The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
Show the surrounding paragraph
Revelation 9:16-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm. The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can’t see, hear, or walk. They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
Parallel Translations
-
The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
-
And the nombre of horsme of warre were twenty tymes xM. And I herde the nobre of them.
And thus I sawe the horses in a vision and them that sate on the havynge fyry habbergions of a Iacyncte coloure and brymstony and the heeddes of the horses werre as the heeddes of lyons. And out of their mouthes went forth fyre and smoke and brymstone.
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:
Show all 3 translations
-
And the nomber of horsemen of warre were twentie thousand times ten thousand: for I heard the nomber of them.
And thus I saw the horses in a vision, and them that sate on them, hauing firie habbergions, and of Iacinth, and of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were as the heades of lyons: and out of their mouthes went foorth fire and smoke and brimstone.
Of these three was the thirde part of men killed, that is, of the fire, and of the smoke, and of the brimstone, which came out of their mouthes.
Cross-references (23)
- Revelation 9:18 (v17) By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
- Revelation 9:17 (v18) Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the…
- Revelation 9:15 (v18) The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
- 1 Chronicles 12:8 (v17) Some Gadites joined David in the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear;…
- Revelation 7:4 (v16) I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
Show all 23 cross-references
- Revelation 14:10 (v17) he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and…
- Revelation 21:8 (v17) But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in…
- Psalms 68:17 (v16) The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.
- Daniel 7:10 (v16) A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before…
- Revelation 19:20 (v17) The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the…
- Genesis 19:24 (v17) Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
- Psalms 11:6 (v17) On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
- Isaiah 5:28-29 (v17) whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring…
- Isaiah 30:33 (v17) For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood.…
- Ezekiel 38:4 (v16) I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them…
- Revelation 20:10 (v17) The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be…
- Ezekiel 33:22 (v17) Now Yahweh’s hand had been on me in the evening, before he who had escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the…
- Daniel 11:40 (v16) “At the time of the end the king of the south will contend with him; and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind, with…
- Revelation 5:11 (v16) I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was…
- Revelation 9:9 (v17) They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
- Revelation 11:5 (v17) If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be…
- Ezekiel 23:6 (v16) who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.
- Revelation 21:20 (v17) the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16 And the number of the army of the…
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Ver. 16. Two hundred thousand thousand] Not so many at any one time, but in several ages and battles. Howbeit the Turk goes usually into the field 200,000 strong; many times he hath more, as in that famous battle fought by Bajazet against Tamerlane, where he had well-nigh a million. Of his common soldiers called Asapi (which for the most part are miserable Christians), he makes no great reckoning or other use than to blunt the swords of his enemies, or to abate their first fury, thereby to give the easier victory to his janizaries {a} and better soldiers, which are all cavalry for most part.
Read full note →
{a} One of a former body of Turkish infantry, constituting the Sultan’s guard and the main part of the standing army. The body was first organized in the 14th century, and was composed mainly of tributary children of Christians; after a large number of them had been massacred in 1826, the organization was finally abolished. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–18 He saith nothing of the infantry, but leaves us…
He saith nothing of the infantry, but leaves us to conjecture how great that must be, from the number of the horse; we must not think there was precisely this number, but the meaning is, that the armies should be vastly great, as we know all the Turkish armies are. Magog’s army is described from the cavalry, Eze 38:4,15.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v17 St. John proceeds here in describing this vast army…
St. John proceeds here in describing this vast army of Turks and Arabians, that with incredible swiftness did overrun and ruin the eastern churches; all these expressions of fire, and brimstone, and smoke, denote that cruel devastation and destruction which was occasioned by the Turks and Mahometans.
Behold here the instruments of Satan, how his own cruel and destructive nature is discovered, how exceedingly he is delighted in the perdition of mankind, having been a murderer from the beginning.
Read full note →
In the last two verses St. John declares, 1. What were the sins which produced so great a plague, namely, idolatry and the worshipping the works of their own hands, a sin very odious to God, and for which God suffered the Turks to be so severe a scourge to Christendom; what little reason had the Christians then to call their wars against the Turks the holy wars, when idolatry, the cause of it was not repented of? What success could they expect as long as the idoltry of Christians, and their other provoking sins, were so many?
Observe farther, What was the end God aimed at by such strong physic, by such terrible judgments as he then brought upon the world? It was to bring them to repentance? but so mad was antichristian world upon their idols, that they would not be reformed by the judgment with a sinful people, he will follow them with a variety and succession of plagues and judgments one upon another, till he has either brought them to himself, or brought them to nothing.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And the number of the army of the horsemen,....…
And the number of the army of the horsemen,.... This shows that the four angels before mentioned were men, and design generals of armies, or armies of men, even of horsemen; and manifestly point at the Turks, who were not only originally Persians, and had their name, as some say (e), from Turca in Persia, and from whence the Persians have their name, signifies an horseman; but the armies of the Turks chiefly consisted of horse, and what for show and for use, they had generally double the number of horses and mules as of men (f); and they are very good horsemen, and very dextrous at leaping on and off (g); and the horse's tail is still carried before the general, and principal officers, as an ensign expressive of their military exploits, and showing where their main strength lies. And the number of this mighty army, it is said,
were two hundred thousand thousand; or "two myriads of myriads"; two hundred millions, or twenty thousand brigades of ten thousand each; that is, a very large and prodigious number, almost infinite and incredible, like the army of Gog and Magog, as the sand of the sea, Rev 20:8. The Turks used to bring, and still do bring vast armies into the field: in the year 1396, Bajazet, with three hundred thousand men, fell upon sixty thousand Christians, killed twenty thousand of them, and lost sixty thousand of his own: against him afterward, in the year 1397, came Tamerlane the Tartar, with four hundred thousand horse, and six hundred thousand foot, and having killed two hundred thousand Turks, took Bajazet prisoner, and carried him about in a cage, in golden chains. In the year 1438, Amurath entered into Pannonia, with three hundred thousand horsemen: and in the year 1453, Mahomet took Constantinople with the like number (h); yea, it is said, that the army at the siege of that city consisted of forty myriads, or four hundred thousand men (i). It is reported, that the great Turk contemptuously sent to the emperor of the Romans a camel, or a dromedary, loaden with wheat, with this vow by a message, that he should bring against him as many fighting men as there were grains of wheat therein (k). And it is related (l), that when Ladislaus, king of Hungary, went out against Amurath with four and twenty thousand horse, Dracula, governor of Walachia, advised him not to attack the emperor of the Turks with so small an army, since he went out every day a hunting with more men than such a number:
Read full note →
and I heard the number of them; expressed by some angel, and therefore John was certain of it, otherwise he could not have told them.
(e) Laonic. Chalcocondylas de reb. Turc. l. 1. p. 6. (f) Ib. l. 7. p. 227, 255. (g) Laonic. Chalcocond. l. 2. p. 65. (h) Alsted. Chronol. p. 321. (i) Laonic. Chalcocond. l. 7. p. 255. (k) Napier in loc. (l) Bonfinius apud Pareum in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And the number of the horsemen was two hundred…
And the number of the horsemen was two hundred millions - Not that so many were ever brought into the field at once, but (if we understand the expression literally) in the course of "the hour, and day, and month, and year." So neither were "the third part of men killed" at once, but during that course of years.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Verse 16. Two hundred thousand thousand] Δυο μυριαδες μυριαδων·…
Verse 16. Two hundred thousand thousand] Δυο μυριαδες μυριαδων· Two myriads of myriads; that is, two hundred millions; an army that was never yet got together from the foundation of the world, and could not find forage in any part of the earth. Perhaps it only means vast numbers, multitudes without number. Such a number might be literally true of the locusts. Those who will have their particular system supported by the images in this most obscure book, tell us that the number here means all the soldiers that were employed in this war, from its commencement to its end! Those who can receive this saying let them receive it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v16 Rev 9:16-19. The number of the army of horsemen…
Rev 9:16-19. The number of the army of horsemen were two hundred thousand — A description is here given of the forces, and of the means and instruments by which the Othmans should effect the ruin of the eastern empire. The armies are described as very numerous, myriads of myriads. When Mohammed the Second besieged Constantinople, he had about four hundred thousand men in his army, besides a powerful fleet of thirty larger and two hundred lesser ships. They are described, too, chiefly as horsemen; and so they are described both by Ezekiel and by Daniel; (see Bishop Newton’s last dissertation upon Daniel;) and it is well known that their armies consisted chiefly of cavalry, especially before the order of Janizaries was instituted by Amurath the First. The Timariots, or horsemen, holding lands by serving in the wars, are the strength of the government; and are in all accounted between seven and eight hundred thousand fighting men. Some say they are a million; and besides these, there are Spahis and other horsemen in the emperor’s pay.
