Revelation 9:19

19 For their power was in their mouthes and in their tayles: for their tayles were lyke vnto serpetes and had heedes and with them they dyd hurt:

Revelation 9:19 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 9:19

For their power is in their mouth
In what proceeded out of their mouth, or seethed to do so; in their guns, and what came out of them:

and in their tails;
which may design their foot soldiers, which were as the tail to their horse, and who sometimes did great service; or their way of fighting when they fled, by casting up arrows into the air, which would fall upon the heads and horses of those that pursued them; or their ambushments, by which they destroyed many; or their perfidious violation of treaties; or it may be their tails may intend the doctrine of Mahomet, the false prophet, who is the tail, ( Isaiah 9:15 ) ,

for their tails [were] like unto serpents;
crooked, crafty, poisonous, and, pernicious:

and had heads;
every tail had a head to it; which may be understood of the officers of the foot soldiers, or of the priests and teachers of the Mahometan religion:

and with them they do hurt;
with their guns, the power in their mouth, they did hurt to the bodies of men; and with their false doctrines, their tails, they did hurt to the souls of men; the Ethiopic version here adds, "five months"; which seems to be taken from ( Revelation 9:10 ) .

Revelation 9:19 In-Context

17 And thus I sawe the horses in a vision and them yt sate on the havynge fyry habbergions of a Iacyncte coloure and brymstony and the heeddes of ye horses werre as the heeddes of lyons. And out of their mouthes went forth fyre and smoke and brymstone.
18 And of these iii. was the thyrde parte of men kylled: that is to saye of fyre smoke and brymstone which proceded out of the mouthes of them:
19 For their power was in their mouthes and in their tayles: for their tayles were lyke vnto serpetes and had heedes and with them they dyd hurt:
20 And the remnaunt of the me which were not kylled by these plages repented not of the dedes of their hondes that they shulde not worshyppe devyls and ymages of golde and sylver and brasse and stone and of wood which nether can se nether heare nether goo.
21 Also they repented not of their murther and of their sorcery nether of their fornacion nether of their thefte.
The Tyndale Bible is in the public domain.