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Armageddon
ArmageddonIn Revelation 16:16, the battlefield designated where blasphemers, unclean spirits, and devils join forces for the final great battle of the ages between their evil hordes and Christ and his faithful angelic army is Armageddon, "the mound of Megiddo." The inspiration for such a choice of battlegrounds was quite likely an obvious one for John the Revelator, for it has been said that more blood has been shed around the hill of Megiddo than any other single spot on Earth. Located 10 miles southwest of Nazareth at the entrance to a pass across the Carmel mountain range, it stands on the main highway between Asia and Africa and in a key position between the Euphrates and the Nile rivers, thus providing a traditional meeting place of armies from the East and from the West. For thousands of years, the Valley of Mageddon, now known as the Jezreel Valley, had been the site where great battles had been waged and the fate of empires decided. Thothmes III, whose military strategies made Egypt a world empire, proclaimed the taking of Megiddo to be worth the conquering of a thousand cities. During World War I in 1918, the British general Allenby broke the power of the Turkish army at Megiddo. Most scholars agree that the word "Armageddon" is a Greek corruption of the Hebrew Har-Megiddo, "the mound of Megiddo," but they debate exactly when the designation of Armageddon was first used. The city of Megiddo was abandoned sometime during the Persian period (539 b.c.e.–332 b.c.e.), and the small villages established to the south were known by other names. It could well have been that John the Revelator, writing in the Jewish apocalyptic tradition of a final conflict between the forces of light and darkness, was well aware of the bloody tradition of the hill of Megiddo and was inspired by the ruins of the city on its edge; but by the Middle Ages, theologians appeared to employ Armageddon as a spiritual concept without any conscious association with the Valley of Megiddo. Armageddon simply stood for the promised time when the returning Christ and his legions of angels would gather to defeat the assembled armies of darkness. During that same period, those church scholars who persisted in naming an actual geographical location for the final battle between good and evil theorized that it might occur at places in the Holy Land as widely separated as Mount Tabor, Mount Zion, Mount Carmel, or Mount Hermon. In the fourteenth century, the Jewish geographer Estori Ha-Farchi suggested that the roadside village of Lejjun might be the location of the biblical Megiddo. Ha-Farchi pointed out that Lejjun was the Arabic form of Legio, the old Roman name for the place. In the early nineteenth century, American biblical scholar Edwin Robinson traveled to the area of Palestine that was held at that time by the Ottoman Empire and became convinced that Ha-Farchi was correct in his designation of the site as the biblical Megiddo. Later explorers and archaeologists determined that the ruins of the ancient city lay about a mile north of Lejjun at what had been renamed by the Ottoman government as the mound of Tell el-Mutasellim, "the hill of the governor." Today, tourists visit Tel Megiddo in great numbers, attracted by the site's apocalyptic mystique and the old battleground's significance as the place where the fate of ancient empires was decided with the might of sword and spear. The Israel National Parks Authority works in close coordination with the Megiddo Expedition and the Ename Center for Public Archaeology of Belgium in offering visitors a dramatic perspective of the history of Armageddon. Delving DeeperBloomfield, Arthur E. Before the Last Battle— Armageddon. Minneapolis: Dimension Books, Bethany Fellowship, 1971. Goetz, William R. Apocalypse Next. Camp Hill, Penn.: Horizon Books, 1996. Shaw, Eva. Eve of Destruction: Prophecies, Theories and Preparations for the End of the World. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1995. Silberman, Neil Asher, Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, and Baruch Halpern. "Digging at Armageddon." Archaeology, November/December 1999, pp. 32–39. Unterman, Alan. Dictionary of Jewish Lore and Legend. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991. |
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"Armageddon." Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Armageddon." Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406300056.html "Armageddon." Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained. 2003. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3406300056.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon (Megiddo), Israel Ruins. The name comes from the Hebrew har megiddon ‘Hill of Megiddo’. In ancient times it was a strategically important Palestinian fortified town guarding the route, through a pass, from Egypt into Galilee and Syria. The site of many important Old Testament battles, it is mentioned in the Bible (Revelation 16: 16) as the site of the final battle between good and evil at the Day of Judgement. The name is now used to describe a cataclysmic conflict on a vast scale.
