Abaddon

Apollyon (top) battling Christian in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

The Hebrew term Abaddon (Hebrew: אֲבַדּוֹן‎‎, 'Ǎḇaddōn), and its two Greek equivalents Apollyon (Greek: Ἀπολλύων, Apollyon) as a person/being and Τάρταρος Tartaros as a place/time, appears in the Bible as name of a place, time, or personification/incarnation of destructive nature. In the Hebrew Bible, Abaddon often appears alongside the place שאול (sheol), meaning the realm of the dead. In the New Testament Book of Revelation, an angel called Abaddon is described as the king of an army of locusts; his name is first transcribed in Greek (Revelation 9:11—"whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, The Angel of Death." (Ἀβαδδὼν), and then translated ("which in Greek means the Destroyer" (Ἀπολλύων, Apollyon))). The Latin 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".

Etymology

According to the Brown Driver Briggs lexicon, the Hebrew abaddon (Hebrew: אבדון; avadon) is an intensive form of the Semitic root and verb stem abad (אָבַד) "perish" (transitive "destroy"), which occurs 184 times in the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, renders "Abaddon" as "ἀπώλεια",[1] while the Greek Apollyon comes from apollumi (ἀπόλλυμι), "to destroy". The Greek term Apollyon (Ἀπολλύων, "the destroyer"), is the active participle of apollumi (ἀπόλλυμι, "to destroy"),[2] and is not used as a name in classical Greek texts.[3]

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.

Second Temple era texts

The text of the Thanksgiving Hymns—which was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls—tells of "the Sheol of Abaddon" and of the "torrents of Belial [that] burst into Abaddon". The Biblical Antiquities (misattributed to Philo) mentions Abaddon as a place (destruction) rather than an individual. Abaddon is also one of the compartments of Gehenna.[4] By extension, it can mean 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 visited.[5]

Christianity

New Testament

The Christian scriptures contain the first known depiction of Abaddon as an individual entity instead of a place.

Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. KJV, 1611

In Revelation 9:11, Abaddon is described as "Destroyer",[6] the angel of the abyss,[6] 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.[7]

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,[8] whereas the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (1871) and Henry H. Halley (1922) identified the angel as Satan.[9][10][11] Latter-Day Saints believe that the use of "Abaddon" in Revelation 9 refers to the devil.[12]

In contrast, the 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.[13]

Jehovah's Witnesses as well cite Revelation 20:1-3 where the angel having "the key of the abyss" is actually shown to be a representative of God, one from heaven, and, rather than being "satanic", is the one that binds Satan and hurls him into the abyss; concluding that "Abaddon" is another name for Jesus Christ after his resurrection. To give further understanding, the book "Insight from The Scriptures, Vol. 1 presents the following information:

"ABADDON: (A·badʹdon) [from Heb., meaning "Destruction"].

At Revelation 9:11 this Hebrew word is transliterated into the English text. There we read concerning the symbolic plague of locusts that they have "a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon." In Hebrew the word ʼavad·dohnʹ means "destruction" and may also refer to "the place of destruction." It appears in the original Hebrew text a total of five times, and in four of the occurrences it is used to parallel "the burial place," "Sheol," and "death." (Ps 88:11; Job 26:6; 28:22; Pr 15:11) The word ʼavad·dohnʹ in these texts evidently refers to the destructive processes that ensue with human death, and these scriptures indicate that decay or destruction takes place in Sheol, the common grave of mankind. At Job 31:12 ʼavad·dohnʹ designates the damaging effect of an adulterous course. Job declared: "That [adulterous course] is a fire that would eat clear to destruction [ʽadh-ʼavad·dohnʹ], and among all my produce it would take root."—Compare Pr 6:26-28, 32; 7:26, 27. Abaddon, the angel of the abyss—who is he? At Revelation 9:11, however, the word "Abaddon" is used as the name of "the angel of the abyss." The corresponding Greek name Apollyon means "Destroyer." In the 19th century there were efforts made to show that this text prophetically applied to individuals such as Emperor Vespasian, Muhammad, and even Napoleon, and the angel was generally regarded as "satanic." It should be noted, however, that at Revelation 20:1-3 the angel having "the key of the abyss" is shown to be God’s representative from heaven, and rather than being "satanic," he binds and hurls Satan into the abyss. Commenting on Revelation 9:11, The Interpreter’s Bible says: "Abaddon, however, is an angel not of Satan but of God, performing his work of destruction at God’s bidding."

In the Hebrew scriptures just considered, it is evident that ʼavad·dohnʹ is paralleled with Sheol and death. At Revelation 1:18 we find Christ Jesus stating: "I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." His power with regard to the abyss is shown at Luke 8:31. That he has destroying power, including the power of destruction over Satan, is evident from Hebrews 2:14, which says that Jesus partook of blood and flesh in order that "through his death he might bring to nothing the one having the means to cause death, that is, the Devil." At Revelation 19:11-16 he is clearly represented as God’s appointed Destroyer or Executioner.—See APOLLYON

— Watchtower Society, "Abaddon—Watchtower Online Library". Watch Tower Society. Retrieved 2014-04-05. 

Full Preterism In scripture, the Greek name for Abaddon is Apollian, which happens to be the very name of the 15th Legion of the Roman army that laid siege to Jerusalem for five months and destroyed it in 70 AD. Interestingly, the prophets including Daniel, Jesus and John the Revelator, foretold of this destruction that would occur before that 1st century generation passed away. It was predicted that there would come to be 4 kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome on the earth. The 4th kingdom Rome was represented by Iron and it was a composite beast made up of the previous kingdoms which had been conquered. The Empire of Rome ruled the world in the lifetime of Jesus which is exactly when the prophecy foretold that the kingdom of heaven would destroy the power of that earthly Roman kingdom and it did, but not with physical weapons, but with spiritual ones through the spread of the good news of God's kingdom under Christ in the 1st century. The old Jewish age passed away and the new heavenly kingdom age under Jesus began. Other views often overlook audience relevance and time statements which is crucial in understanding Daniel, The Olivet prophecy and Revelation which are all written about the same last days events in the 1st century.

Gnostic texts

In the 3rd century 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 "The Enthronement of Abbaton" by pseudo-Timothy of Alexandria, and the Apocalypse of Bartholomew.[14] In the homily by Timothy, Abbaton was first named Muriel, and had been given the task by 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. Abbaton was promised that any who venerated him in life could be saved. Abaddon is also said to have a prominent role in the Last Judgement, as the one who will take the souls to the Valley of Josaphat.[14] He is described in the Apocalypse of Bartholomew as being present in the Tomb of Jesus at the moment of his resurrection.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Revelation 9:1 – Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament – Commentaries". StudyLight.org. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  2. ↑ "Greek Word Study Tool". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  3. ↑ "Greek Word Study Tool". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  4. ↑ Metzger, Bruce M.; Coogan, Michael David (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0199743916.
  5. ↑ "Chapter IV: Moses in Egypt". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
  6. 1 2 "Revelation 9:11 NIV – They had as king over them the angel of". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  7. ↑ "Revelation 9:7-10 NIV – The locusts looked like horses prepared". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Halley (1922) Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version, p936.
  11. ↑ MacDonald, William; Farstad, Arthur L. (1995). Believer's Bible Commentary. Thomas Nelson Publishers. p. 2366. ISBN 0785212167.
  12. ↑ "Abaddon". Lds.org. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  13. ↑ Keck, Leander E. (1998). The New Interpreter's Bible: Hebrews – Revelation (Volume 12) ([Nachdr.] ed.). Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press. ISBN 0687278252.
  14. 1 2 Atiya, Aziz S. (1991). The Coptic Encyclopedia. New York: Macmillan [u.a.] ISBN 0-02-897025-X.
  15. ↑ "Gospel Of Bartholomew". Pseudepigrapha.com. Retrieved 2014-04-03.

Bibliography

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