Wormwood (star)

Wormwood, αψινθιον ("apsinthion") in Greek, is a star, or angel, [Lewis, James R., Oliver, Evelyn Dorothy (1996), "Angels A to Z", Entry: Wormwood, p. 417, Visible Ink Press] that appears in the Biblical New Testament Book of Revelation.

Wormwood in the Bible

Although the word "wormwood" appears several times in the Old Testament, translated from the Hebrew term לענה ("la'anah"), e.g., Deuteronomy 29:18 and Jeremiah 9:15, its only clear reference as a named entity occurs in the New Testament book of Revelation: "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." (Revelation 8:10, 11 - KJB).

Certain commentators have held that this "great star" represents one of several important figures in political or ecclesiastical history, [Henry, Matthew, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc6.xxvii.ix.html "Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation)": Revelation Chap. VIII] , Public domain, Library of Congress call no: BS490.H4, at [http://www.ccel.org/ Christian Classics Ethereal Library] ] while other Bible dictionaries and commentaries view the term as a reference to a celestial being.

"A Dictionary of The Holy Bible" states, "the star called Worm wood seems to denote a mighty prince, or power of the air, the instrument, in its fall, of sore judgments on large numbers of the wicked." [Rand, W. W. (1859), "A Dictionary of the Holy Bible: for general use in the study of the scriptures; with engravings, maps, and tables", [http://ia301314.us.archive.org/1/items/dictionholybible00randrich/dictionholybible00randrich_djvu.txt Entry: WORM WOOD] at [http://www.archive.org archive.org] ] "Scofield Reference Notes" draws a link between the term in Revelation and Isaiah 14:12, [Scofield, C.I. (1917), "Scofield Reference Notes" (1917 Edition), [http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/ScofieldReferenceNotes/srn.cgi?book=re&chapter=008 Revelation Chapter 8] ] which reads, "How you have fallen from heaven,O Lucifer , son of the morning! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" (King James Bible) KJB

Interpretations of Revelation 8:11

Historist interpretations

Various religious groups and figures, including Seventh-day Adventists and the theologians Matthew Henry and John Gill,Gill, John, "Exposition of the Entire Bible", [http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=re&chapter=008&verse=010&next=011&prev=009 Revelation 8:10] at [http://bible.crosswalk.com/ bible.crosswalk.com] ] regard the verses of Revelation 8 as symbolic references to past events in human history. In the case of Wormwood, some historist interpreters believe that this figure represents the army of the Huns as led by king Attila, pointing to chronological consistencies between the timeline of prophecy they have accepted and the history of the Huns' campaign in Europe. [Nichol, Francis D (1957), "The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary", Volume 7, Revelation, p. 789, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D.C.] Others point to Arius, the emperor Constantine, Origen or the ascetic monk Pelagius, who denied the doctrine of Original sin.Gill, John, "Exposition of the Entire Bible", [http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GillsExpositionoftheBible/gil.cgi?book=re&chapter=008&verse=010&next=011&prev=009 Revelation 8:10] at [http://bible.crosswalk.com/ bible.crosswalk.com] ]

Another interpretation leads some researchers to conclude that the events of Revelation are in mid-progress. For example, the name for a specific type of wormwood is translated in Ukrainian to "Chernobyl" (or "Чорнобиль")The M+G+R Foundation, "About the "Wormwood" Spoken of in Revelation 8:10-11", [http://www.mgr.org/wormwood.html] at [http://www.mgrfoundation.org/indexEnglish.html] ] . Therefore, the meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in A.D. 1986 could be interpreted as the verses in Revelation referenced above that state, "When the third angel blew his trumpet, a large star burning like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The star was called "Wormwood," and a third of all the water turned to wormwood. Many people died from this water, because it was made bitter"New American Bible, United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, "Revelation 8:10-11", [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/revelation/revelation8.htm] at [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/] ] .

Futurist interpretations

Commentators favoring a naturalistic interpretation of Revelation 8:10 relate it to the last days, seeing Wormwood as a meteor fated to strike the earth and cause environmental calamities. [Robertson, A.T. (1932), [http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/RobertsonsWordPictures/rwp.cgi?book=re&chapter=008&verse=010 "Commentary on Revelation 8:10,"] "Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament", Broadman Press, at [http://bible.crosswalk.com/ bible.crosswalk.com] ] Others, while not specifying a precise method, see in the verse a "personification of something God threatens to do to [His] people when they allow themselves to be deceived by false prophets." [Editors: Osborne, Grant R., Briscoe, D. Stuart, Robinson, Haddon (1997), [http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=17&source=1&seq=i.73.8.3 "The First Four Trumpets,"] Commentaries for Revelation Chapter 8, "The IVP New Testament Commentary Series", ISBN 0-8308-1800-6 at [http://www.biblegateway.com biblegateway.com] ]

Alternative interpretations

A number of Bible scholars consider the term "Wormwood" to be a purely symbolic representation of the bitterness that will fill the earth during troubled times, noting that the plant for which Wormwood is named, "Artemisia absinthium", is a known Biblical metaphor for things that are unpalatably bitter. [Johnson, B. W. (1891), "The People's New Testament", [http://www.ccel.org/j/johnson_bw/pnt/PNT27-08.HTM The Revelation of John, Chapter VIII: The Seventh Seal Opened] at the [http://www.ccel.org Christian Classics Etherial Library] ] [ [http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GenevaStudyBible/gen.cgi?book=re&chapter=008 Revelation] in the "Geneva Study Bible" (1599) at [http://bible.crosswalk.com bible.crosswalk.com] ]

References in literature

The character Lebedyev in Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" interprets the "Star of Wormwood" as the network of railways spread across Europe.

"The Screwtape Letters" is a work of Christian fiction by C.S. Lewis first published in book form in 1942. The story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior tempter named Wormwood, so as to advise him on methods of securing the damnation of an earthly man, known only as "the Patient." The character of Miss Wormwood from the Calvin and Hobbes comics was named after this character.

In the "Christ Clone Trilogy" by James BeauSeigneur, Wormwood is an asteroid named after Miss Wormwood, from Calvin and Hobbes comics. It is destroyed by nuclear missiles, but the arsenic contained inside its divided exterior fall into the Earth's oceans, poisoning the fresh water and killing most, if not all, fish.

In the Stephen King short story "Home Delivery", an alien object enters Earth's orbit and causes the dead to rise as zombies and attack the living; the hellish object, a meteor-sized ball comprised of many writhing worms, is referred to as "Star Wormwood." In "The Light of Other Days," by writers Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, there are also references of a meteor called Wormwood that is heading for our planet. Also in "The Gunslinger," Sylvia Pittson, the preacher-woman in the town of Tull, makes reference to the "Star Wormword" while she speaks of Satan during a Sabbath.(Located on p.51 of the Revised edition.)

Wormwood is mentioned as a possible baby name by a Satanist nun in the novel "Good Omens".

In the DC Comics miniseries "Kingdom Come", the Secretary General of the United Nations is named Wyrmwood. He calls down a nuclear strike to rid the world of all metahumans.

"Star Wormword", a novel by Curtis Bok, set in the Depression, is about a horrible crime, the subsequent trial, conviction and execution of the criminal. The author, himself a renowned judge, ends the book with a criticism of capital punishment.

References

External links

* [http://bible.cc/revelation/8-11.htm Revelation 8:11 The name of the star is called Wormwood]
* [http://www.biblicalproportions.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=4395 Wormwood] at [http://www.biblicalproportions.com/modules/wfsection/index.php?category=22 Biblical Proportions Bible Dictionary and Index]