TRV
Translation
King James Version
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
Complete Jewish Bible
The second angel sounded his shofar, and what looked like an enormous blazing mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,
Berean Standard Bible
Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,
American Standard Version
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
World English Bible Messianic
The second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea became blood,
Geneva Bible (1599)
And the second Angel blew the trumpet, and as it were a great mountaine, burning with fire, was cast into the sea, and the thirde part of the sea became blood.
Young's Literal Translation
And the second messenger did sound, and as it were a great mountain with fire burning was cast into the sea, and the third of the sea became blood,
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In the KJVVerse 30,836 of 31,102
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Commentary on Revelation 8 verses 7–13
7 ¶ The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
Observe, I. The first angel sounded the first trumpet, and the events which followed were very dismal: There followed hail and fire mingled with blood, etc., Rev 8:7. There was a terrible storm; but whether it is to be understood of a storm of heresies, a mixture of monstrous errors falling on the church (for in that age Arianism prevailed), or a storm or tempest of war falling on the civil state, expositors are not agreed. Mr. Mede takes it to be meant of the Gothic inundation that broke in upon the empire in the year 395, the same year that Theodosius died, when the northern nations, under Alaricus, king of the Goths, broke in upon the western parts of the empire. However, here we observe, 1. It was a very terrible storm-fire, and hail, and blood: a strange mixture! 2. The limitation of it: it fell on the third part of the trees, and on the third part of the grass, and blasted and burnt it up; that is, say some, upon the third part of the clergy and the third part of the laity; or, as others who take it to fall upon the civil state, upon the third part of the great men, and upon the third part of the common people, either upon the Roman empire itself, which was a third part of the then known world, or upon a third part of that empire. The most severe calamities have their bounds and limits set them by the great God.
II. The second angel sounded, and the alarm was followed, as in the first, with terrible events: A great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood, Rev 8:8. By this mountain some understand the leader or leaders of the heretics; others, as Mr. Mede, the city of Rome, which was five times sacked by the Goths and Vandals, within the compass of 137 years; first by Alaricus, in the year 410, with great slaughter and cruelty. In these calamities, a third part of the people (called here the sea or collection of waters) were destroyed: here was still a limitation to the third part, for in the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. This storm fell heavy upon the maritime and merchandizing cities and countries of the Roman empire.
III. The third angel sounded, and the alarm had the like effects as before: There fell a great star from heaven, etc., Rev 8:10. Some take this to be a political star, some eminent governor, and they apply it to Augustulus, who was forced to resign the empire to Odoacer, in the year 480. Others take it to be an ecclesiastical star, some eminent person in the church, compared to a burning lamp, and they fix it upon Pelagius, who proved about this time a falling star, and greatly corrupted the churches of Christ. Observe, 1. Where this star fell: Upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. 2. What effect it had upon them; it turned those springs and streams into wormwood, made them very bitter, that men were poisoned by them; either the laws, which are springs of civil liberty, and property, and safety, were poisoned by arbitrary power, or the doctrines of the gospel, the springs of spiritual life, refreshment, and vigour to the souls of men, were so corrupted and embittered by a mixture of dangerous errors that the souls of men found their ruin where they sought for their refreshment.
IV. The fourth angel sounded, and the alarm was followed with further calamities. Observe, 1. The nature of this calamity; it was darkness; it fell therefore upon the great luminaries of the heaven, that give light to the world - the sun, and the moon, and the stars, either the guides and governors of the church, or of the state, who are placed in higher orbs than the people, and are to dispense light and benign influences to them. 2. The limitation: it was confined to a third part of these luminaries; there was some light both of the sun by day, and of the moon and stars by night, but it was only a third part of what they had before. Without determining what is matter of controversy in these points among learned men, we rather choose to make these plain and practical remarks: - (1.) Where the gospel comes to a people, and is but coldly received, and has not its proper effects upon their hearts and lives, it is usually followed with dreadful judgments. (2.) God gives warning to men of his judgments before he sends them; he sounds an alarm by the written word, by ministers, by men's own consciences, and by the signs of the times; so that, if a people be surprised, it is their own fault. (3.) The anger of God against a people makes dreadful work among them; it embitters all their comforts, and makes even life itself bitter and burdensome. (4.) God does not in this world stir up all his wrath, but sets bounds to the most terrible judgments. (5.) Corruptions of doctrine and worship in the church are themselves great judgments, and the usual causes and tokens of other judgments coming on a people.
