Abaddon

In Judeo-Christian traditions, Abaddon is known both as a “place of destruction” and a personified entity of destruction, though in most writings, it is primarily the former.

Abaddon in the Old Testament

The name Abaddon is derived from its Hebrew root, meaning ‘to destroy.’ It is used six times throughout the Wisdom literature in the Old Testament. Proverbs 15:11, 27:20 and Job 26:6 ¹Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. draw parallels between Abaddon and Sheol.

• Proverbs 15:11: “Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord, How much more the hearts of men!” ²”Proverbs 15:11.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.
• Proverbs 27:20: “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.” ³”Proverbs 27:20.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.
• Job 26:6: “Naked is Sheol before Him, And Abaddon has no covering.” ⁴”Job 26:6.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

In Ps 88:11, Abaddon is associated with qeber (“grave”).

• Psalm 88:11: “Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?”⁵”Psalm 88:11.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

In Job 31:12, Abaddon is described as a place of fire.

• Job 31:12: “For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon, And would uproot all my increase.”⁶”Job 31:12.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

While it may be argued that Prov 27:20, referring to Abaddon as “never satisfied,” is a personification of Abaddon, Job 28:22 is the first clear reference to Abaddon as an entity that can speak and hear.

• Job 28:22: “Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.'”⁷”Job 28:22.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

Abaddon in Revelation

In Revelation, Abaddon is the king of the abyss or bottomless pit who commands an army of locusts. According to Revelation 9:1-11, after the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, a star falls from heaven and opens the bottomless pit. A storm of smoke arises, and from the smoke, a plague of locusts emerge to torment, but not kill, men who lack the seal of God on their foreheads for five months.

They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. – Rev 9:11 ⁸”Rev 9:11.” The Bible. New American Standard Bible (NASB). The Lockman Foundation. 1995. Bible Gateway. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

While the root Apollyon (“the Destroyer”) is generally not used as a name in Greek writing, the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible notes that there may still be some connection with the Greek god, Apollo. Though Apollo was known as a god of prophecy, law, and purification, in his earliest accounts, he could both set plagues upon men and cure them. ⁹Becking, Bob, Pieter W. Van Der. Horst, and Karel Van Der. Toorn. “Abaddon.” Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible: Second Extensively Revised Edition. 2nd ed. Leiden: Brill, 1999. 1. Print.

For instance, at the beginning of the Iliad, after Agamemnon captures Chryseis, her father Chryses tries to make a deal with the Greeks for her safe return. They refuse, so Chryses calls upon Apollo to intervene. Apollo does, causing a nine-day deadly plague to infect the Achaean army and cattle. ¹⁰Homer. The Iliad, Book I. The Internet Classics Archive. Web. Jul. 24, 2017. Perhaps this tradition is where the parallels with Abaddon, “the destroyer,” originate.

Later Christian theologians sometimes reference this personified entity with Satan. For instance, in Robert Jamieson et al.’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, published in 1871, the authors describe Abaddon in reference to Rev 9:11 as follows:

Abaddon — that is, perdition or destruction (Job 26:6; Proverbs 27:20). The locusts are supernatural instruments in the hands of Satan to torment, and yet not kill, the ungodly, under this fifth trumpet. Just as in the case of godly Job, Satan was allowed to torment with elephantiasis, but not to touch his life. ¹¹Jamieson, Robert, A.R Fausset, David Brown, Thomas Starling, John Brown. A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Volume II: The New Testament. Hartford : S.S. Scranton & Co., 1878. Internet Archive. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

It is not clear whether these authors meant to equate Abaddon with Satan, or simply that this is the work of Satan and that Abaddon in this context refers to “perdition or destruction,” something Satan is known to cause.

