Revelation 9:1-12

Revelation 9:1-2 Kings : . The Fifth Trumpet or the First Woe.— The seer sees a star fallen on the earth. The star seems to represent a person, possibly Satan ( cf. Luke 10:18).— abyss: the word properly means “ bottomless,” and is used in OT of the abode of the dead, e.g. Psalms 71:20. The abyss is approached by a “ shaft” or “ well,” here translated “ pit,” which is closed and kept under lock and key.

Revelation 9:3 . out of the smoke came . . . locusts: cf. Exodus 10:13 and Driver’ s quotation of the observations of a modern traveller: “ we observed large dark clouds resembling smoke moving to and fro . . . One morning these clouds came down and proved to be locusts.” (CB, Joel, p. 90 ).— power was given to them: these locusts were specially endowed with the scorpion-like power of tormenting men.

Revelation 9:4 . not hurt the grass: this conflicts with Revelation 8:7 , where, as the result of the first trumpet, “ all green grass was burnt up.”— seal of God: Revelation 7:3 ff *.

Revelation 9:5 . five months: this is supposed to represent the ordinary duration of a plague of locusts. The object of the plague is not to kill, but to torture and torment.

Revelation 9:7 . like unto horses: this description is taken from Joel 2:4.— crowns . . . men’ s faces: these two features seem to be peculiar to the locusts of the abyss; there is nothing about the ordinary locust to account for this description.

Revelation 9:11 . They have . . . as king: In Proverbs 30:27 it is stated that locusts have no king, but these locusts belong to the abyss.— Abaddon: the word only occurs in what is known as the Wisdom Literature ( Job 26:6; Job 28:22, Psalms 88:11, Proverbs 15:11 *, etc.), where it means “ ruin” or “ destruction,” either on earth or in Sheol. Here “ Destruction” is personified.— Apollyon is the Greek equivalent for Abaddon.