V. Before the other three trumpets are sounded here is solemn warning given to the world how terrible the calamities would be that should follow them, and how miserable those times and places would be on which they fell, Rev 8:13. 1. The messenger was an angel flying in the midst of heaven, as in haste, and coming on an awful errand. 2. The message was a denunciation of further and greater woe and misery than the world had hitherto endured. Here are three woes, to show how much the calamities coming should exceed those that had been already, or to hint how every one of the three succeeding trumpets should introduce its particular and distinct calamity. If less judgments do not take effect, but the church and the world grow worse under them, they must expect greater. God will be known by the judgments that he executes; and he expects, when he comes to punish the world, the inhabitants thereof should tremble before him.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 7–13. Public domain.
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TiconiusAD 390
COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
He speaks of the devil as a burning mountain, for he consumed those near to him as though he were a fire. He is called “great” because he is one angel among others and is himself a creature.… He calls the world a “sea,” in which he saw the devil who had been cast down from heaven as a burning fire.
Primasius of HadrumetumAD 560
COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
The burning mountain cast into the sea is the devil, who was sent against the peoples. A third part of the sea became blood. By “blood” he means the wisdom of the flesh, which is hostile to God. For this reason it is said that through such wisdom the human soul is destroyed. And so the apostle said, “To be wise according to the flesh is death, for flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Andreas of CaesareaAD 614
COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 8:8-9
We are aware that according to the opinion of some this shows the sea with those in it burning by a purifying fire after the resurrection. However, the mention of a third seems to us ill-suited for this interpretation. For, as it is said, those who are being punished are more than those being saved. But according to the anagogical sense there is nothing wrong with thinking that the present life is figuratively called a “sea.” … As some of our teachers think, we think that the “great mountain” is the devil, who burns with the fire of wrath against us but who will be bound in Gehenna. But during the time allowed to him he will destroy a third of the islands and ships in the sea and that which swims in it, even as long ago he did to Job. For he is an enemy and an accuser against the righteous judgment of God. For “to that which one is submitted, to that one is a slave.” And it would not be foreign and contrary to the intention of the passage to say that the death of the soul comes upon those who in the sea of life blaspheme the Trinity through works and words.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on Revelation
And as it were a great mountain burning with fire, was cast into the sea, etc. With the growth of the Christian religion, the devil, swollen with pride and burning with the fire of his fury, was cast into the sea of the world, with the Lord saying: “If you say to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done” (Mark 11). Not that he was not there before, but that, having been cast out from the Church, he began to rage more greatly against his own, inflicting spiritual death on them with the pride of carnal wisdom. For to think according to the flesh is death (Romans 8). But the apostles were not taught by flesh and blood, but by the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 16). For in that sea, they steered the ship of faith which offered itself to be trodden by the feet of the Lord.
