Revelation 9

Introduction

Revelation 9 records the fifth and sixth trumpet blasts, which correspond to the first and second "woes" announced in Revelation 8:13. The imagery moves from the natural disasters of the earlier trumpets (hail, fire, poisoned waters, darkened skies) into the realm of the explicitly demonic. Under the fifth trumpet, a star fallen from heaven opens the shaft of the Abyss, releasing a swarm of locusts whose appearance defies any single natural category -- part horse, part human, part scorpion, part lion. They are forbidden to kill but are permitted to torment the unsealed for five months. Under the sixth trumpet, four bound angels are released at the Euphrates River, unleashing a cavalry force of two hundred million whose horses breathe fire, smoke, and sulfur, killing a third of humanity.

Yet the chapter's conclusion is plain. Despite catastrophic judgment, the surviving portion of humanity refuses to repent. They cling to their idols and their sins -- murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft. The divine summons implicit in judgment goes unanswered. This pattern -- God's warnings met by human obstinacy -- echoes the plagues of Egypt and runs throughout the prophetic literature. The point is not insufficient evidence of God's power but the depth of human rebellion.

The Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Abyss (vv. 1-6)

¹ Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss. ² The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. ³ And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion. ⁶ In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.

¹ And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key to the shaft of the Abyss was given to him. ² And he opened the shaft of the Abyss, and smoke ascended from the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. ³ And out of the smoke locusts came forth onto the earth, and authority was given to them like the authority that the scorpions of the earth possess. ⁴ And they were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ And it was granted to them not to kill them but to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person. ⁶ And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will flee from them.

Notes

The fifth trumpet marks a shift from the ecological and cosmic judgments of the first four trumpets to judgments that are explicitly supernatural in origin. John sees ἀστέρα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεπτωκότα ("a star that had fallen from heaven"). The perfect participle πεπτωκότα indicates a completed action -- the star had already fallen before John saw it. The masculine pronoun αὐτῷ ("to him") in the same verse makes clear that this "star" is a personal being, not a celestial object. Stars representing angelic beings is a common motif in Jewish apocalyptic literature (compare Job 38:7, Isaiah 14:12, Revelation 1:20). Whether this fallen star is a holy angel acting under divine commission or a fallen angelic being permitted to act within divine limits is debated, though the language of "falling" and the connection to the Abyss suggests the latter.

The φρέαρ τῆς ἀβύσσου ("shaft of the Abyss") appears as a place of demonic imprisonment elsewhere in Revelation (Revelation 11:7, Revelation 17:8, Revelation 20:1-3). The word ἄβυσσος ("Abyss") translates the Hebrew concept of the deep, primordial chaos, and in later Jewish thought it became associated with the place where fallen spirits are confined (compare Luke 8:31, where demons beg Jesus not to send them into the Abyss). The key imagery recalls Revelation 1:18, where Christ holds the keys of death and Hades -- the opening of the Abyss, even by a fallen being, occurs only because authority has been delegated from above.

When the shaft is opened, καπνός ("smoke") ascends like the smoke of καμίνου μεγάλης ("a great furnace"), recalling the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 19:28) and the theophany at Sinai (Exodus 19:18). The darkening of the sun and air by smoke intensifies the darkness motif already introduced in the fourth trumpet (Revelation 8:12).

From the smoke emerge ἀκρίδες ("locusts"), feared natural calamities in the ancient Near East. The locust plague of Joel 1:4 and Joel 2:1-11 stands behind this imagery: Joel describes a devastating locust invasion in language that blurs the line between natural disaster and supernatural army, using military terminology for the insects. John takes Joel's imagery further -- these are not natural locusts at all. They are explicitly forbidden from doing what real locusts do: harming vegetation (χόρτον, "grass"; χλωρόν, "any green thing"; δένδρον, "tree"). Instead, they target only people who lack τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ Θεοῦ ("the seal of God") on their foreheads, connecting this passage back to the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7:3-4. The seal functions as divine protection, analogous to the blood on the doorposts during the Passover (Exodus 12:13).