Abaddon References In Other Writings

Aside from Revelation, most later writings depict Abaddon as a place rather than an entity. For instance, in the Babylonian Talmud (Er 19a), Abaddon is listed second in the list of the seven names of the underworld (Sheol, Abadon, Baar Shachath, Bor Sheon, Tit Hayavon, Tzalmoveth, and Eretz Hathachthith). ¹²”Chapter II: Regulations Concerning the Use of a Well and a Garden on the Sabbath.” Babylonian Talmud, Book 2: Tracts Erubin, Shekalim, Rosh Hashana. Sacred Texts. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

The first century AD text, Biblical Antiquities of Philo, (also called Pseudo-Philo because it probably was not written by Philo) says:

When the years of the world (or age) are fulfilled, God will quicken the dead, and raise up from the earth them that sleep: Sheol will restore its debt, and Abaddon its deposit, and every man will be rewarded according to his works. – III. 10. ¹³”Book 8: III. 10.” The Biblical Antiquities of Philo, translated by M. R. James. 1917. Sacred Texts. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

Similarly, Abaddon is mentioned as a place in several of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including ¹⁴Vermès, Géza. The Complete Dead Sea scrolls in English, Revised Edition. London: Penguin Books, 2004. Epub.

• Thanksgiving Hymns: “[Hell and Abaddon] shall open ” (Hymn 9)
• Thanksgiving Hymns: “from the hell of Abaddon” (Hymn 10)
• Thanksgiving Hymns: “the torrents of Belial shall break into Abaddon” (Hymn 10)
• Apocryphal Psalms (11Q11): “by the curse of Abaddon (the bottom of hell)” (IV)
• The Words of the Heavenly Lights (4Q504): “the great [Abyss] and Abaddon”

Much later, in 1671, Milton describes Abaddon in Paradise Regained (IV, 624) as “in all her gates Abaddon rues thy bold attempt.” ¹⁵Milton, John. “Book IV, 624.” Paradise Regained. 1671. Sacred Texts. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

What Abaddon Looks Like

While most writings simply equate Abaddon to a place within the underworld, Louis Ginzberg goes to great extent to describe the seven divisions of hell – including Abaddon – in his book, The Legends of the Jews. In The Creation of the World, Ginzberg describes hell as being comprised of seven divisions – Sheol, Abaddon, Beer Shahat, Tit ha-Yawen, Sha’are Mawet, Sha’are Zalmawet, and Gehenna – each sitting atop one another. He also states:¹⁶Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. Vol 1. Translated by Henrietta Szold. 1909. Sacred Texts. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

• It takes 300 years to travel the height, width or depth of each division
• It takes 6300 years to travel a piece of land equivalent to the 7 divisions
• Each of the 7 division has 7 subdivisions
• Each subdivision has 7 rivers of fire and 7 of hail
• Each river is supervised by 90,000 Angels of Destruction
• Each subdivision has 7000 caves filled with venomous scorpions
• Hell has 5 types of fire: (1) devours and absorbs, (2) devours and does not absorb, (3) absorbs and does not devour, (4) neither devours nor absorbs, and (5) a fire which devours fire
• Hell is filled with mountains and hills of coal
• Hell has rivers of pitch and sulfur

Abaddon in Magickal Practices

Francis Barrett lists nine degrees of evil spirits in his book, The Magus (1801). In it, Abaddon is listed in conjunction with the 7th degree, where the furies live.

The seventh mansion the furies possess, who are powers of evil, discords, war, and devastation; whose name in the Revelation is called in Greek, Apollyon; in the Hebrew, Abaddon, that is, destroying and wasting. – The Magus, Chap VII.¹⁷Barrett, Francis “Chapter VII: Of the Order of Evil Spirits, and Their Fall, and Different Natures.” The Magus. London, 1801. Sacred Texts. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.

In S.L. Mather’s Key of Solomon, Abaddon is the name of God that Moses invokes to bring destructive rains.

and by the Name ABADDON which Moses invoked and sprinkled the dust towards heaven, and immediately there fell so great rain upon the men, cattle, and flocks, that they all died.¹⁸Mathers, S.L. Macgreggor. “Chapter VI. Stronger And More Potent Conjuration.” The Key of Solomon The King, Book I. 1888. Sacred Texts. Web. Jul. 24, 2017.