Abaddon or Apollyon

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

The Hebrew term "Abaddon" (Hebrew: ‫אֲ בַּדֹון‬ Avaddon, meaning "doom"), and its Greek equivalent
"Apollyon" (Greek: Ἀπολλύων, Apollýōn) appear in the Bible as both a place of destruction and
an archangel of the abyss. In the Hebrew Bible, abaddon is used with reference to a bottomless pit,
often appearing alongside the place ‫( שְׁ אֹול‬Sheol), 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," a name that means "destruction") as Ἀβαδδών, 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[edit]
According to the Brown Driver Briggs lexicon, the Hebrew abaddon (Hebrew: ‫;אבדון‬ ’ăḇaddōn) is
an intensive form of the Semitic root and verb stem ’ăḇāḏ (‫[)ָאבַד‬1] "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", while the Greek Apollyon is the active
participle of apollymi (ἀπόλλυμι), "to destroy".[2]

Judaism[edit]
Hebrew Bible[edit]
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.
  Job 26:6: the grave (Sheol) is naked before Him, and destruction (Abaddon) has no
covering.
 Job 28:22: destruction (Abaddon) and death say.
 Job 31:12: it is a fire that consumes to destruction (Abaddon).
 Psalm 88:11: Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave (Sheol) or thy
faithfulness in destruction (Abaddon)?
 Proverbs 15:11: Hell (Sheol) and Destruction (Abaddon) are before the LORD, how much
more the hearts of the children of men?
 Proverbs 27:20: Hell (Sheol) and Destruction (Abaddon) are never full; so the eyes of
man are never satisfied. (KJV, 1611)
Second Temple era texts[edit]
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.[3] By extension, it can mean an
underworld abode of lost souls, or Gehenna.
Rabbinical literature[edit]
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.[4]

Christianity[edit]
New Testament[edit]
The Christian scriptures contain the first known depiction of Abaddon as an individual entity instead of
a place.
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 Revelation 9:11, Abaddon is described as "Destroyer", [5] the angel of the abyss,[5] 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.[6]
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,[7] whereas the Jamieson-
Fausset-Brown Commentary (1871) and Henry H. Halley (1922) identified the angel as Satan.[8][9]
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.[10][page  needed] 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. [11]
Apocryphal texts[edit]
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
Abaddon" by pseudo-Timothy of Alexandria, and the Apocalypse of Bartholomew.[12][13] In the homily
by Timothy, Abaddon 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.
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 Judgement, as the one who will take the souls to the Valley of
Josaphat.[12] He is described in the Apocalypse of Bartholomew as being present in the Tomb of
Jesus at the moment of his resurrection.[14]
 Abezethibou
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Abezethibou, Abezethibod, or Abezi-
Thibod is a demon and fallen
angel described in
the pseudepigrapha Testament of
Solomon. He followed Beelzebub upon
his fall from heaven, and became an
important demon in Hell. However, after
his treason, he is left with one red wing.
He later travelled to Egypt where he
hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his
advisors, and convinced them to pursue
the fleeing Israelite slaves. In doing so,
he drowns along with the army in
the Red Sea, and becomes trapped in a
pillar of water, though Beelzebub claims
he will return for conquest.

Depiction in
the Testament of Solomon[edit]
In the Testament of Solomon, when Solomon summons Beelzebub for an interview,
the prince of the demons reveals that an angel named Abezethibou accompanied
him when he fell from Heaven. After his fall, Abezethibou became a one-winged
demon condemned to hell.[1] He claims that all those imprisoned in Tartarus fall under
Abezethibou's control. This charge comprised Abezethibou's primary role and
burden in the demon world.[2] He opposed Moses and the Israelites during the
Exodus from Egypt.
Later, Abezethibou himself appears before Solomon, informing the king that, as an
angel, Abezethibou had sat in Amelouth, a place he described as the "first Heaven".
[3]
 After his fall, Abezethibou roamed Egypt, and, after the appeal of Moses to let the
Israelites leave Egypt, cause Pharaoh's heart to harden. [2] This is contrary to the
traditional Christian view of the event based on the Book of Exodus, which contends
that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh.[4] He went with the Egyptian army in the
pursuit of the Israelites, and the collapsing Red Sea crushed and drowned him,
where he was imprisoned by a pillar of water. [1]
The Testament of Solomon states that Jannes and Jambres called upon
Abezethibou when they battled against Moses, and the demon provided them with
the magic they used.[5] He claimed to be "the adversary of Moses in [performing]
signs and wonders."[6] Abezethibou was sealed in the Red Sea, but Beelzebub
claimed that "when he [Abezethibou] is ready, then he will come in triumph."