In the vision — That is, in appearance, and not in reality, they had breast- plates of fire and of hyacinth and brimstone — The colour of fire is red, of hyacinth blue, and of brimstone yellow: and this “hath a literal accomplishment; for the Othmans, from the first time of their appearance, have affected to wear such warlike apparel of scarlet, blue, and yellow.” Of the Spahis particularly, some have red, and some have yellow standards, and others red or yellow, mixed with other colours. In appearance, too, the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions — To denote their strength, courage, and fierceness; and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone — A manifest allusion to great guns and gunpowder, which were invented under this trumpet, and were of such signal service to the Othmans in their wars. For by these three was the third part of men killed — By these the Othmans made such havoc and destruction in the Greek or eastern empire. Amurath the Second broke into Peloponnesus, and took several strong places by means of his artillery. But his son Mohammed, at the siege of Constantinople, employed such great guns as were never made before. One is described to have been of such a monstrous size, that it was drawn by seventy yoke of oxen, and by two thousand men. Two more discharged a stone of the weight of two talents. Others emitted a stone of the weight of half a talent. But the greatest of all discharged a ball of the weight of three talents, or about three hundred pounds; and the report of this cannon is said to have been so great, that all the country round about was shaken to the distance of forty furlongs. For forty days the wall was battered by these guns, and so many breaches were made, that the city was taken by assault, and an end put to the Grecian empire.
Read full note →
Moreover they had power to do hurt by their tails as well as by their mouths, their tails being like unto serpents, and having heads — In this respect they very much resemble the locusts, only the different tails are accommodated to the different creatures, the tails of scorpions to locusts, the tails of serpents, with a head at each end, to horses. By this figure it is meant, that the Turks draw after them the same poisonous trains as the Saracens; they profess and propagate the same imposture, they do hurt not only by their conquests, but also by spreading their false doctrine; and wherever they establish their dominion, there too they establish their religion. Many indeed of the Greek Church remained, and are still remaining among them; but they are subjected to a capitation-tax, which is rigorously exacted from all above fourteen years of age; are burdened besides with the most heavy and arbitrary impositions; are compelled to the most servile drudgery; are abused in their persons, and robbed of their property: but notwithstanding these and greater persecutions, some remains of the Greek Church are still preserved among them, as we may reasonably conclude, to serve some great and mysterious ends of providence.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And the number of the army of the horsemen…
And the number of the army of the horsemen - It is to be observed here that the strength of the army seemed to be cavalry. In the former plagues there is no distinct mention of horsemen; but here what struck the beholder was the immense and unparalleled number of horsemen.
Were two hundred thousand thousand - A thousand thousand is one million, and consequently the number here referred to would be 200 million. This would be a larger army than was ever assembled, and it cannot be supposed that it is to be taken literally. That it would be a very large host - so large that it would not be readily numbered - is clear. The expression in the original, while it naturally conveys the idea of an immense number, would seem also to refer to some uniqueness in the manner of reckoning them. The language is, “two myriads of myriads” - δύο μυριάδες μυριάδων duo muriades muriadōn. The myriad was ten thousand. The idea would seem to be this. John saw an immense host of cavalry. They appeared to be divided into large bodies that were in some degree separate, and that might be reckoned by ten thousands. Of these different squadrons there were many, and to express their great and unusual numbers he said that there seemed to be myriads of them - two myriads of myriads, or twice ten thousand myriads. The army thus would seem to be immense - an army, as we should say, to be reckoned by tens of thousands.
