Revelation 9:18

18 And by these three plagues was slain the third part of men, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths.

Revelation 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 9:18

And by these three was the third part of men killed
The Alexandrian copy, and some others, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, read, "by these three plagues": as the western Roman empire is in the preceding chapter frequently expressed by the third part of several things, see ( Revelation 8:7-12 ) ; so here the eastern Roman empire by the third part of men; vast numbers of the inhabitants of which were destroyed by the Turks, through the use of guns, out of which issued fire, smoke, and brimstone; and Constantinople, the metropolis of it, was taken in this way, as before observed, with the taking of which the empire ceased.

By the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued
out of their mouths;
that is, by the firing of guns.

Revelation 9:18 In-Context

16 And the number of the army of horsemen was twenty thousand times ten thousand. And I heard the number of them.

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision. And they that sat on them had breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone. And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions: and from their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone.

18 And by these three plagues was slain the third part of men, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths.

19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For, their tails are like to serpents and have heads: and with them they hurt.

20 And the rest of the men, who were not slain by these plagues, did not do penance from the works of their hands, that they should not adore devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk: