ABADDON, a-bad'en (" Destruction "): In the
Old Testament a poetic name for the kingdom of
the dead, Hades, or Sheol (Job xxvi. 6; Prov. xv.
11, where Abaddon is parallel to Sheol). The
rabbis used the name for the nethermost part of
hell. In Rev. ix. 11 the " angel of the bottomless
pit " is called Abaddon, which is there explained
as the Greek Apollyon (" destroyer "); and he is
described as king of the locusts which rose at the
sounding of the fifth trumpet. In like manner, in
Rev. vi. 8, Hades is personified following after
death to conquer the fourth part of the earth. In
rabbinical writings Abaddon and Death are also
personified (cf. Job xxvii. 22).
ABAUZIT, a"bo"zi',
FIRMIN: French Reformed
scholar; b. of Huguenot parentage at Uzes (20 m.
w.n.w. of Avignon), Languedoc, Nov. 11, 1679;
d. at Geneva, Mar. 20,1767. After the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes (1685) an attempt was made
to bring him up as a Roman Catholic, but it was
frustrated by his mother. After some hardships
and sufferings, mother and son settled in Geneva,
where Abauzit was educated and where, with the
exception of visits to Holland and England in
1698, he spent his long life devoted to study and
the service of the city library. He was one of the
most learned men of his time, possessed much versatility, and enjoyed the friendship of scholars like
Bayle, Jurieu, Basnage, and Newton. Nevertheless, he published practically nothing; and after
his death many of his manuscripts were destroyed
by his heirs. A volume of
OEuvres diverses
appeared at Geneva in 1770; and a different edition in two
volumes at London and Amsterdam in 1770-73.
They include essays against the doctrine of the
Trinity as commonly received, upon the Book of
Daniel, and the Apocalypse. He rendered much
service to a society for the translation of the New
Testament into French (published 1726). Many
of his theological writings are translated in E.
Harwood's
Miscellanies (London, 1774), with
memoir; and seven essays are reprinted thence in
Sparks's
Collection
Of Essays
and Tracts in Theology,
vol. i. (Boston, 1823).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J.
Senebier , Histoire litteraire de Geneve,
Geneva, 1786· E. and
E. Haag, La France protestante,
ed. H. L. Bordier, i. 2, Paris, 1877; A. Gibert. Abauzit
et sa Theologie, Strasburg, 1865.