Read full note →
And I heard the number of them - They were so numerous that he did not pretend to be able to estimate the number himself, for it was beyond his power of computation; but he heard it stated in these round numbers, that there were “two myriads of myriads” of them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Twenty thousand times ten thousand, or two hundred millions.…
Twenty thousand times ten thousand, or two hundred millions. Such an immense multitude cannot be accounted for, but by supposing a great part of it consist of the infernal beings in human form, as it is doubtful whether there be that number of men capable of bearing arms upon the whole globe of the earth.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Compare with these two hundred million, Psa 68:17; Dan…
Compare with these two hundred million, Psa 68:17; Dan 7:10. The hosts here are evidently, from their numbers and their appearance (Rev 9:17), not merely human hosts, but probably infernal, though constrained to work out God's will (compare Rev 9:1-2).
and I heard--A, B, Aleph, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and CYPRIAN omit "and."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. Horsemen—Alford correctly says, that the four angels are…
16. Horsemen—Alford correctly says, that the four angels are apparently “resolved into the hosts of cavalry.” The cavalry alone, of this great army, is stupendous, letting alone the infantry. The number amounts to two hundred millions. It is the decimal of totality raised to the seventh power, and reduplicated, to indicate how vast the totality of the wars of the Christian ages would be!
Heard the number—For no human eye could see it.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. of the horsemen] It is implied that the…
16. of the horsemen] It is implied that the way the four angels will slay the third part of men will be by means of a vast invading army. The word rendered “horsemen” is not here plural but collective, as we should say “the cavalry.” But it is not that he gives the number of one arm only of an army containing more: apparently this army consists of cavalry exclusively. This illustrates the use of the name Euphrates, just so far as to make it possible that the image was suggested to St John’s mind by the fact that the Parthian cavalry were the most formidable barbarian force of his own day. More than this we can hardly say, as to the meaning of the vision, and any partial fulfilment that it may have had or be about to have.
two hundred thousand thousand] The number is perhaps suggested by Psa_68:17 : still, it hardly seems as if these horsemen were celestial (like those of Rev_19:14), though they are not distinctly infernal, like the locusts of the previous visions.
Read full note →
and I heard] Omit “and.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–18 (16) And the number . . .—Translate, And the…
(16) And the number . . .—Translate, And the number of the armies of the cavalry was two myriads of myriads. I heard the number of them. The writer heard, perhaps from some herald angel, the number of this vast army of horsemen; it was twice ten-thousand times ten thousand—i.e., two hundred millions. The number is like an echo from Psa_68:17—“The chariots of God are twenty thousand (two myriads), even thousands (or, thousands of thousands) of angels.” This utterly bewildering number might have been sufficient to keep interpreters from looking for some slavishly literal fulfilment: it simply stands for an immense host, and may serve to point out the prolific powers of retribution—the harvest of sin is misery, multiplied thirty, sixty, one hundred-fold.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And the number of the army of the horsemen;…
And the number of the army of the horsemen; and the number of the armies of the cavalry. No horsemen have hitherto been Minded to; but they are apparently the destroying host under the direction of the four angels. The symbol is, no doubt, chosen to signify power, of which horsemen or cavalry are an emblem. Were two hundred thousand thousand; or, twice myriads of myriads. (cf. Jud_1:14-16, which is a quotation from Enoch; also Dan_7:10) The number is, of course, not to be taken literally, but as signifying an exceeding great multitude. And I heard the number of them. Omit "and." St. John "heard the number" possibly from one of the elders, who had before instructed him. (cf. Rev_7:13) He states this, since so vast a multitude would be innumerable.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16–19. The number of the army of the horsemen.…
16–19. The number of the army of the horsemen. Countless armies of horsemen are signified.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v17 The further description of the seer confirms this interpretation:
The further description of the seer confirms this interpretation:
v. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire and of jacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouth issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Read full note →
v. 18. By these three was the third art of men killed, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths.
v. 19, For 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.
v. 20. And 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;
v. 21. neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts.
