1AndG2532 the fifthG3991 angelG32 soundedG4537, andG2532 I sawG1492 a starG792 fallG4098 fromG1537 heavenG3772 toG1519 the earthG1093: andG2532 to himG846 was givenG1325 the keyG2807 of the bottomlessG12 pitG5421. 2AndG2532 he openedG455 the bottomlessG12 pitG5421; andG2532 there aroseG305 a smokeG2586 out ofG1537 the pitG5421, asG5613 the smokeG2586 of a greatG3173 furnaceG2575; andG2532 the sunG2246 andG2532 the airG109 were darkenedG4654 by reason ofG1537 the smokeG2586 of the pitG5421. 3AndG2532 there cameG1831 out ofG1537 the smokeG2586 locustsG200 uponG1519 the earthG1093: andG2532 to themG846 was givenG1325 powerG1849, asG5613 the scorpionsG4651 of the earthG1093 haveG2192 powerG1849. 4AndG2532 it was commandedG4483 themG846 thatG3363 they shouldG91 notG3363 hurtG91 the grassG5528 of the earthG1093, neitherG3761 anyG3956 green thingG5515, neitherG3761 anyG3956 treeG1186; butG1508 onlyG3441 those menG444 whoG3748 haveG2192 notG3756 the sealG4973 of GodG2316 inG1909 theirG846 foreheadsG3359. 5AndG2532 to themG846 it was givenG1325 thatG3363 they shouldG615 notG3363 killG615 themG846, butG235 thatG2443 they should be tormentedG928 fiveG4002 monthsG3376: andG2532 theirG846 tormentG929 was asG5613 the tormentG929 of a scorpionG4651, whenG3752 he strikethG3817 a manG444. 6AndG2532 inG1722 thoseG1565 daysG2250 shall menG444 seekG2212 deathG2288, andG2532 shallG2147 notG3756 findG2147 itG846; andG2532 shall desireG1937 to dieG599, andG2532 deathG2288 shall fleeG5343 fromG575 themG846. 7AndG2532 the shapesG3667 of the locustsG200 were likeG3664 horsesG2462 preparedG2090 forG1519 battleG4171; andG2532 onG1909 theirG846 headsG2776 were as it wereG5613 crownsG4735 likeG3664 goldG5557, andG2532 theirG846 facesG4383 were asG5613 the facesG4383 of menG444. 8AndG2532 they hadG2192 hairG2359 asG5613 the hairG2359 of womenG1135, andG2532 theirG846 teethG3599 wereG2258 asG5613 the teeth of lionsG3023. 9AndG2532 they hadG2192 breastplatesG2382, as it wereG5613 breastplatesG2382 of ironG4603; andG2532 the soundG5456 of theirG846 wingsG4420 was asG5613 the soundG5456 of chariotsG716 of manyG4183 horsesG2462 runningG5143 toG1519 battleG4171. 10AndG2532 they hadG2192 tailsG3769 likeG3664 scorpionsG4651, andG2532 there wereG2258 stingsG2759 inG1722 theirG846 tailsG3769: andG2532 theirG846 powerG1849 was to hurtG91 menG444 fiveG4002 monthsG3376. 11AndG2532 they hadG2192 a kingG935 overG1909 themG848, who is the angelG32 of the bottomless pitG12, whoseG846 nameG3686 in the Hebrew languageG1447 is AbaddonG3, butG2532 inG1722 the Greek languageG1673 he hathG2192 his nameG3686 ApollyonG623. 12OneG3391 woeG3759 is pastG565; and, beholdG2400, there comeG2064 twoG1417 woesG3759 moreG2089 afterG3326 thisG5023. 13AndG2532 the sixthG1623 angelG32 soundedG4537, andG2532 I heardG191 aG3391 voiceG5456 fromG1537 the fourG5064 hornsG2768 of the goldenG5552 altarG2379 whichG3588 is beforeG1799 GodG2316, 14SayingG3004 to the sixthG1623 angelG32 whoG3739 hadG2192 the trumpetG4536, LooseG3089 the fourG5064 angelsG32 whoG3588 are boundG1210 inG1909 the greatG3173 riverG4215 EuphratesG2166. 15AndG2532 the fourG5064 angelsG32 were loosedG3089, whoG3588 were preparedG2090 forG1519 an hourG5610, andG2532 a dayG2250, andG2532 a monthG3376, andG2532 a yearG1763, toG2443 slayG615 the third partG5154 of menG444. 16AndG2532 the numberG706 of the armyG4753 of the horsemenG2461 was two hundredG1417 thousandG3461 thousandG3461: andG2532 I heardG191 the numberG706 of themG846. 