The Abyss
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1]
<translit> a </translit> - <translit> bis </translit> ´, ( ἡ ἄβυσσος , <translit> hē ábussos </translit> ): In classical Greek the word is always an adjective, and is used (1) literally, "very deep," "bottomless"; (2) figuratively, "unfathomable," "boundless." "Abyss" does not occur in the King James Version but the Revised Version (British and American) so transliterates ἄβυσσος , <translit> ábussos </translit> in each case. The King James Version renders the Greek by "the deep" in two passages ( Luke 8:31 ; Romans 10:7 ). In Revelation the King James Version renders by "the bottomless pit" ( Revelation 9:1 , Revelation 9:2 , Revelation 9:11 ; Revelation 11:7 ; Revelation 17:8 ; Revelation 20:1 , Revelation 20:3 ). In the Septuagint <translit> abussos </translit> is the rendering of the Hebrew word תּהום , <translit> tehō̄m </translit> ̌ . According to primitive Semitic cosmogony the earth was supposed to rest on a vast body of water which was the source of all springs of water and rivers ( Genesis 1:2 ; Deuteronomy 8:7 ; Psalm 24:2 ; Psalm 136:6 ). This subterranean ocean is sometimes described as "the water under the earth" ( Exodus 20:4 ; Deuteronomy 5:8 ). According to Job 41:32 <translit> tehō̄m </translit> is the home of the leviathan in which he plows his hoary path of foam. The Septuagint never uses <translit> abussos </translit> as a rendering of שׁאול , <translit> she'ōl </translit> (= Sheol = Hades) and probably <translit> tehōm </translit> never meant the "abode of the dead" which was the ordinary meaning of Sheol . In Psalm 71:20 <translit> tehōm </translit> is used figuratively, and denotes "many and sore troubles" through which the psalmist has passed (compare Jonah 2:5 ). But in the New Testament the word <translit> abussos </translit> means the "abode of demons." In Luke 8:31 the King James Version renders "into the deep" (Weymouth and The Twentieth Century New Testament = "into the bottomless pit"). The demons do not wish to be sent to their place of punishment before their destined time. Mark simply says "out of the country" ( Mark 5:10 ). In Romans 10:7 the word is equivalent to Hades , the abode of the dead. In Revelation (where the King James Version renders invariably "the bottomless pit") <translit> abussos </translit> denotes the abode of evil spirits, but not the place of final punishment; it is therefore to be distinguished from the "lake of fire and brimstone" where the beast and the false prophet are, and into which the Devil is to be finally cast ( Revelation 19:20 ; Revelation 20:10 ). See also <a> ASTRONOMY </a> , III, 7.
