“And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.”
He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft — the opening of the abyss releases smoke (kapnos) that darkens sun and air, creating a hellish atmosphere. The imagery evokes apocalyptic darkness and the presence of evil; the cosmic darkening emphasizes judgment's scope.