17AndG2532 thusG3779 I sawG1492 the horsesG2462 inG1722 the visionG3706, andG2532 them that satG2521 onG1909 themG846, havingG2192 breastplatesG2382 of fireG4447, andG2532 of jacinthG5191, andG2532 brimstoneG2306: andG2532 the headsG2776 of the horsesG2462 were asG5613 the headsG2776 of lionsG3023; andG2532 out ofG1537 theirG846 mouthsG4750 issuedG1607 fireG4442 andG2532 smokeG2586 andG2532 brimstoneG2303. 18ByG5259 theseG5130 threeG5140 wasG615 the third partG5154 of menG444 killedG615, byG1537 the fireG4442, andG2532 byG1537 the smokeG2586, andG2532 byG1537 the brimstoneG2303, whichG3588 issuedG1607 out ofG1537 theirG846 mouthsG4750. 19ForG1063 theirG846 powerG1849 isG1526 G2076 inG1722 theirG846 mouthG4750, andG2532 inG1722 theirG846 tailsG3769: forG1063 theirG846 tailsG3769 were likeG3664 serpentsG3789, and hadG2192 headsG2776, andG2532 withG1722 themG846 they do hurtG91. 20AndG2532 the restG3062 of the menG444 whoG3739 wereG615 notG3756 killedG615 byG1722 theseG5025 plaguesG4127 yetG3777 repentedG3340 notG3777 ofG1537 the worksG2041 of theirG846 handsG5495, thatG3363 they shouldG4352 notG3363 worshipG4352 demonsG1140, andG2532 idolsG1497 of goldG5552, andG2532 silverG693, andG2532 brassG5470, andG2532 stoneG3035, andG2532 of woodG3585: whichG3739 neitherG3777 canG1410 seeG991, norG3777 hearG191, norG3777 walkG4043: 21NeitherG2532 G3756 repented theyG3340 ofG1537 theirG846 murdersG5408, norG3777 ofG1537 theirG846 sorceriesG5331, norG3777 ofG1537 theirG846 immoralityG4202, norG3777 ofG1537 theirG846 theftsG2809.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE FIFTH TRUMPET: THE FALLEN STAR OPENS THE ABYSS WHENCE ISSUE LOCUSTS. THE SIXTH TRUMPET. FOUR ANGELS AT THE EUPHRATES LOOSED. (Rev. 9:1-21)
The last three trumpets of the seven are called, from
Rev 8:13, the woe-trumpets.
fall--rather as Greek, "fallen." When John saw it, it was not in the act of falling, but had fallen already. This is a connecting link of this fifth trumpet with
Rev 12:8-
Rev 12:9,
Rev 12:12, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, for the devil is come down," &c. Compare
Isa 14:12, "How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning!"
the bottomless pit--Greek, "the pit of the abyss"; the orifice of the hell where Satan and his demons dwell.
3 upon--Greek, "unto," or "into."
as the scorpions of the earth--as contrasted with the "locusts" which come up from hell, and are not "of the earth."
have power--namely, to sting.
4 not hurt the grass . . . neither . . . green thing . . . neither . . . tree--the food on which they ordinarily prey. Therefore, not natural and ordinary locusts. Their natural instinct is supernaturally restrained to mark the judgment as altogether divine.
those men which--Greek, "the men whosoever."
in, &c.--Greek, "upon their forehead." Thus this fifth trumpet is proved to follow the sealing in
Rev 7:1-
Rev 7:8, under the sixth seal. None of the saints are hurt by these locusts, which is not true of the saints in Mohammed's attack, who is supposed by many to be meant by the locusts; for many true believers fell in the Mohammedan invasions of Christendom.
5 they . . . they--The subject changes: the first "they" is the locusts; the second is the unsealed.
five months--the ordinary time in the year during which locusts continue their ravages.
their torment--the torment of the sufferers. This fifth verse and
Rev 9:6 cannot refer to an invading army. For an army would kill, and not merely torment.
6 shall desire--Greek, "eagerly desire"; set their mind on.
shall flee--So B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read. But A and Aleph read, "fleeth," namely continually. In
Rev 6:16, which is at a later stage of God's judgments, the ungodly seek annihilation, not from the torment of their suffering, but from fear of the face of the Lamb before whom they have to stand.
