Abyss
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G12 names the abyss, an unfathomable depth portrayed in the New Testament as a realm associated with the dead, demonic confinement, or apocalyptic evil. The passages emphasize authority over it rather than invite speculative mapping.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἄβυσσος (G12) · Open the biblical lexicon
G12 names the abyss, an unfathomable depth portrayed in the New Testament as a realm associated with the dead, demonic confinement, or apocalyptic evil. The passages emphasize authority over it rather than invite speculative mapping.
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Abyss (9).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 8:31. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (7), Luke (1), Romans (1).
G12 names the abyss, an unfathomable depth portrayed in the New Testament as a realm associated with the dead, demonic confinement, or apocalyptic evil. The passages emphasize authority over it rather than invite speculative mapping. In Luke. 8. 31, the demons beg Jesus not to command them into the Abyss, revealing their fear and His superior authority. In Rom.
10. 7, Paul rejects the imagined need for someone to descend into the Abyss to bring Christ up, because God has already raised Him and the saving word is near. In Rev. 20. 1, an angel descends with the key and chain, showing delegated authority over the Abyss before Satan is confined. G12 opens teaching on Christ's victory, the limits placed on hostile powers, and faith that receives God's accomplished work.
It does not license detailed tours of the unseen realm, identify every experience of darkness with demonic imprisonment, or make Revelation's images a timetable detached from their book.
G12 draws on the scriptural language of the deep and appears in Gospel exorcism, Paul's resurrection-centered use of Deuteronomy, and Revelation's visions of constrained evil. Each setting presents the abyss under divine authority rather than as a rival sovereign realm.
And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.
The demons repeatedly beg Jesus not to send them into the Abyss, acknowledging that His command determines their destination and limits.
Or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
Paul rejects descending into the Abyss to retrieve Christ from the dead because the gospel proclaims God's completed resurrection work.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
John sees an angel descending with the key of the Abyss and a great chain before Satan is seized, confined, and sealed.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. The abode of demons and the dead in the underworld, distinct from ordinary sea or earthly depths.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
9 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
the abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read versethe abyss, the unfathomable depth
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
ἄβυσσος is built from these roots:
G12 names a depth beyond ordinary human reach, yet every selected text places that depth beneath God's authority. The demons in Luke fear Jesus' command because He is not negotiating as one spiritual power among others. Romans uses descent into the Abyss to deny that believers must perform an impossible quest to bring Christ back from death; God has raised Him, and the word of faith announces what has been accomplished.
Revelation pictures the Abyss opened or shut only under granted authority, and its most terrifying agents still move toward judgment. Responsible teaching therefore refuses both denial and obsession. Scripture acknowledges personal evil and severe opposition, but it does not ask Christians to master a secret geography of darkness. It calls them to confess the risen Lord, trust His victory, resist deception, and endure faithfully.
The abyss is not a metaphor for every depression, trauma, prison, or social crisis, and vulnerable people should not be told that their suffering proves demonic residence. The texts center Christ and God's rule.
Rom.10.7
G12 is a Greek noun formed from language of unfathomable depth. In the New Testament it functions substantivally for the Abyss, with context associating it with death, demonic confinement, or apocalyptic emergence.
The Greek Scriptures use abyss language for the primeval deep and other overwhelming depths, while the New Testament joins it to death and hostile spiritual powers. Christ's resurrection and authority supply the canonical center, and Revelation displays evil's restraint and destination.