Megiddo was a town belonging to Manasseh, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The word Megiddo comes from the Hebrew root gadad (Strong's Concordance number #H1413) which means "cut off" and
slaughter. Megiddo had been originally one of the royal cities of the Canaanites ( Joshua 12:21) and was one of those of which the Israelites were unable for a long time to take possession. It was fully occupied by the Israelites, rebuilt and fortified under the reign of King Solomon (see 1Kings
4:12, 9:15).
The valley or plain of Megiddo was part of the plain of Esdraelon, the great battlefield of Palestine.
The word armageddon, which means "mount of Megiddo" occurs only once in the Bible. In the sixteenth chapter of Revelation this word is used to designate the place of the final conflict between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist:
" And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings
of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." ( Rev. 16:13-14, 16)
Scriptural References: Joshua 12; 1Kings 4, 9 ; Revelation 16 (KJV Bible)
Sources Used: Easton's Bible Dictionary; Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible; Adam Clark's Commentary on the Entire Bible;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary; Strong's Concordance
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