Abaddon
ABADDON, ɑ-bad´ɵn (“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 xxviii. 22).