Their authority is limited: they cannot kill (ἀποκτείνωσιν) but only βασανισθήσονται ("torment") their victims for μῆνας πέντε ("five months"). The five-month period may correspond to the natural lifespan of locusts (roughly May through September), or it may simply indicate a divinely limited duration. The verb βασανίζω ("to torment, to torture") denotes intense suffering. The result is described in verse 6 with stark language: people will ζητήσουσιν τὸν θάνατον ("seek death") and not find it. Death itself becomes elusive -- the present tense φεύγει ("flees") personifies death as an entity that evades those who pursue it. This inversion -- death running from people rather than pursuing them -- is a striking image of judgment.

The Appearance of the Locusts and Their King (vv. 7-12)

⁷ And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads; and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸ They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions. ⁹ They also had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months. ¹¹ They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon. ¹² The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.

⁷ And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were what seemed to be crowns resembling gold, and their faces were like the faces of humans. ⁸ And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. ⁹ And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰ And they have tails resembling scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails is their authority to harm people for five months. ¹¹ They have over them as king the angel of the Abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. ¹² The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

Notes

The description of the locusts in verses 7-10 is a composite portrait that resists identification with any single creature. John piles up similes using ὡς ("like, as") and ὅμοιος ("resembling"), making clear that he is describing something for which no adequate earthly analogy exists. The word ὁμοιώματα ("likenesses, appearances") in verse 7 signals from the outset that this is visionary, symbolic description.

The comparison to ἵπποις ἡτοιμασμένοις εἰς πόλεμον ("horses prepared for battle") echoes Joel 2:4, where Joel says of his locust army, "They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry." The στέφανοι ὅμοιοι χρυσῷ ("crowns resembling gold") -- note that John says "resembling" gold, not actual gold -- suggest an appearance of authority and triumph. The human faces convey intelligence and purposefulness; the hair ὡς τρίχας γυναικῶν ("like the hair of women") may reflect the long antennae of locusts or may underscore the strange appearance of the creatures; the lion's teeth recall Joel 1:6, where Joel describes the locust plague with "the teeth of a lion." The θώρακας ὡς θώρακας σιδηροῦς ("breastplates like breastplates of iron") suggest invulnerability, and the sound of their wings is compared to φωνὴ ἁρμάτων ἵππων πολλῶν τρεχόντων εἰς πόλεμον ("the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle"), again echoing Joel 2:5. The cumulative effect is a composite of speed, intelligence, ferocity, apparent invulnerability, and venom.

Unlike natural locusts, which Proverbs 30:27 says "have no king," these demonic locusts do have a king: τὸν ἄγγελον τῆς ἀβύσσου ("the angel of the Abyss"). John provides his name in both languages. In Hebrew, אֲבַדּוֹן -- derived from the root meaning "to destroy" or "to perish" -- appears in the Old Testament as a poetic name for the realm of the dead or destruction itself (Job 26:6, Job 28:22, Job 31:12, Psalm 88:11, Proverbs 15:11, Proverbs 27:20). In Greek, Ἀπολλύων means "Destroyer," a present active participle from ἀπόλλυμι ("to destroy"). The dual naming is unusual in Revelation and may serve to ensure that both Hebrew-speaking and Greek-speaking audiences grasp the significance. Some scholars have also noted a possible wordplay with Apollo (Apollōn), the Greek deity whose symbol was the locust and who was sometimes depicted as a god of plague -- an irony, if intentional, given that the Roman emperors Domitian and Nero both identified themselves with Apollo.

Verse 12 closes the first woe and warns that two more are coming. The interjection ἰδού ("behold") sharpens the sense of urgency.

Interpretations

This passage has generated significant interpretive debate.

Literal demonic beings. Many interpreters, particularly within futurist and dispensational frameworks, understand the locusts as actual demonic entities released during a future tribulation period. On this reading, the bizarre composite description reflects the genuine appearance of supernatural beings that John saw in his vision. The Abyss is a real place of demonic confinement, and the five months of torment will be a literal period of demonic affliction upon the earth. Proponents note that the text explicitly identifies their king as an angelic being of the Abyss, that they emerge from a supernatural location, and that their restriction from harming the sealed of God implies a spiritual rather than natural phenomenon.

