Abaddon

Abaddon

The Angel of the Abyss

Revelation 9:11

They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

— Revelation 9:11 (ESV)

Revelation 9:1–3

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace... Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth.

— Revelation 9:1–3 (ESV)

Abaddon (Hebrew: “Destruction”) appears in Revelation 9 as the angel-king who rules over the abyss and commands a terrifying army of locust-like creatures. His Greek name, Apollyon (“Destroyer”), reinforces his role as an agent of divine judgment.

His nature is deliberately ambiguous. Unlike the clearly rebellious fallen angels of 1 Enoch, Abaddon appears to act under divine authority — he is “given” the key to the abyss, suggesting he serves God’s purposes even in destruction. In the Hebrew Bible, “Abaddon” appears as a place name synonymous with Sheol and death (Job 26:6, Job 28:22, Psalm 88:11, Proverbs 15:11), personified here in Revelation as its ruler.

Whether Abaddon is fallen or faithful remains one of Revelation’s many deliberate mysteries. He stands at the boundary between judgment and destruction, obedience and terror — an angel whose very name means annihilation, yet who appears to serve at heaven’s command.

Further Reading