Bible Dictionaries

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Abaddon

ABADDON . A word peculiar to the later Heb. (esp. ‘Wisdom’) and Judaistic literature; sometimes synonymous with Sheol , more particularly, however, signifying that lowest division of Sheol devoted to the punishment of sinners (see Sheol). Properly, its Gr. equivalent would be apôleia (‘destruction’), as found in the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] . In Revelation 9:11 Abaddon is personified, and is said to be the equivalent of Apollyon (‘destroyer’). Abaddon differs from Gehenna in that it represents the negative element of supreme loss rather than that of positive suffering.

Shailer Mathews.