Revelation 9:2-12

2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ¹rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ²the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.

3 Then from the smoke came ³locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.

4 They were told ⁴not to harm ⁵the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ⁶the seal of God on their foreheads.

5 They were allowed to torment them ⁷for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

6 And in those days ⁸people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 ⁹In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ¹⁰on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ¹¹like human faces,

8 their hair like women's hair, and ¹²their teeth like lions' teeth;

9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ¹³like the noise of many chariots with ¹⁴horses rushing into battle.

10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ¹⁵for five months is in their tails.

11 They have ¹⁶as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ¹⁷Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.^[a]

12 ¹⁸The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

Revelation 9:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 9

This chapter gives an account of the blowing of the fifth and sixth trumpets, and of the effects following upon them. The fifth angel blows his trumpet, and a star falls; the key of the bottomless pit is given to him, which being opened by it, out of it comes smoke to the darkening of the sun and air, and out of the smoke locusts, who have power like scorpions, Re 9:1-3; whose power is restrained from using it to the hurt of the grass, or any green thing or tree, only of those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads; but are permitted, though not to kill men, yet to torment them five months, which is worse than death unto them, Re 9:4-6. The shapes of these locusts, which are said to be like horses, are described by their heads, faces, hair, teeth, breastplates, wings, and tails, and are said to have a king over them, whose name is mentioned, Re 9:7-11. The blowing of this trumpet brings on one of the woes mentioned in Re 8:13, and the two other follow, Re 9:12. The sixth angel blows his trumpet, and a voice is heard from the horns of the altar, directed to the said angel, ordering him to loose four angels bound in the great river Euphrates, where they were prepared, for a determinate time, to slay the third part of men, and they were loosed accordingly, Re 9:13-15. The number of the army, under these angels, is given, Re 9:16, and the horses and horsemen are described; the riders by their breastplates of fire, jacinth, and brimstone; their horses' heads as heads of lions, fire, smoke, and brimstone, issuing out of their mouths, by which the third part of men are killed, Re 9:17,18. The reason of this slaughter is, because they had power both in their mouth and tails, which latter were like serpents, and had heads, with which they did mischief, Re 9:19; and yet such who were not killed by these plagues, but escaped, did not repent of their idolatry, murders, sorceries, fornication, and theft, Re 9:20,21.

Cross References

• 1. [Genesis 19:28; Isaiah 34:10]
• 2. [Joel 2:10]
• 3. See Exodus 10:4
• 4. Revelation 6:6; Revelation 7:3
• 5. Revelation 8:7
• 6. See Revelation 7:2, 3
• 7. ver. 10
• 8. Job 3:21; Job 7:15, 16; Jeremiah 8:3
• 9. Joel 2:4
• 10. [Nahum 3:17]
• 11. Daniel 7:8
• 12. Joel 1:6
• 13. Joel 2:5
• 14. Jeremiah 8:6; [Job 39:21-25]
• 15. ver. 5
• 16. [Job 18:14; Proverbs 30:27; Ephesians 2:2]
• 17. See Job 26:6
• 18. [Revelation 8:13; Revelation 11:14]

Footnotes

• [a]. Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer