Abaddon

The term "Abaddon" originates from the Hebrew word "אֲבַדּוֹן" (Avaddon), stemming from the root "אבד" (avad), which signifies "to be lost" or "to perish." Generally, "Abaddon" is understood as a great annihilating abyss; though less commonly, it is also the name of the angel who presides over this abyss, as we’ll see. In the context of the Old Testament, Abaddon serves as a descriptor for a realm of destruction, frequently linked with Sheol—another Hebrew term, indicative of the underworld or the realm of the dead. However, the New Testament presents an evolution in the conception of Abaddon. No longer a place of doom and destruction, it becomes personified as a sentient entity with authority over the abyss. We’re going to begin with three books from the Old Testament (the Books of Job, Proverbs, and Psalms), using them to consider Abaddon as conceptualized inanimately, meaning as a physical place or as an abstraction. Following that, we’re going to dive into the book of Revelation, which is where Abaddon is personified, becoming a sentient entity, given the ominous honourific ‘the angel of the abyss’ and presented as the king of a pestilent swarm, as can be seen from this passage: "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."