Symbolic of invading armies. Historicist interpreters have attempted to identify the locusts with specific historical invasions. The most common identification has been with the Arab/Islamic conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries -- the turbaned warriors, the long hair, the five months supposedly converted to 150 years of conquest. Others have proposed the Parthian cavalry, the Goths, the Saracens, or various other military forces. This approach was popular from the Reformation through the nineteenth century but has largely fallen out of favor due to the difficulty of achieving any consensus on the specific identification and the tendency to read contemporary events back into the text.

Symbolic of spiritual oppression. Idealist interpreters view the locusts as a symbolic depiction of demonic torment and spiritual oppression that characterizes the entire period between Christ's first and second comings. On this reading, the passage is not predicting a specific future event or describing a past historical one but rather portraying the reality of satanic affliction upon those who lack divine protection. The grotesque, composite imagery communicates the horror and irrationality of evil without pointing to a specific manifestation. The five months represents a limited, restrained period -- God does not allow demonic forces unlimited power.

Combination views. Some interpreters combine elements, arguing that the passage uses symbolic imagery drawn from Joel and other Old Testament sources to describe a reality that is genuinely demonic but whose precise historical manifestation remains uncertain. On this approach, the important theological points -- divine sovereignty over demonic forces, the protection of the sealed, the limited duration of torment, and the refusal of humanity to repent -- are more significant than pinpointing the exact referent.

The Sixth Trumpet: The Army from the Euphrates (vv. 13-16)

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." ¹⁵ So the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ And the number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.

¹³ And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a single voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates." ¹⁵ And the four angels were released, those who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill a third of humanity. ¹⁶ And the number of the mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.

Notes

The sixth trumpet introduces the second woe, which escalates from torment to death. The voice comes from τῶν τεσσάρων κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ χρυσοῦ ("the four horns of the golden altar"). The golden altar of incense, already introduced in Revelation 8:3-5, is associated with the prayers of the saints. The voice issuing from this altar suggests that the judgments that follow are, in some sense, an answer to the prayers of God's people for justice (compare Revelation 6:10).

The command is to Λῦσον ("Release") -- an aorist imperative expressing urgent, immediate action. The four angels τοὺς δεδεμένους ("who have been bound") are malevolent beings, since holy angels are not bound. They have been held ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ Εὐφράτῃ ("at the great river Euphrates"). The Euphrates carried symbolic weight in Jewish and early Christian thought: it was the eastern boundary of the promised land (Genesis 15:18, Deuteronomy 11:24), the border beyond which Assyria and Babylon lay, and thus the traditional frontier from which invasions came. In Roman times, it was the boundary between the Empire and the Parthian kingdom.

The precision of εἰς τὴν ὥραν καὶ ἡμέραν καὶ μῆνα καὶ ἐνιαυτόν ("for the hour and day and month and year") is notable. The four time units, descending from largest (year) to smallest (hour), do not denote a cumulative duration but a single appointed moment -- the exact moment in God's sovereign timetable. The perfect passive participle ἡτοιμασμένοι ("who had been prepared") emphasizes that this moment was determined long beforehand.

The number δισμυριάδες μυριάδων ("two myriads of myriads") yields two hundred million. John emphasizes that he ἤκουσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν ("heard their number") -- he did not count them himself but received the number by revelation. Whether the number is literal or symbolic is debated, but the emphasis on hearing it rather than counting it suggests a figure of divinely revealed, overwhelming magnitude.

The Cavalry and Its Destruction (vv. 17-19)

¹⁷ Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that proceeded from their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.

¹⁷ And this is how I saw the horses in the vision and those seated on them: the riders had breastplates of fiery red and dark blue and yellow like sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of humanity was killed -- by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they inflict harm.