7 prepared unto battle--Greek, "made ready unto war." Compare Note, see on
Joel 2:4, where the resemblance of locusts to horses is traced: the plates of a horse armed for battle are an image on a larger scale of the outer shell of the locust.
crowns-- (
Nah 3:17). ELLIOTT explains this of the turbans of Mohammedans. But how could turbans be "like gold?" ALFORD understands it of the head of the locusts actually ending in a crown-shaped fillet which resembled gold in its material.
as the faces of men--The "as" seems to imply the locusts here do not mean men. At the same time they are not natural locusts, for these do not sting men (
Rev 9:5). They must be supernatural.
8 hair of women--long and flowing. An Arabic proverb compares the antlers of locusts to the hair of girls. EWALD in ALFORD understands the allusion to be to the hair on the legs or bodies of the locusts: compare "rough caterpillars,"
Jer 51:27.
as the teeth of lions-- (
Joel 1:6, as to locusts).
9 as it were breastplates of iron--not such as forms the thorax of the natural locust.
as . . . chariots-- (
Joel 2:5-
Joel 2:7).
battle--Greek, "war."
10 tails like unto scorpions--like unto the tails of scorpions.
and there were stings--There is no oldest manuscript for this reading. A, B, Aleph, Syriac, and Coptic read, "and (they have) stings: and in their tails (is) their power (literally, 'authority': authorized power) to hurt."
11 And--so Syriac. But A, B, and Aleph, omit "and."
had--Greek, "have."
a king . . . which is the angel--English Version, agreeing with A, Aleph, reads the (Greek) article before "angel," in which reading we must translate, "They have as king over them the angel," &c. Satan (compare
Rev 9:1). Omitting the article with B, we must translate, "They have as king an angel," &c.: one of the chief demons under Satan: I prefer from
Rev 9:1, the former.
bottomless pit--Greek, "abyss."
Abaddon--that is, perdition or destruction (
Job 26:6;
Pro 27:20). The locusts are supernatural instruments in the hands of Satan to torment, and yet not kill, the ungodly, under this fifth trumpet. Just as in the case of godly Job, Satan was allowed to torment with elephantiasis, but not to touch his life. In
Rev 9:20, these two woe-trumpets are expressly called "plagues." ANDREAS OF CĆSAREA, A.D. 500, held, in his Commentary on Revelation, that the locusts mean evil spirits again permitted to come forth on earth and afflict men with various plagues.
12 Greek, "The one woe."
hereafter--Greek, "after these things." I agree with ALFORD and DE BURGH, that these locusts from the abyss refer to judgments about to fall on the ungodly immediately before Christ's second advent. None of the interpretations which regard them as past, are satisfactory.
Joel 1:2-
Joel 1:7;
Joel 2:1-
Joel 2:11, is strictly parallel and expressly refers (
Joel 2:11) to THE DAY OF THE LORD GREAT AND VERY TERRIBLE:
Joel 2:10 gives the portents accompanying the day of the Lord's coming, the earth quaking, the heavens trembling, the sun, moon, and stars, withdrawing their shining:
Joel 2:18,
Joel 2:31-
Joel 2:32, also point to the immediately succeeding deliverance of Jerusalem: compare also, the previous last conflict in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the dwelling of God thenceforth in Zion, blessing Judah. DE BURGH confines the locust judgment to the Israelite land, even as the sealed in
Rev 7:1-
Rev 7:8 are Israelites: not that there are not others sealed as elect in the earth; but that, the judgment being confined to Palestine, the sealed of Israel alone needed to be expressly excepted from the visitation. Therefore, he translates throughout, "the land" (that is, of Israel and Judah), instead of "the earth." I incline to agree with him.
13 a voice--literally, "one voice."
from--Greek, "out of."
the four horns--A, Vulgate (Amiatinus manuscript), Coptic, and Syriac omit "four." B and CYPRIAN support it. The four horns together gave forth their voice, not diverse, but one. God's revelation (for example, the Gospel), though in its aspects fourfold (four expressing world-wide extension: whence four is the number of the Evangelists), still has but one and the same voice. However, from the parallelism of this sixth trumpet to the fifth seal (
Rev 6:9-
Rev 6:10), the martyrs' cry for the avenging of their blood from the altar reaching its consummation under the sixth seal and sixth trumpet, I prefer understanding this cry from the four corners of the altar to refer to the saints' prayerful cry from the four quarters of the world, incensed by the angel, and ascending to God from the golden altar of incense, and bringing down in consequence fiery judgments. Aleph omits the whole clause, "one from the four horns."
14 in, &c.--Greek, "epi to potamo"; "on," or "at the great river."
Euphrates--(Compare
Rev 16:12). The river whereat Babylon, the ancient foe of God's people was situated. Again, whether from the literal region of the Euphrates, or from the spiritual Babylon (the apostate Church, especially ROME), four angelic ministers of God's judgments shall go forth, assembling an army of horsemen throughout the four quarters of the earth, to slay a third of men, the brunt of the visitation shall be on Palestine.