Alcuin of YorkAD 804
COMMENTARY ON REVELATION
And the second angel sounded the trumpet: and as it were a great mountain, burning with fire, was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood: and the third part of those creatures died in it, which had life, and the third part of the ships was destroyed. The Devil is called a great mountain, whether because he wanted to be like the one about which it is said, In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared, [Is. 2:2] or because in the end he will exalt himself above all that is called, or worshipped as, God. [2 Thes. 2:4] He is called burning because he is tormented by his own evilness and envy, because, ejected from among the saints by the angel sounding the trumpet, that is by the Church preaching, he is cast into the sea, that is into the incredulous — not that he was not already in them before, but since he has been ejected from among the saints, he starts ruling over the incredulous all the more. It seems that by the third that was turned into blood is symbolized the kind of death by which the two other thirds die, so that in one third is denoted the death, and in two thirds the number of the dying. The water turned into blood is fleshly wisdom, which kills souls; whence the apostle: Being wise according to the flesh is death. [Variant of Rom. 8:6] This wisdom means both bad credulity and wrong work; for with regards to wrong doctrine it is said, The letter killeth, [2 Cor. 3:6] and with regards to wrong work, Deliver me from bloods. [Ps. 50:16]
OecumeniusAD 990
Commentary on Revelation
The divine apostle writes to the Romans, saying: "that creation was subjected to futility, not willingly but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Rom. 8:20-21)
But when will it be freed? When there will be "new heavens and a new earth according to His promises," as Peter proclaims to us, writing in his second epistle. (2 Peter 3:13) In order for the earth, when it is renewed, to be freed from corruption and to become new, it is necessary that the sea also undergo this transformation; for the sea is within the earth. And how could it be purified itself, except through the cleansing of fire? Therefore, fire having fallen into it, it transformed the sea into blood, and killed a third of those within it. This, then, in relation to the letter and the perceptible, you might also conceive of as the sea, both by analogy and according to the laws of transformation, representing the present life because of the turmoil within it and the varied distractions; and fish and ships, symbolizing people immersed in the salty and bitter mud of sins, who, overwhelmed by sorrows, will ultimately fall into fruitless regrets over the lives they have lived.
Jacob Bar-SalibiAD 1171
'On this, Caius the heretic objected to this revelation, and said that it is not possible that these things should be, inasmuch as as a thief that cometh in the night, so is the coming of the Lord [1 Thess. v. 2].
Hippolytus of Rome answered him, and said that, in like manner as God wrought signs such as these in Egypt, so is He to work when Christ appears. And those that [were wrought] in Egypt were partial, inasmuch as a part of the people was subjected there ; but these are to be general,3 before the judgment, on all the world. Accordingly, by the revelation John declared that there are to be plagues before the judgment, as though for the avenging of the righteous and retribution on the unbelieving, that when involved in these they may not trouble the faithful.
So also the Lord said, There shall be in that day tribulation such as has been none like it [St. Matth. xxiv. 21] ; and Joel, I will show signs in heaven and on earth, blood and fire and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord come [Joel ii. 30, 31] ; and Amos, To what end is the day of the Lord for you, for it is dark and not light? in like manner as if thou fleddest from a lion and a bear met thee, or one leaned his hands on a wall and a serpent bit him [Amos v. 18, 19].
The text, that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief, signifies as regards the unbelieving that they are darkness, inasmuch as the faithful are children of light, who walk not in the night [St. John xi. 10; xii. 35, 36 ; Eph. v. 8]. Accordingly, in Egypt this type was completed; for the Egyptians had darkness, but the Hebrews had light [Exod. x. 22, 23].'
