Abaddon

Abaddon appears in the Book of Revelation as the angel of the bottomless pit, also known by the Greek name Apollyon, meaning "Destroyer." In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word abaddon is used to refer to the place of destruction or the realm of the dead. In Revelation, Abaddon is the king over the locusts that emerge from the abyss during the fifth trumpet judgment.

Etymology & Roots

The Hebrew אֲבַדּוֹן (Abaddon) derives from the root אָבַד (abad), meaning 'to perish,' 'to be destroyed,' or 'to wander away.' The -on suffix is a common Hebrew noun-forming ending that intensifies or abstracts the root concept, yielding 'place of destruction' or 'utter ruin.' In Old Testament usage (Job 26:6; 28:22; Proverbs 15:11; Psalm 88:11), abaddon functions as a poetic parallel to Sheol, the realm of the dead. The Greek equivalent Apollyon (Revelation 9:11), from apollymi ('to destroy'), confirms that both names were understood as precise semantic counterparts in the bilingual Jewish-Hellenistic milieu.

Biblical Bearers

Abaddon functions primarily as a place-name or personification rather than the name of a human person. In the Old Testament, it designates the deepest realm of the dead, the place of destruction (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11). In Revelation 9:11, the name is assigned to the angelic king who rules over the locusts released from the abyss during the fifth trumpet judgment. This 'angel of the bottomless pit' bears dual names: Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, both meaning 'Destroyer.' No human figure in Scripture bears this name.

Theological Significance

The name Abaddon theologically maps the boundary of divine omniscience: Sheol and Abaddon 'lie open before the LORD' (Proverbs 15:11), meaning no depth of destruction is hidden from God. This counters any dualistic notion that a realm of death exists beyond God's reach. In Revelation, the personification of Abaddon as a ruling angel intensifies the eschatological drama, destruction itself is given a name and a king, yet operates only within the permissive boundaries of divine judgment. The theological arc runs from Abaddon as a passive location in the wisdom literature to an active, named instrument of apocalyptic wrath, always under divine sovereignty.

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