Go to Related Reading
About this book

Revelation

About this book
Chapter 9

1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss. 2 He opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it like smoke from a giant furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft.⁠ 3 Then out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.⁠ 4 They were told not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their forehead.⁠ 5 The locusts were not given permission to kill them, but only to torture them for five months, and their torture was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person. 6 In those days people will seek death, but will not be able to find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.⁠ 7 Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men’s faces.⁠ 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 10 They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.⁠ 12 The first woe has passed, but two woes are still coming after these things! 13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel, the one holding the trumpet, “Set free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”⁠ 15 Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were set free to kill a third of humanity. 16 The number of soldiers on horseback was 200,000,000; I heard their number. 17 Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses resides in their mouths and in their tails because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries. 20 The rest of humanity, who had not been killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands so that they did not stop worshiping demons and idols⁠ made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols⁠ that cannot see or hear or walk about.⁠ 21 Furthermore, they did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells, of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing.

Texts in conversation

Compare Revelation 9:11 and Eruvin 19a

New Testament · Rabbinic

Share:

Summary

Revelation’s description of Abaddon, the angel of the abyss, is similar to Rabbinic tradition in tractate Eruvin, where Abaddon is a name for Gehenna, the place of destruction. Both connect the name to the traditional Hebrew place of punishment.

Passages

Revelation 9:11

New Testament
7 Now the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men’s faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 10 They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. 12 The first woe has passed, but two woes are still coming after these things!
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

Eruvin 19a

Rabbinic · Babylonian Talmud
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Gehenna has seven names, and they are as follows: She’ol, Avadon, Be’er Shaḥat, Bor Shaon, Tit HaYaven, Tzalmavet, and Eretz HaTaḥtit. She’ol, as it is written: “Out of the belly of the netherworld [she’ol] I cried and You did hear my voice” (Jonah 2:3). Avadon, as it is written: “Shall Your steadfast love be reported in the grave or Your faithfulness in destruction [avadon]?” (Psalms 88:12). Be’er Shaḥat, as it is written: “For You will not abandon my soul to the netherworld; nor will You suffer Your pious one to see the pit [shaḥat]” (Psalms 16:10). And Bor Shaon and Tit HaYaven, as it is written: “He brought me up also out of the gruesome pit [bor shaon], out of the miry clay [tit hayaven]” (Psalms 40:3). And Tzalmavet, as it is written: “Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death [tzalmavet], bound in affliction and iron” (Psalms 107:10). And with regard to Eretz Taḥtit, i.e., the underworld, it is known by tradition that this is its name.
450–550 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Eruvin

References

"... The curse of the nozerim and minim is dire, employing the verb that the Bible commonly uses to describes the punitive death of humans who are evil, enemies, sinners, etc. This verbal root '-b-d is usually translated as 'being lost.' However, its most common meaning in biblical Hebrew is 'to perish' or 'to die;' often as punishment for sin. However, the rabbinic understanding of this verb preserves some ambiguity. After Judaism develops concepts of an afterlife, does this 'perish' simply imply loss of life on earth, or are there consequences after death and eschatologically as well, like the lack of 'hope' for apostates? Though the midrashic traditions do not comment on all of the many instances where being "lost" means "death;' nor are they unanimous where they do comment, and some do give this reading. For example, b. Eruvin 19a includes 'abbadon' among the names for Gehenna. Numbers 16:23 describes the earth's swallowing up the rebellious Korah and his followers, concluding: 'and they were lost/perished from among the congregation.' A tannaitic tradition preserves a debate in which Rabbi Akiva answers that this means that they were also lost from the world to come ..."
Ruth Langer, Cursing the Christians? A History of the Birkat HaMinim (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 60.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Tags

Your feedback

Revelation 9:11 and Eruvin 19a

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library