Revelation 9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:3

And there came out of the smoke locusts the earth ,.... Not literally, for these locusts might not meddle with the grass, nor any green thing, or tree, as locusts do, only men, Revelation 9:4 ; and had a king over them, Revelation 9:11 ; which locusts have not, Proverbs 30:27 , though the allusion is to such, which spawn and breed in pits, and may be properly said to come out of them; hence in the Hebrew tongue they are called גבי , from גבא , "a pit", or "ditch": nor are devils... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:4

And it was commanded them ,.... The locusts, by Christ, who has a sovereign power over all men, and lays them under the restraints of his providence: that they should not hurt the grass of the earth : true Christians, private believers, it may be those of the lower class; who for their numbers, and for their flourishing estate under the dews of heavenly grace, and the distillations of the doctrine of grace, and the clear shining of the sun of righteousness upon them, and for their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:5

And to them it was given that they should not kill them ,.... As the power of the locusts was limited with respect to the persons they should hurt, so with regard also to the mischief they should do; for even those whom they were suffered to annoy they might not kill, that is, utterly root out and destroy, so as that they were no more: and thus, though the Saracens killed great numbers in the eastern empire, by their frequent incursions and ravages, and made large conquests, yet they could... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:6

And in those days men shall seek death ,.... Or desire to die, as Job did: and shall not find it ; or shall not die: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them ; death will be preferred to a miserable life; it will be chosen rather than life, Jeremiah 8:3 . The ravages of the Saracens, their incursions, and the invasions by them, struck such terror into the inhabitants of divers parts of the empire, that they made death more eligible to them than life. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:7

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses ,.... The heads of locusts, especially of some of them, are very much like the heads of horses: and here they are compared to horses prepared unto battle ; as they are in Joel 2:4 . The horse is a warlike creature, swift, strong, and courageous, Job 39:21 . Locusts sometimes have appeared in the form of armies, and have marched in great order with their leaders before them, and have pitched their camps very regularly; see Joel... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:8

And they had hair, as the hair of women ,.... Some locusts have smooth, others hairy heads F14 Gloss. in T. Bab. Cholin. fol. 65. 1. : this fitly points at the Arabians or Saracens, who, as Pliny says F15 Hist. Nat. l. 6. c. 28. , used to wear long hair without cutting it, and attired as women, and have their names also from women: they were called Hagarenes, from Hagar, Abraham's handmaid, by whom he had Ishmael, the father of these people; afterwards they took the name of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:9

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ,.... Alluding to the hard skin of the locusts, with which nature has fenced it F17 Claudian. Epigram. 13. ; see Joel 2:8 ; and denotes the armour with which the Saracens were accoutred: and if to be understood of the western locusts, the hardness of their hearts, their seared consciences, or their protection by the princes of the earth, the many privileges they are possessed of, the laws made in their favour, and for their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:10

And they had tails like unto scorpions ,.... Locusts are said to have the tail of a serpent, and of the vipers of the earth F21 Scriptores Arab. ; See Gill on Revelation 9:3 , Revelation 9:5 . And there were stings in their tails; either in the baser sort of them, the Saracens and Papists; or in their doctrines, the prophet being the tail, Isaiah 9:15 ; with which both Mahomet, who set himself up for a prophet, and the Romish clergy, who set up their decrees and unwritten... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:11

And they had a king over them ,.... Which natural locusts have not, Proverbs 30:27 ; by whom is meant the false prophet Mahomet, who was at the head of the Saracens, and led them on to commit the outrages they did; and is believed in by the Turks to this day, as the great prophet of God, and by them preferred to all prophets, not only to Moses, but to Jesus Christ; he is the king of the eastern locusts, as the pope of Rome is the king of the western ones; for the Romish antichrist reigns,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:12

One woe is past ,.... One of the three woe trumpets, the first of them; that is, in the vision which John had of it, not the thing itself designed by it: and behold there come two woes more hereafter ; under the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpets. read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 9:12

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