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The Revelation · New Testament

Revelation 9

Revelation 9: the fifth and sixth trumpets

General context

The fifth angel sounds and John sees a star fallen from heaven to earth, given the key of the bottomless pit. Smoke rises from the opened pit and darkens the sun and the air, and locusts come out of the smoke with power like that of scorpions. They are commanded not to hurt grass, green things or trees, but only those without the seal of God in their foreheads, and not to kill but to torment for five months, so that men seek death and do not find it. The locusts are described by comparison: shapes like horses, crowns like gold, faces as of men, hair as of women, teeth as of lions, breastplates as of iron, wings sounding like chariots, tails like scorpions. Their king is the angel of the bottomless pit, named in two languages. One woe is declared past. The sixth angel sounds, a voice from the horns of the golden altar orders four angels loosed at the river Euphrates, and an army of horsemen numbering two hundred thousand thousand kills a third part of men with fire, smoke and brimstone. Those left do not repent.

Cited passages: Revelation 9:1, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:3, Revelation 9:4, Revelation 9:5, Revelation 9:6, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:8, Revelation 9:9, Revelation 9:10, Revelation 9:11, Revelation 9:12, Revelation 9:13, Revelation 9:14, Revelation 9:15, Revelation 9:16, Revelation 9:17, Revelation 9:18, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 9:21

Revelation 9 (KJV)

1And 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.

2And 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.

3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4And 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.

5And 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.

6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

7And 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.

8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

9And 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.

10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

11And 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.

12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15And 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.

16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

17And 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.

18By 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.

19For 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.

20And 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:

21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

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Historical context

One figure in the chapter is named, and the text gives the name twice over: the king of the locusts is "the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon". Nothing further is said about him. The star that falls is not named, and the text does not say whether it is the star named Wormwood in the previous chapter. One waterway is named, "the great river Euphrates", and the four angels bound there are described only as "prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year". The seal in the foreheads points back to the sealing at 7:3, which this chapter treats as already done. Spans are stated without being dated or placed: five months twice, and the fourfold period of the four angels. The killing is reported plainly, "the third part of men killed", and the chapter ends by listing what the survivors did not turn from.

Cited passages: Revelation 9:1, Revelation 9:11, Revelation 9:14, Revelation 9:15, Revelation 9:18, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 9:21, Revelation 7:3, Revelation 8:11

Literary context

The chapter describes almost nothing directly. The locusts arrive through a chain of likenesses, "as the smoke of a great furnace", "like unto horses prepared unto battle", "as it were crowns like gold", "as the faces of men", "as the hair of women", "as the teeth of lions", "as it were breastplates of iron", "as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle", so that the reader is given resemblances instead of a creature. Both plagues come from a place being opened or loosed rather than from something falling: a pit unlocked, four angels untied. The measure "the third part" returns from the earlier trumpets. The close is the chapter's sharpest turn, since after two plagues the narrator reports no change at all, with "repented not" twice over, and the second list names murders, sorceries, fornication and thefts.

Cited passages: Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:3, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:8, Revelation 9:9, Revelation 9:10, Revelation 9:14, Revelation 9:15, Revelation 9:18, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 9:21

Key moments

  1. The pit unlocked (Revelation 9:1). A fallen star is given the key of the bottomless pit.
  2. Limits set on the locusts (Revelation 9:4). They are told to harm only those without the seal of God in their foreheads.
  3. Death sought and not found (Revelation 9:6). The text says men will seek death and it will flee from them.
  4. Abaddon and Apollyon (Revelation 9:11). The locusts' king is named in Hebrew and in Greek.
  5. Four angels loosed (Revelation 9:14). A voice from the golden altar orders four angels released at the Euphrates.
  6. A third part of men killed (Revelation 9:18). Fire, smoke and brimstone from the horses' mouths kill a third part of men.
  7. No repentance (Revelation 9:20). The survivors are said not to have turned from the works of their hands.

For reflection

Two plagues run their course and the narrator's last word is that the survivors did not repent. What does it change about the chapter to end on a refusal rather than on the damage?