Clifton Hodges (@cliftonhodges)

Abyss – Abaddon – Apollyon – Tartarus and Hades Revelation 9:1. And the fifth Messenger sounded; and I saw a star which fell from heaven upon the earth. And there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. 2. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and smoke issued from the pit, like the smoke of a furnace that is in blast; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.‥‥ 11. And they had a king over them, the Messenger of the abyss;{33} and his name, in Hebrew, is Abaddon;{34} and in Greek, his name is Apollyon.{35} {33} ‘Abyss’ is rendered from numerous Hebrew words in the Tanakh such as ‘bore, sheol, pachath, shachath’ and ‘be’er’. Psalm 55:23 says; “You, Elohim, will thrust them down to the abyss (be’er) of destruction, men bloodthirsty and deceptive, before half their days are spent. For my part, I put my trust in you.” The Hebrew ‘be’er’ could also be translated as “well”, “pit” or “slimepits” depending on context and how each translator chooses to render it. - There is no sense of a bottomless fiery mythological abyss in the Tanakh, terms like “abyss” and “pit” are simply used to denote separation from YHWH’s love and mercies. When men choose rebellion and unrighteous living they separate themselves from YHWH. - Torah calls us to live ‘Kodesh’ (‘Set Apart’) lives unto our Father YHWH. He is a Father who desires all men to draw close to Himself. In 1 Chron 29:18 David prays, “O YHWH Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart unto you,” illustrating how our thoughts, and intents of our hearts are being called to dwell according to righteousness in YHWH’s Spirit. - In Luke 8:30-31 extreme separation from YHWH is applied to demons; “And Y’shua asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said to him, ‘Legion’ because many demons had entered into him. And they were beseeching him that he would not command them to go to the abyss.” Regrettably, some theologians use the testimony of demons and the ‘abyss’ in Luke to conclude that their theology of ‘Tartarus’ and ‘Hades’ must be true, but in reality demons are not reliable witnesses of truth. Please see footnotes on Mark 9:47, Luke 12:5, 2 Peter 2:4. {34} ‘Abbadon’ is mentioned 6 times in the Tanakh, the first mention is Job 26:6, “Sheol (the grave) is naked before him; abaddon (destruction) lies uncovered.” Psalm 88:12 says, “Will your grace be declared in sheol (the grave), or your faithfulness in ‘abaddon’ (destruction)?” Proverbs 27:20 states, “Sheol and abaddon are never satisfied, and human eyes are never satisfied.” - The language of the Tanakh does not personify ‘abaddon’ as an angel or demon, it is derived from the prime root ‘abad’ meaning to ‘perish’ or ‘destroy’. Notice that when ‘sheol’ and ‘abaddon’ are used together in the Tanakh it simply denotes the chronological sequence of complete destruction. It was not until the influences of mythological Greek culture in the NT that ‘abaddon’ took on the personified form of ‘Appoloyon’. See also Job 28:22; 31:12; Prov 15:11 and footnote on Matthew 10:6 (in the AENT Translation). {35} ‘Appoloyon’ (or ‘Apollyon’) is derived from the Greek ‘apollumi’, which simply means “destruction” as does the Hebrew ‘abaddon’. Although Greek mythology (ancient deity soap operas) record a player (deity) named Apollo, it does not appear that there is any association with Apollyon, except that the Greek verb apollymi means, “to destroy”. — AENT 2016, pp. 713-714. #Abyss #Abaddon #Apollyon #Tartarus #Hades #Revelation9 #Job26 #Job28 #Job31 #Proverbs15 #Proverbs27 #Matthew10 #Psalms55 #Psalms88 #2Peter2 #Luke8 #Luke12 #Mark9 #1Chronicles29 #Bible #Scripture #Scriptural #Biblical #Saints #Spiritual #Praise #Blessings #Faith #Hebraic #VerseOfTheDay #VersesOfTheDay #YHWH #Yeshua #Messianic #Nazarene #Nazarite