Notes

John introduces the description with οὕτως εἶδον ("this is how I saw") and ἐν τῇ ὁράσει ("in the vision"), explicitly framing what follows as visionary experience. The riders wear breastplates of three colors: πυρίνους ("fiery red"), ὑακινθίνους ("hyacinth-colored," a dark blue or smoky blue), and θειώδεις ("sulfurous yellow"). These three colors correspond directly to the three agents of death that proceed from the horses' mouths: fire, smoke, and sulfur. The color of the breastplates thus anticipates the weapons.

The horses have heads ὡς κεφαλαὶ λεόντων ("like the heads of lions"), conveying ferocity and terror. From their mouths come πῦρ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ θεῖον ("fire and smoke and sulfur") -- the triad associated throughout Scripture with divine judgment, especially the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-28) and the final judgment (Revelation 14:10, Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:10, Revelation 21:8). These are called τριῶν πληγῶν ("three plagues"), using the same word for plague (πληγή) that the Septuagint uses for the plagues of Egypt.

The destructive power is extensive: τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ("a third of humanity") is killed. This fraction echoes the pattern of thirds throughout the trumpet judgments (Revelation 8:7-12), where a third of the earth, sea, rivers, and heavenly bodies are struck. The fraction indicates devastating but not total destruction -- a severe judgment that still leaves room for repentance.

Verse 19 adds a further grotesque detail: the horses' tails are ὅμοιαι ὄφεσιν ("like serpents"), possessing heads with which they ἀδικοῦσιν ("inflict harm"). The destructive power is thus doubled -- from both mouth and tail -- making escape impossible. The serpent imagery inevitably evokes the ancient serpent of Genesis 3:1 and Revelation 12:9, reinforcing the demonic character of this army.

Humanity's Refusal to Repent (vv. 20-21)

²⁰ Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

²⁰ And the rest of humanity, those who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. ²¹ And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Notes

These final two verses form the theological conclusion of the chapter. Despite severe judgment, the surviving portion of humanity οὐδὲ μετενόησαν ("did not even repent"). The verb μετανοέω ("to repent") means to change one's mind fundamentally, to turn around in thought and behavior. Its double occurrence in verses 20 and 21 -- both negated -- reinforces the point: these judgments failed to produce repentance. The phrase ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν ("of the works of their hands") is a common Old Testament expression for idolatry (compare Deuteronomy 4:28, Psalm 115:4-7, Psalm 135:15-17, Isaiah 2:8).

The catalogue of what they worship is telling: τὰ δαιμόνια ("demons") first, then τὰ εἴδωλα ("idols") made of increasingly inferior materials -- gold, silver, bronze, stone, wood. The descending list emphasizes the futility of idolatry. The description of these idols as things that οὔτε βλέπειν δύνανται οὔτε ἀκούειν οὔτε περιπατεῖν ("can neither see nor hear nor walk") directly echoes Psalm 115:5-7 and Daniel 5:23, where the impotence of idols is held up as evidence of the foolishness of those who worship them. Behind the idols stand demons -- a connection Paul draws explicitly in 1 Corinthians 10:20, where he says that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons.

Verse 21 adds a fourfold catalogue of sins: φόνων ("murders"), φαρμάκων ("sorceries"), πορνείας ("sexual immorality"), and κλεμμάτων ("thefts"). The word φάρμακον originally meant "drug" or "potion" and came to denote sorcery and magic because of the use of drugs in occult practices. It is the root of the English word "pharmacy." In this context it likely refers to magical arts and occult practices broadly, though some interpreters see a specific connection to the drug-induced rituals of pagan religion. These four sins roughly correspond to violations of the second table of the Ten Commandments (murder, sorcery as a form of idolatrous deception, sexual immorality, theft), suggesting a comprehensive moral collapse.

The pattern here -- divine judgment met by human refusal to repent -- is deeply rooted in the Exodus narrative, where Pharaoh's heart was hardened through successive plagues (Exodus 7:13, Exodus 8:15, Exodus 9:34-35). It also echoes the prophetic lament of Amos 4:6-11, where God recounts a series of judgments upon Israel, each followed by the refrain: "yet you did not return to me." The chapter underscores that judgment alone does not produce repentance; only grace can transform the human heart.