Where did John get "Armageddon?"

ETYMOLOGY: Armageddon 101: The True History of the End of the World. Revelations associates Megiddo in northern Israel with the end of days, but as the struggle over Jerusalem threatens to bring the apocalypse closer, we may want to revisit that assumption (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).

Revelations consists of a prophetic description of how the world will end. Its writer identifies himself as John, but other than his name, nothing is known of him, and the traditional identification of him with John the Apostle is likely not true.

Yet whoever this John was, he played a decisive role in molding the Christian conception of the eschatological end of days. John, who wrote Revelations in Greek, also bestowed upon the English language two words for the end of the worlds: apocalypse and Armageddon. The origin of the first is clear, but the latter is puzzling.

Revelation, dang it! It's the Book of Revelation, singular.

Elon, I expect better from you. But otherwise, nice article on a challenging topic.

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