Abaddon (demon)

Abaddon (demon)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Abaddon_(demon)".

This article is about the Hebrew word. For other uses, see Abaddon (disambiguation).

Abaddon (Hebrew אבדון Avaddon, Greek Apollyon, Latin Exterminans, meaning "A place of destruction", "The Destroyer", "Depths of Hell") in demonology, is chief of the demons of the seventh hierarchy. In the Revelation of St. John, Abaddon is the King of tormenting locusts and the angel of the bottomless pit. (KJV, Rev. 9:1-11)

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1 In Christianity
2 In Judeo-Christianity
3 In Paganism
4 Identifying Abaddon
5 External links
6 References

In Christianity

Revelation 9:1-11 describes Abaddon as being the king of the bottomless pit locusts that resemble battle horses with crowned human faces, having womens' hair (denoting length), lions' teeth, locusts' wings, and the tail of a scorpion.

The Thanksgiving Hymns—a copy was also 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 of Philo mentions Abaddon as a place (sheol, hell), not as a spirit or demon or angel. In Paradise Regained, Milton also uses Abaddon as a place—the pit. It appears to have been St. John who first personified the term to stand for an angel. In the 3rd century Acts of Thomas, Abaddon is the name of a demon, or the Devil himself. Abaddon has also been identified as the angel of death and destruction, demon of the abyss, and chief of demons of the underworld hierarchy, where he is equated with Samael or Satan. In magic and alchemy, Abaddon is the Destroying Angel of the Apocalypse. In Barrett's The Magus, Abaddon is pictured, in colour, as one of the evil demons. In Medieval legend, Abaddon was considered as a synonym for Hell and/or the ruler thereof, and in Revelation 9:7-11, he was thought to be the Christian angel of Hell, Michael.

In Judeo-Christianity

Abaddon comes to mean "place of destruction", or the realm of the dead, and is associated with Sheol. (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11) Abaddon is also one of the compartments of Gehenna.¹ By extension, it can mean an underworld abode of lost souls, or hell. In some legends, it is identified as a realm where the damned lie in fire and snow, one of the places in Hell that Moses visited. ²

Not long after Judeo-Christian teachings taught the name of this demon, Abaddon referred to the pit or cave that was used in mystery religions and schools as a rite of passage into the greater mysteries. Often the experience would entail the use of ritual substances that put the aspirant into an altered state in which he or she could receive divine revelation. Because the experience was sometimes unpleasant, this rite came to be viewed as being "hellish." However, it was considered absolutely necessary so that the seeker may become pure enough to encounter the "mind of God", as an angel is described as the "Angel of the bottomless pit who binds Satan for a thousand years".

In Paganism

In occultism and esoterism, Abaddon is related to blood red, brown and green colours, winter, the month of January, Saturday, intuition, sacrifice and challenge, the ruby and the sword. His Tarot symbol is the one of judgement. In LaVeyan Satanism, Abaddon is the first of the infernal names, as it comes first alphabetically, meaning "The Destroyer."

Identifying Abaddon

The symbolism of Revelation 9:11 leaves the exact identification of Abaddon open for interpretation. Some bible scholars believe him to be the antichrist³ or Satan.⁴⁵⁶

Jehovah's witnesses believe that Abaddon is Jesus.⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹ (However, original Jehovah's Witness doctrine stated that Abaddon was Satan.)⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹

External links

Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Abaddon
Occultopedia, Abaddon

References

^ Metzger & Coogan (1993) Oxford Companion to the Bible, p3.
^ Ginzberg, Lewis. The Legends of the Jews, Volume II: From Joseph to Exodus. 1909. [1]
^ Matthew Henry Commentary on Revelation 9, Accessed 4/15/2007
^ Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary, Accessed 4/15/2007
^ Halley (2000) Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version, p936.
^ MacDonald (1995) Believer's Bible Commentary, p2366.
^ ^a ^b Jehovah's Witnesses' Doctrine of Deception, Accessed 4/15/2007
^ ^a ^b Baptist Pillar, Accessed 5/17/2007
^ ^a ^b Watchman Expositor, Accessed 5/17/2007
^ ^a ^b Brighter Light, Accessed 5/17/2007
^ ^a ^b Reachout Trust, Accessed 5/17/2007

Metzeger, Bruce M. (ed); Michael D. Coogan (ed) (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5.

Halley, Henry H.; James E. Ruark (ed) (2000). Halley's Bible Handbook. Grand Rapids, MI: ZondervanPublishingHouse. ISBN 0-310-22479-9.

MacDonald, William; Art Farstad (ed) (1995). Believer's Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. ISBN 0-8407-1972-8.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Abaddon.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 1907

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