{{otherusesabout|the Hebrew word}}
'''Abaddon''' ([[Biblical Hebrew language|Hebrew]] '''אבדון''' ''Avaddon'', meaning "destruction"). In [[Hebrew Bible|Biblical]] poetry (''[[Book of Job|Job]]'' 26:6; ''[[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]]'' 15:11), it comes to mean "place of destruction", or the realm of the dead, and is associated with [[Sheol]]. Abaddon is also one of the compartments of [[Gehenna]].<ref name="oxford">Metzger & Coogan (1993) O''xford Companion to the Bible'', p3.</ref> By extension, it can mean an underworld abode of lost souls, or [[hell]].

In ''[[Book of Revelation|Revelation]]'' 9:11, it is personified as Abaddon, "Angel of the Abyss",<ref name="oxford"/> rendered in Greek as [[Apollyon]]; 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.

Abaddon is one of [[the infernal names]] used in [[LaVeyan Satanism]], and is first in the list—only as it comes first alphabetically—and means "the destroyer."

== Identification of Abaddon ==
Many Biblical scholars believe Abaddon to be Satan or the antichrist<ref name="henry">[http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/comm_read.pl?book=Rev&chapter=9&verse=11&Comm=Comm%2Fmhc%2FRev%2FRev009.html%231%26Matthew%26Henry&Select.x=18&Select.y=9#1 Matthew Henry Commentary on Revelation 9], Accessed 4/15/2007</ref><ref name="jfb">[http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/comm_read.pl?book=Rev&chapter=9&verse=11&Comm=Comm%2Fjfb%2FRev%2FRev009.html%2359238%26JF+%5E%26B&Select.x=24&Select.y=0 Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary], Accessed 4/15/2007</ref><ref name="halley">Halley (2000) H''alley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version'', p936.</ref><ref name="bbc">MacDonald (1995) B''eliever's Bible Commentary'', p2366.</ref>Others have stated that he may be one of the lesser demons of hell, or even a dark angel.<ref name="Bunson">Bunson, Matthew. ''Angels A to Z''. New York:Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1996. ISBN 0-517-88537-9.</ref>One source, ''The Greater Key of Solomon'' by [[Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers]], stated that Abaddon was powerful enough to be used by [[Moses]] as a way of invoking the terrible rains of the [[Plagues of Egypt]].<ref name="Bunson">Bunson, Matthew. ''Angels A to Z''. New York:Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1996. ISBN 0-517-88537-9.</ref>.
in many places, Abaddon is pictured as a human sized locust, and is known as the lord of pestilence.
[[Jehovah's Witnesses]] originally also considered Abaddon a demon, but now identify him with Jesus.<ref>[[The Watchtower]], May 1, 1992 p. 11, “''Keep Close in Mind the Day of Jehovah''.”</ref>

According to them, there are several proofs in favor of their concepts, including Apocalipsis chapter 20, which reads that "the angel with the key of the abyss and a large prison in his hand seized the dragon (Satan the Devil) and threw him down into the abyss, and closed it on him (Satan)", meaning that the 'angel of the key' had power and authority superior to that of the Devil himself. Therefore, from their standpoint, Abaddon, "the angel with the key of the abyss" (Apoc. chapt. 9) and "the ancient serpent", "the dragon", Satan the Devil, must not be both the same person.

==External links==
*[http://www.cblibrary.org/schaff_h/aa/abaddon.htm ''Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge''] Abaddon
*From Guildwars - http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Abaddon

==References==
<references/>

*{{cite book
| last =Metzeger
| first =Bruce M. (ed)
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Michael D. Coogan (ed)
| title = The Oxford Companion to the Bible
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| date = 1993
| location = Oxford, UK
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 0-19-504645-5 }}

*{{cite book
| last =Halley
| first =Henry H.
| authorlink =
| coauthors = James E. Ruark (ed)
| title = Halley's Bible Handbook
| publisher = [[ZondervanPublishingHouse]]
| date = 2000
| location = Grand Rapids, MI
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 0-310-22479-9 }}

*{{cite book
| last =MacDonald
| first =William
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Art Farstad (ed)
| title = Believer's Bible Commentary
| publisher = [[Thomas Nelson Publishers]]
| date = 1995
| location = Nashville, TN
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 0-8407-1972-8 }}

{{Wikisource1911Enc|Abaddon}}
*{{Catholic}}
*{{1911}}
*''This article incorporates text from the public-domain ''Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' 1907''


[[Category:Book_of_Revelation]]
[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]]
[[Category:New Testament places]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]
[[Category:Deities in the Hebrew Bible]]

[[da:Abaddon]]
[[es:Abaddon]]
[[eo:Abadon]]
[[fr:Abaddon]]
[[ia:Abaddon]]
[[he:אבדון]]
[[nl:Abaddon]]
[[ja:アバドン]]
[[pl:Abaddon (anioł)]]
[[pt:Abaddon]]
[[ru:Абаддон]]
[[fi:Abaddon]]
[[sv:Abaddon]]
[[wo:Abadon]]
[[zh:亞巴頓]]