The description of the great masses of horsemen enhances the general effect of the passage, to emphasize the terror and destruction of this great plague: And thus I saw the horses in the vision and those that sat upon them, having coats of mail, of fire and jacinth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses resembled heads of lions, and out of their mouth there went forth fire and smoke and sulfur. Here a host of attacking horsemen is described, with their armor gleaming red, dark-blue, and yellow. They were the instruments of divine wrath. No power on earth alone could stop the robbing and the murdering and the burning of these fiends. The heads of lions which the heads of their horses resembled showed the terrible power, the horrible anger which filled the hearts of the Mohammedan hordes, fire and smoke and sulfur issuing out of their mouths: By these three plagues were killed the third part of men, by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur which went forth out of their mouths. It was and is a murderous fanaticism with which the followers of Mohammed wage war, all the abominations of the abyss of hell being employed by them in their attempt to spread their false doctrine.
It is as St. John writes: For the power of the horses lies in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails resemble serpents, having heads, and with them they do injury. That is the secret of the power of this false prophet, the false, alluring doctrine which comes forth from his mouth. The tongues of his teachers are truly inflamed of hell with a disastrous fire, a veritable mystery of iniquity. The old serpent, Satan himself, is their inspiration, and wherever they lift their heads, injury and destruction follows.
And now John makes an almost incredible statement: And the rest of men, that were not killed in these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, not to worship demons and idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they repented not of their murders nor of their magic arts nor of their fornications nor of their thefts. Even as Pharaoh hardened his heart in spite of the many evidences of God’s power performed in his sight, even as the children of Israel in the wilderness refused again and again to turn to the Lord in true repentance, in spite of the many miracles by which He sought to influence them, thus it has ever been in the history of the world. The Lord may send ever so many plagues, wars, pestilences, famines, and yet, as soon as He withdraws His chastening hand, men harden their hearts once more and refuse to repent of the works of their hands, of their idolatry, of their abuse of the name of God, of their murders and adulteries and robberies, hath great and small. Truly, this is a description of the abyss of human depravity, such a picture as we see but rarely in its entirety, although glimpses are seen often enough in these last days before the coming of the Lord in glory.
Summary
The prophet, in the description of the falling star and of the hordes of locusts swarming up from the pit of hell, draws a picture of some of the chief false teachers that have ever vexed Christianity; and, in a Similar manner, in the countless horsemen coming from the Euphrates, foretells the rise of Mohammedanism with its fake doctrines and all its attendant horrors.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18 General Information:
General Information:
Suddenly, 200,000,000 soldiers on horseback appear in John's vision. John is no longer speaking about the four angels mentioned in the previous verse.
Read full note →
200,000,000
Some ways to express this are: "two hundred million" or "two hundred thousand thousand" or "twenty thousand times ten thousand." If your language does not have a specific number for this, you could also see how you translated a similar large number in Revelation 5:11. (See: Numbers)
fiery red
"red like fire" or "bright red." See how you translated this in Revelation 6:3.
sulfurous yellow
"yellow like sulfur" or "bright yellow like sulfur"
out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur
"fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths"
translationWords
horse
vision
breastplate
lions
fire
sulfur
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16–17 9:16 The relationship of the four angels to their…
9:16 The relationship of the four angels to their army is not clear. • 200 million: This figure represents an innumerable multitude. Even at its greatest strength, the ancient Roman army with twenty-one legions numbered only about 126,000 soldiers. It is unproductive to use this number in attempting to identify any specific country with such an overwhelming destructive force.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.