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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Revelation 9:11 - 9:11
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As king (basilea). Predicate accusative and anarthrous. In Pro 30:27 it is stated that the locust has no king, but this is not true of these demonic locusts. Their king is “the angel of the abyss (Rev 9:1) whose orders they obey.”
His name is (onoma autōi). “Name to him” (nominative absolute and dative, as in Rev 6:8).
In Hebrew (Ebraisti). Adverb as in Rev 16:16; Joh 5:2; Joh 19:13, Joh 19:17, Joh 19:20; Joh 20:16. Abaddōn. A word almost confined to the Wisdom books (Job 26:6; Psa 88:11; Pro 15:11). It is rendered in the lxx by Apōleia, destruction.
In the Greek tongue (en tēi Hellēnikēi). With glōssēi or dialektōi understood. As usual, John gives both the Hebrew and the Greek.
Apollyon (Apolluōn). Present active masculine singular participle of apolluō, meaning “destroying,” used here as a name and so “Destroyer,” with the nominative case retained though in apposition with the accusative onoma. The personification of Abaddon occurs in the Talmud also. It is not clear whether by Apollyon John means Death or Satan. Bousset even finds in the name Apollyon an indirect allusion to Apollo, one of whose symbols was the locust, a doubtful point assuredly.