15 were--"which had been prepared" [TREGELLES rightly].
for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year--rather as Greek, "for (that is, against) THE hour, and day, and month, and year," namely, appointed by God. The Greek article (teen), put once only before all the periods, implies that the hour in the day, and the day in the month, and the month in the year, and the year itself, had been definitely fixed by God. The article would have been omitted had a sum-total of periods been specified, namely, three hundred ninety-one years and one month (the period from A.D. 1281, when the Turks first conquered the Christians, to 1672, their last conquest of them, since which last date their empire has declined).
slay--not merely to "hurt" (
Rev 9:10), as in the fifth trumpet.
third part--(See on
Rev 8:7-
Rev 8:12).
of men--namely, of earthy men,
Rev 8:13, "inhabiters of the earth," as distinguished from God's sealed people (of which the sealed of Israel,
Rev 7:1-
Rev 7:8, form the nucleus).
16 Compare with these two hundred million,
Ps 68:17;
Dan 7:10. The hosts here are evidently, from their numbers and their appearance (
Rev 9:17), not merely human hosts, but probably infernal, though constrained to work out God's will (compare
Rev 9:1-
Rev 9:2).
and I heard--A, B, Aleph, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and CYPRIAN omit "and."
17 thus--as follows.
of fire--the fiery color of the breastplates answering to the fire which issued out of their mouths.
of jacinth--literally, "of hyacinth color," the hyacinth of the ancients answering to our dark blue iris: thus, their dark, dull-colored breastplates correspond to the smoke out of their mouths.
brimstone--sulphur-colored: answering to the brimstone or sulphur out of their mouths.
18 By these three--A, B, C, and Aleph read (apo for kupo), "From"; implying the direction whence the slaughter came; not direct instrumentality as "by" implies. A, B, C, Aleph also add "plagues" after "three." English Version reading, which omits it, is not well supported.
by the fire--Greek, "owing to the fire," literally, "out of."
19 their--A, B, C and Aleph read, "the power of the horses."
in their mouth--whence issued the fire, smoke, and brimstone (
Rev 9:17). Many interpreters understand the horsemen to refer to the myriads of Turkish cavalry arrayed in scarlet, blue, and yellow (fire, hyacinth, and brimstone), the lion-headed horses denoting their invincible courage, and the fire and brimstone out of their mouths, the gunpowder and artillery introduced into Europe about this time, and employed by the Turks; the tails, like serpents, having a venomous sting, the false religion of Mohammed supplanting Christianity, or, as ELLIOTT thinks, the Turkish pachas' horse tails, worn as a symbol of authority. (!) All this is very doubtful. Considering the parallelism of this sixth trumpet to the sixth seal, the likelihood is that events are intended immediately preceding the Lord's coming. "The false prophet" (as
Isa 9:15 proves), or second beast, having the horns of a lamb, but speaking as the dragon, who supports by lying miracles the final Antichrist, seems to me to be intended. Mohammed, doubtless, is a forerunner of him, but not the exhaustive fulfiller of the prophecy here: Satan will, probably, towards the end, bring out all the powers of hell for the last conflict (see on
Rev 9:20, on "devils"; compare
Rev 9:1-
Rev 9:2,
Rev 9:17-
Rev 9:18).
with them--with the serpent heads and their venomous fangs.
20 the rest of the men--that is, the ungodly.
yet--So A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. B and Aleph read, "did not even repent of," namely, so as to give up "the works," &c. Like Pharaoh hardening his heart against repentance notwithstanding the plagues.
of their hands-- (
Deut 31:29). Especially the idols made by their hands. Compare
Rev 13:14-
Rev 13:15, "the image of the beast"
Rev 19:20.
that they should not--So B reads. But A, C, and Aleph read "that they shall not": implying a prophecy of certainty that it shall be so.
devils--Greek, "demons" which lurk beneath the idols which idolaters worship.
21 sorceries--witchcrafts by means of drugs (so the Greek). One of the fruits of the unrenewed flesh: the sin of the heathen: about to be repeated by apostate Christians in the last days,
Rev 22:15, "sorcerers." The heathen who shall have rejected the proffered Gospel and clung to their fleshly lusts, and apostate Christians who shall have relapsed into the same shall share the same terrible judgments. The worship of images was established in the East in A.D. 842.
fornication--singular: whereas the other sins are in the plural. Other sins are perpetrated at intervals: those lacking purity of heart indulge in one perpetual fornication [BENGEL].
