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Revelation 9

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The Fifth Trumpet: Demonic Locusts Released 1–12

1
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. ​
2
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. ​
3
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ​
4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. ​
5
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. ​
6
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. ​
7
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. ​
12
One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. ​

The Sixth Trumpet: The Euphrates Army 13–19

13
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ​
14
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. ​
15
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. ​
16
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. ​
17
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18
By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19
For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Humanity Refuses to Repent 20–21

20
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: ​
21
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 9

Verse 1

the key of the bottomless pit — Abyssos, the deep, a place of confinement: the demons begged Christ 'that he would not command them to go out into the deep' (Luke 8:31). The key 'was given' to the star, so its opening is by permission, while Christ himself holds 'the keys of hell and of death' (1:18). Readers differ on who the fallen star is.

Verse 2

the smoke of a great furnace — Kaminos, a furnace. The same likeness is used of the smoke over Sodom (Gen 19:28) and of Sinai, where 'the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace' (Ex 19:18). The sun darkened by the smoke recalls the day of the LORD, 'a day of darkness and of gloominess' (Joel 2:2).

Verse 3

locusts upon the earth — Akris, the locust, whose swarms in Joel 1:4 strip the land. The locusts of Egypt 'did eat every herb of the land' (Ex 10:15), but these are told in v.4 to spare the grass. Their power is 'as the scorpions of the earth', and Moses had spoken of the wilderness with its 'fiery serpents, and scorpions' (Deut 8:15).

Verse 4

the seal of God in their foreheads — The sealed are those of 7:3. In Ezek 9:6 the destroyers are told, 'come not near any man upon whom is the mark', so that the sealing there too sets people apart from a judgment. 'Hurt' is adikeo, the verb of 6:6 and 7:2–3, and 'commanded' (said to them) shows the locusts working under limits.

Verse 5

tormented five months — Basanizo is to torment, and its noun basanismos follows in the same verse. They may not kill, a limit like the one on Satan in Job 2:6, 'he is in thine hand; but save his life'. The 'five months' is repeated in v.10, and the sting is 'as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man'.

Verse 6

seek death, and shall not find it — Job 3:21 speaks of those who 'long for death, but it cometh not'. In Jer 8:3 'death shall be chosen rather than life', and in 6:16 men ask the mountains to fall on them. Here 'death shall flee from them' (pheugo, to flee), so that what they desire keeps out of their reach.

Verse 11

Abaddon… Apollyon — The name is given in 'the Hebrew tongue' and 'the Greek tongue'. Both words occur only here in the New Testament. Abaddon is the Hebrew rendered 'destruction' in Job 26:6, 'Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering', and in Prov 15:11; Apollyon is the Greek destroyer, from apollymi, to destroy.

Verse 12

One woe is past — The three woes were announced in 8:13. The first ends here, with the fifth trumpet. The second is announced ('there come two woes more') and ends in 11:14, 'The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly'. The sixth trumpet begins in v.13.

Verse 13

the four horns of the golden altar — The altar of incense had four horns, 'of the same' piece (Ex 30:2), and on them blood of atonement was put once a year (Ex 30:10). It is the golden altar of 8:3 and 8:5, from which the prayers of the saints and the fire came. The voice comes from that altar as the sixth trumpet sounds.

Verse 14

the great river Euphrates — The Euphrates was the boundary of the land promised to Abraham's seed, 'the great river, the river Euphrates' (Gen 15:18; Deut 1:7). The four angels are 'bound' (deo) there and must be 'loosed' (luo). The sixth vial is poured on the same river in 16:12, so that 'the way of the kings of the east might be prepared'.

Verse 15

prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year — Hetoimazo, to make ready, is the verb of 8:6. The four are held for an appointed time and are then released. Their purpose reaches 'the third part of men', after the third parts of earth, sea, waters and lights in 8:7–12, and the third of men is killed in 9:18.

Verse 16

two hundred thousand thousand — Myrias is a myriad, ten thousand, and the figure is two of these multiplied by a myriad. The same word gives the angels 'ten thousand times ten thousand' in 5:11. John 'heard the number', as he heard the number of the sealed in 7:4.

Verse 20

repented not of the works of their hands — Metanoeo, to change the mind. 'Idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood' are those of Ps 115:4–7, with mouths that speak not, eyes that see not, and feet that walk not; Dan 5:23 has much the same. Sacrifice is made to 'devils' (daimonion) in Deut 32:17 and 1 Cor 10:20.

Verse 21

their sorceries — Pharmakeia, the use of drugs in magic, the source of 'pharmacy'. It occurs elsewhere only in Gal 5:20, 'witchcraft', and Rev 18:23, 'by thy sorceries were all nations deceived'. The four named sins, murders, sorceries, fornication and thefts, overlap with the commandments against killing, adultery and stealing (Ex 20:13–15).