruction are not filled; so also are the eyes of men insatiable.|Proverbs 27:20, Brenton Septuagint Translation}}
And,
{{quotation|But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.|Proverbs 6:32, King James Bible}}
{{quotation|But the adulterer through want of sense procures destruction to his soul.|Proverbs 6:32, Brenton Septuagint Translation}}
The Hebrew text of Proverbs 6:32 does not contain the noun {{lang|he-Latn|abaddon}} ({{lang|he|אֲבַדּוֹן}}) but a participial form of the verb {{lang|he-Latn|shachath}} ({{lang|he|שָׁחַת}}).<ref name="biblehub_text_proverbs_6_32">{{cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/text/proverbs/6-32.htm|title=Proverbs 6:32 Hebrew Text Analysis |access-date=1 Aug 2023}}</ref>  But the Septuagint uses {{lang|grc-Latn|apoleian}} ({{lang|grc|ἀπώλειαν}}), the accusative case of the noun {{lang|grc-Latn|apoleia}} ({{lang|grc|ἀπώλεια}}) with which it also translates {{lang|he-Latn|abaddon}} 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.)<ref name="blueletterbible_lxx_proverbs_6_32">{{cite web|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/pro/6/32/t_conc_634032|title=Παροιμίες (Proverbs) 6 (LXX) - ὁ δὲ μοιχὸς δι᾽ ἔνδειαν |access-date=1 Aug 2023}}</ref>

In [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 9:11, Abaddon is described as "Destroyer",<ref name="biblegateway">{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%209:11&version=NIV |title=Revelation 9:11 NIV – They had as king over them the angel of |publisher=Bible Gateway |access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref> the angel of the [[Abyss (religion)|Abyss]],<ref name="biblegateway"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%209:7-10&version=NIV |title=Revelation 9:7–10 NIV – The locusts looked like horses prepared |publisher=Bible Gateway |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref>

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]],<ref name="henry">{{cite web|url=http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID%3D4%26contentID%3D1868%26commInfo%3D5%26topic%3DRevelation|access-date=18 March 2013|title=Introduction by Andrew Murray }}</ref> whereas the [[Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary]] (1871) and [[Henry Hampton Halley]] (1922) identified the angel as [[Satan]].<ref name="jfb">{{cite web |url=http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev_009.cfm=Revelation |access-date=20 January 2014 |title=Archived copy |archive-date=2 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102101859/http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev_009.cfm%3DRevelation |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="halley">Halley (1922) ''Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version'', p936.</ref>

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 [[Methodism|Methodist]] 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Keck|first1=Leander E.|title=The New Interpreter's Bible: Hebrews – Revelation (Volume 12)|date=1998|publisher=Abingdon Press|location=Nashville, Tenn.|isbn=0687278252|edition=[Nachdr.]}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2016}} [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200000308#h=1:0-3:401|title=Apollyon—Watchtower Online Library|publisher=Watch Tower Society|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://faculty.sgsc.edu/rkelley/rolandsg.htm |title=The Song of Roland: An Analytical Edition |access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Juferi |first=Mohd Elfie Nieshaem |title=The Christian Missionaries & Their Lies About Muhammad |url=https://bismikaallahuma.org/polemical-rebuttals/lies-about-muhammad/ |website=Bismika Allahuma |date=September 20, 2005 |access-date=November 14, 2023}}</ref>

==Mandaeism==
[[Mandaean scriptures]] such as the ''[[Ginza Rabba]]'' mention the Abaddons ({{langx|myz|ʿbdunia}}) as part of the [[World of Darkness (Mandaeism)|World of Darkness]]. The ''[[Right Ginza]]'' mentions the existence of the "upper Abaddons" ({{transl|myz|ʿbdunia ʿlaiia}}) as well as the "lower Abaddons" ({{transl|myz|ʿbdunia titaiia}}). The final poem of the ''[[Left Ginza]]'' mentions the "House of the Abaddons" ({{transl|myz|bit ʿbdunia}}).<ref name="GR Gelbert">{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630}}</ref>

[[Charles G. Häberl|Häberl]] (2022) considers the [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]] word 
''ʿbdunia'' to be a borrowing from Hebrew.<ref name="Häberl 2022">{{cite book | last=Häberl | first=Charles | url=https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781800856271 | title=The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire | location=Liverpool | publisher=Liverpool University Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-80085-627-1 | page=214| doi=10.3828/9781800856271 | doi-broken-date=11 September 2024 }}</ref>

==Apocryphal texts==
In the 3rd-century [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] text [[Acts of Thomas]], Abaddon is the name of a demon, or the [[devil]] himself.

Abaddon is given particularly important roles in two sources, a [[homily]] entitled ''[[Investiture of Abbaton|The Enthronement of Abaddon]]'' by pseudo-[[Timothy I of Alexandria|Timothy of Alexandria]], and the ''[[Book of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, by Bartholomew the Apostle]]''.<ref name=Aziz>{{cite book|last1=Atiya|first1=Aziz S.|title=The Coptic Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/copticencycloped06aziz|url-access=registration|date=1991|publisher=Macmillan [u.a.]|location=New York|isbn=0-02-897025-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Coptic Martyrdoms Etc. In the Dialect of Upper Egypt|url=https://archive.org/details/CopticMartyrdomshighResByEWallisBudgeVol01/mode/2up|access-date=30 November 2020}}</ref> In the homily by Timothy, Abaddon was first named ''Muriel'', and had been given the task by [[God in Christianity|God]] of collecting the earth that would be used in the creation of [[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]].<ref name=Aziz/> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/LostBooks/bartholomew.htm |title=Gospel of Bartholomew |publisher=Pseudepigrapha.com |access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Abaddon in popular culture]]
* [[List of angels in theology]]
* [[Maalik]]
* [[Muriel (angel)]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book
  | last = Halley
  | first = Henry H.
  | editor = James E. Ruark
  | year = 2000
  | title = Halley's Bible Handbook
  | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780310224792
  | location = Grand Rapids, MI
  | publisher = Zondervan Publishing House
  | isbn = 0-310-22479-9
  }}
*{{cite book
  | last =MacDonald
  | first =William
  | editor = Art Farstad
  | year = 1995
  | title = Believer's Bible Commentary
  | location = Nashville, TN
  | publisher = Thomas Nelson Publishers
  | isbn = 0-8407-1972-8
}}
*{{cite book
  | editor1-last = Metzeger
  | editor1-first = Bruce M.
  | editor2 = Michael D. Coogan
  | year = 1993
  | title = The Oxford Companion to the Bible
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | location = Oxford, UK
  | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458
  | isbn = 0-19-504645-5
  }}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Abaddon}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |noicon=1 |wstitle=Abaddon |volume=1 |page=6}}

{{Angels in Abrahamic Religions}}
{{Hell}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Angels in Christianity]]
[[Category:Book of Revelation]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]
[[Category:Hell (Christianity)]]
[[Category:Individual angels]]
[[Category:Jewish underworld]]
[[Category:Satan]]