📖 Biblical Definition
The abyss in Scripture refers to the bottomless pit — the place of confinement for fallen spirits and demonic powers, distinct from hell (Gehenna) and the grave (Sheol/Hades). It appears in the creation account as tehom (the formless deep over which the Spirit hovered, Gen 1:2), but in the NT becomes the prison of the demonic. The Legion demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss (Luke 8:31). In Revelation, the abyss is opened by a key given from heaven, releasing demonic hordes in the end times. Satan himself will be bound in the abyss for a thousand years during the Millennium. The abyss underscores that God is sovereign even over the realm of darkness — he holds its key.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
A'BYSS, noun [Latin abyssus; Greek abyssos, bottomless; a priv.
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A'BYSS, noun [Latin abyssus; Greek abyssos, bottomless; a priv. and byssos, bottom.]
1. A bottomless gulf; used to denote the great deep or chaos before the creation; the immeasurable depth of the ocean; the great deep; the internal regions; the infernal pit.
2. Any deep, immeasurable space; any thing profound and without bottom.
3. Depth; deepness. The abyss of time. The abyss of divine knowledge.
📖 Key Scripture
• Luke 8:31 — "And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss."
• Revelation 9:1 — "He was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit."
• Revelation 20:1–3 — "He seized the dragon…and bound him for a thousand years, threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him."
• Romans 10:7 — "Who will descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)."
• Genesis 1:2 — "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters [tehom — the deep]."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern culture has trivialized the abyss into a metaphor for personal emptiness or existential despair — "staring int...
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Modern culture has trivialized the abyss into a metaphor for personal emptiness or existential despair — "staring into the abyss" (Nietzsche). This strips the term of its cosmological and eschatological weight. The abyss of Scripture is not a psychological state but a real spiritual realm — the domain of imprisoned spirits awaiting judgment. Dismissing it as mythology leaves people vulnerable to the very forces Scripture warns about and gives theological cover to demonic activity that the Bible treats with deadly seriousness.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
G12 — abyssos (ἄβυσσος): bottomless, the abyss, the pit; used 9x in NT — mostly in Revelation for the demonic prison.
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🌐 Proto-Language Roots
Greek: ἄβυσσος (abyssos) ἀ- (a-) = without, not (privative prefix) βυσσός (byssos) = bottom, depth (from βύω = to...
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Greek: ἄβυσσος (abyssos) ἀ- (a-) = without, not (privative prefix) βυσσός (byssos) = bottom, depth (from βύω = to stop up, fill) → literally "without bottom" = bottomless Hebrew: תְּהוֹם (tehom, H8415) Proto-Semitic *tihāmu = sea, deep Cognate with Akkadian tiāmtu / Babylonian Tiamat Used in Gen 1:2 — the primordial deep that God's Spirit hovered over Not a rival deity (contra Babylon) but raw creation material under divine authority
Usage
• "The demons knew exactly who Jesus was — and they feared Him. They begged not to be sent into the abyss. The most terrifying beings in creation trembled before the Son of God."
• "God holds the key to the abyss (Rev 9:1). Nothing escapes His sovereign control — not even the pit of hell's army."
• "The tehom of Genesis 1 is the raw, formless deep — not chaos defeating God, but creation material awaiting His shaping word."