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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Armageddon." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Armageddon." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Armageddon.html JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Armageddon." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Ar·ma·ged·don / ˌärməˈgedn/ • n. (in the New Testament) the last battle between good and evil before the Day of Judgment. ∎ the place where the last battle between good and evil will be fought. ∎ a dramatic and catastrophic conflict, typically seen as likely to destroy the world or the human race: nuclear Armageddon. |
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"Armageddon." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Armageddon." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-armageddon.html "Armageddon." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon (in the New Testament) the last battle between good and evil before the Day of Judgement; the place where this will be fought. In extended usage, Armageddon means a dramatic and catastrophic conflict, especially one seen as likely to destroy the world or the human race.
The name is Greek, and comes from Hebrew har mĕgiddōn ‘hill of Megiddo’ (see Megiddo). |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Armageddon." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Armageddon." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Armageddon.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Armageddon." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon ˌärməˈgedn
1. (in the New Testament) the last battle between good and evil before the Day of Judgment. 2. a dramatic and catastrophic conflict, typically seen as likely to destroy the world or the human race: nuclear Armageddon. Greek, from Hebrew har mĕgiddōn ‘hill of Megiddo’ (Rev. 16:16.) |
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"Armageddon." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Armageddon." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Armageddon.html "Armageddon." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon place of the last decisive battle at the Day of Judgement (see Rev. 16: 16 A.V.; R. V. Harmagedon); any ‘final’ conflict on a large scale XIX. Taken to be the Gr. equivalent of Heb. har megiddōn mountain region of Megiddo.
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T. F. HOAD. "Armageddon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "Armageddon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Armageddon.html T. F. HOAD. "Armageddon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
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"Armageddon." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Armageddon." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Armageddon.html "Armageddon." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon The scene of the final apocalyptic struggle between good and evil as depicted in Rev. 16: 16. The name (Harmagedon, NRSV) appears to be connected with Megiddo, where many great battles were fought (e.g. 2 Kgs. 23: 29), in the NW of Palestine.
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "Armageddon." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "Armageddon." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-Armageddon.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "Armageddon." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon. In Christian eschatology, the scene of the last battle between good and evil. The name appears only in Revelation 16. 16, where it is said to be ‘Hebrew’; it is usually taken to be from Har Megiddo, mountain of Megidda.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Armageddon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Armageddon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Armageddon.html JOHN BOWKER. "Armageddon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Armageddon.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon , in the New Testament, great battlefield where, at the end of the world, the powers of evil will fight the powers of good. If the usual etymology is correct, the name alludes to the frequency of battles at Megiddo . |
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"Armageddon." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Armageddon." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Armagedd.html "Armageddon." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Armagedd.html |
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Armageddon
Armageddon
•Abaddon, gladden, gladdon, Ibadan, madden, sadden
•abandon, Brandon, Rwandan, Ugandan
•Baden, Baden-Baden, Coloradan, garden, harden, lardon, Nevadan, pardon
•Wiesbaden • bear garden
•tea garden
•Armageddon, deaden, leaden, redden
•Eldon, Sheldon
•Brendan, tendon
•Dresden
•Aden, Aidan, Haydn, laden, maiden
•handmaiden
•cedarn, cotyledon, dicotyledon, Eden, monocotyledon, Sweden
•wealden
•bestridden, forbidden, hidden, midden, outridden, ridden, stridden, unbidden
•Wimbledon
•linden, Lindon, Swindon
•Wisden • Mohammedan • Myrmidon
•harridan • hagridden • Sheridan
•bedridden • Macedon • Huntingdon
•Dryden, guidon, Leiden, Poseidon, Sidon, widen
•Culloden, hodden, modern, sodden, trodden
•Cobden • downtrodden
•Auden, broaden, cordon, Gordon, Hordern, Jordan, warden
•churchwarden • louden • bounden
•loden, Snowdon
•beholden, embolden, golden, olden
•hoyden • Bermudan • wooden
•Mukden • gulden • sudden
•Blunden, London
•Riordan • bourdon • bombardon
•celadon • Clarendon
•burden, guerdon
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"Armageddon." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Armageddon." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Armageddon.html "Armageddon." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Armageddon.html |
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