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Revelation 8:8 describes the dramatic impact of the second trumpet judgment, a cataclysmic event targeting the marine environment. As the second angel sounds, a colossal, fiery object, likened to a burning mountain, is hurled into the sea, resulting in one-third of the sea transforming into blood. This judgment signifies a profound disruption of the natural order and a severe blow to the earth's ecosystems, foreshadowing escalating divine wrath against an unrepentant world.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Revelation 8:8 is rich with Apocalyptic Imagery, designed to convey profound theological truths through vivid, often terrifying, symbolic visions. The phrase "as it were a great mountain burning with fire" employs a powerful Simile, comparing the destructive agent to a mountain. This comparison suggests immense scale, stability, and destructive potential, while the "as it were" clause indicates that the "mountain" is not a literal geological formation but a symbolic representation of a powerful entity or force. Symbolism is pervasive: the "mountain" can symbolize a powerful kingdom, a destructive force, or even a divine judgment itself. "Fire" consistently symbolizes divine judgment, purification, and destruction throughout Scripture. The "sea" often symbolizes the chaotic Gentile nations or the source of life, making its defilement particularly potent. The turning of water into "blood" is a clear Allusion to the Exodus plagues, specifically the first plague where the Nile turned to blood. This allusion connects the end-time judgments to God's historical acts of power and judgment against those who oppose Him, reinforcing the consistency of His character and methods. The specific mention of "a third part" also functions as Symbolism, indicating a partial, yet significant, judgment, hinting at a period of warning and opportunity for repentance before ultimate destruction.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Revelation 8:8 powerfully illustrates God's absolute sovereignty over creation and His unwavering commitment to justice. This judgment on the sea is not random but a targeted act of divine wrath, demonstrating that no part of creation is outside His purview or immune to the consequences of human rebellion. The transformation of the sea into blood underscores the severity of sin and its far-reaching ecological and existential implications. It serves as a stark reminder that God's patience has limits, and His judgments are real, designed to call humanity to repentance and acknowledge His rightful authority. The partial nature of this judgment ("a third part") also highlights God's mercy, as these are warnings intended to prompt a turning back to Him before the final, all-encompassing judgments.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Revelation 8:8, while describing a future apocalyptic event, carries profound implications for believers today. It serves as a solemn reminder of the gravity of sin and the certainty of divine judgment for those who remain unrepentant. This passage calls us to a deeper understanding of God's holiness and justice, recognizing that His patience is not an endorsement of sin but an invitation to repentance. For those who live in Christ, these judgments are not a source of fear but a confirmation of God's ultimate victory and His righteous governance over all creation. It should inspire us to live lives marked by humility, spiritual vigilance, and a renewed commitment to sharing the Gospel, which offers the only true escape from the wrath to come. Furthermore, the devastation of creation should prompt us to consider our own stewardship of the earth, recognizing that our actions have consequences and that God cares deeply for His handiwork.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Is the "great mountain burning with fire" a literal mountain or something else?
Answer: The phrase "as it were" (G5613 hōs) is crucial here. It indicates a simile, meaning the object is like a great mountain burning with fire, but not necessarily a literal geological mountain. In apocalyptic literature like Revelation, such imagery is highly symbolic. It could represent a powerful nation, a kingdom, a destructive force, or even a cosmic event that has the impact of a colossal, fiery mountain. The emphasis is on the immense scale and destructive nature of the event, rather than its literal composition. This symbolic interpretation aligns with other prophetic passages that use mountains to represent kingdoms or powers, such as in Jeremiah 51:25.
Why does the judgment affect "the third part" of the sea?
Answer: The recurring phrase "the third part" throughout the trumpet judgments (Revelation 8:7-12) signifies that these are partial judgments, not total annihilation. This partiality suggests that these events serve as severe warnings, designed to call humanity to repentance before the final, more comprehensive judgments (like the bowl judgments in Revelation 16, which often affect the whole). It reflects God's patience and His desire for people to turn from their wicked ways, as seen in 2 Peter 3:9.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Revelation 8:8 describes a future judgment, its ultimate significance is deeply rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the one who opens the seals and orchestrates these judgments, demonstrating His authority as the divine Judge, to whom "all judgment has been committed" (John 5:22). For those who are "in Christ," the terror of such judgments is averted, not because they are exempt from earthly suffering, but because they have been "justified by His blood" and will be "saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Romans 5:9). Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross absorbed the full wrath of God, providing a pathway for reconciliation and redemption. Furthermore, Christ is not only the Judge but also the ultimate Restorer. While the trumpet judgments bring devastation, they ultimately point to the new heavens and new earth, where Christ will make "all things new" (Revelation 21:5), a creation free from the curse of sin and the effects of judgment. His victory over sin and death ensures that for believers, even amidst cosmic upheaval, there is an enduring hope in the promise of a perfectly restored creation under His benevolent reign (Colossians 1:19-20).