And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment [was] the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
5. five months ] It has been conjectured that this period is named, as being the time for which a plague of the literal locusts is liable to last. But more probably the period is to be reckoned on the same principle whatever that be as the other periods of time indicated in this book.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And to them it was given – There is here the same indefiniteness as in the former verse, the impersonal verb being here also used. The writer does not say by whom this power was given, whether by God, or by the leader of the host. It may be admitted, however, that the most natural interpretation is to suppose that it was given them by God, and that this was the execution of his purpose in this case. Still it is remarkable that this is not directly affirmed, and that the language is so general as to admit of the other application. The fact that they did not kill them, but tormented them – if such a fact should be found to exist – would be in every sense a fulfillment of what is here said.
That they should not kill them – This is in accordance with the nature of the symbol. The locusts do not themselves destroy any living creature; and the sting of the scorpion, though exceedingly painful, is not usually fatal. The proper fulfillment of this would be found in what would not be generally fatal, but which would diffuse misery and wretchedness. (Compare Rev 9:6.) Perhaps all that would be necessarily meant by this would be, not that individual people would not be killed, but that they would be sent to inflict plagues and torments rather than to take life, and that the characteristic effects of their appearing would be distress and suffering rather than death. There may be included in the fair interpretation of the words, general distress and sorrow; acts of oppression, cruelty, and violence; such a condition of public suffering that people would regard death as a relief if they could find it.
But that they should be tormented – That is, that they should be subjected to ills and troubles which might be properly compared with the sting of a scorpion.
Five months – So far as the words here are concerned this might be taken literally, denoting five months or one hundred and fifty days; or as a prophetic reckoning, where a day stands for a year. Compare the notes on Dan 9:24 ff. The latter is undoubtedly the correct interpretation here, for it is the character of the book thus to reckon time. See the notes on Rev 9:15. If this be the true method of reckoning here, then it will be necessary to find some events which will embrace about the period of one hundred and fifty years, during which this distress and sorrow would continue. The proper laws of interpretation demand that one or the other of these periods should be found – either that of five months literally, or that of 150 years. It may be true, as Prof. Stuart suggests (in loco), that the usual time of locusts is from May to September inclusive – five months. It may be true, also, that this symbol was chosen partly because that was the fact, and they would, from that fact, be well adapted to symbolize a period that could be spoken of as five months; but still the meaning must be more than simply it was a short period, as he supposes. The phrase a few months might designate such a period; but if that had been the writers intention, he would not have selected the definite number five.
And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, … – See the notes on Rev 9:3. That is, it would be painful, severe, dangerous.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. To them it was given] That is, they were permitted.
That they should be tormented five months] Some take these months literally, and apply them to the conduct of the Zealots who, from May to September, in the year of the siege, produced dreadful contests among the people; or to the afflictions brought upon the Jews by Cestius Gallus, when he came against Jerusalem, before which he lay one whole summer, or nearly five months.-See Joseph., Bell. Jud., l. ii. c. 19.
Others consider the months as being prophetical months, each day being reckoned for a year; therefore this period must amount to one hundred and fifty years, counting thirty days to each month, as was the general custom of the Asiatics.
Their torment was as the torment of a scorpion] The phraseology here is peculiar, and probably refers to the warlike weapon called a scorpion, several of which, or men armed with them, Cestius Gallus brought with him in his army.
Isidore describes this scorpion thus: Scorpio est sagitta venenata arcu vel tormentis excussa, quea, dum ad hominem venerit, virus qua figit infundit; unde et scorpio nomen accepit. “The scorpion is a poisoned arrow shot from a bow or other instrument, which, when it wounds a man, deposits the poison with which it is covered in the wound; whence it has the name of scorpion.” Seneca, in his Hercules OEtaeus, act iv., ver. 1218, describes the torment which is occasioned by this species of poisoned arrow: –
Heu qualis intus scorpius, quis fervida
Plaga revulsus cancer infixus meas
Urit medullas?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Supposing the Saracens and Turks here meant by the locusts, here arise two difficulties:
1. How it can be said of them, that they had no power to kill, but only torment men.
2. How their time is set for five months, whereas they have already tormented the world more than a thousand years; and how long they shall yet continue to do so, God only knows: they are both great difficulties.
Alsted tells us: That Mahomet began in the year 622, and the Saracens entered Spain 714, where they were called Moors, and kept possession of that kingdom eight hundred years, and that in the year 719, they besieged Constantinople with a navy of three thousand ships and three hundred thousand land soldiers; that before this time they had made themselves masters of Arabia, Palestina, Syria, Persia, Egypt, Africa, and Spain; and in the year 726, carried into France an army consisting of three hundred and seventy-five thousand, where they were beaten by Charles Martell, father to King Pepin. Mr, Mede telleth us, that the Saracens grievously vexed the countries subject to the Roman emperor, but could not take either Rome or Constantinople. The latter was taken by the Turks, in the year 1457, commanded by Sultan Mahomet. This is but a hard interpretation of those words,
that they should not kill them; which, it may be, hath made some other interpreters choose to interpret these locusts to signify the Roman clergy, who indeed did not kill men for religion, of many years. But both the one and the other tormented the world enough, and that like a scorpion, which pierceth a man with a venomous sting, and puts him to great pain. For the five months, we shall again meet with them, Rev 9:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. they . . . theyThe subjectchanges: the first “they” is the locusts; the secondis the unsealed.
five monthstheordinary time in the year during which locusts continue theirravages.
their tormentthetorment of the sufferers. This fifth verse and Re9:6 cannot refer to an invading army. For an army would kill,and not merely torment.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 never destroy the empire itself, or bring it in subjection to them; nor did they ever take Constantinople, the metropolis and seat of the empire, though they often besieged it. And as for the western locusts, the months, friars, c. though they kill the souls, yet not the bodies of men that are under their power and influence:
but that they should be tormented five months that is, not that the locusts should be tormented, but men by the locusts; and so the eastern empire was grievously teased and tormented by the Saracens, and many parts of it were conquered, plundered, and pillaged by them, though it was not killed and put an end to. In the year 628, Mahomet with his Saracens having obtained a place in Arabia Felix to dwell in, died in the year 631; from which time his successors, the Saracens, by little and little, subdued Palestine, Syria, and Egypt; and, in the year 640, took Persis, putting King Hormisda to flight; they laid siege to Constantinople seven years, but without success; in the year 698, Carthage was taken by them; and in following times many countries on the continent, and many of the islands, were grievously infested and distressed by them; though the empire itself did not fall into their hands; it was tormented by them, but not destroyed. And the western locusts have most dreadfully tormented men by their exorbitant dues demanded of them; and by obliging them to confessions, and to attend Mass; by enjoining them whippings, fastings, pilgrimages, and penances, and with the terrors of purgatory, and the like. The time that the locusts should torment men, which is “five months”, seems not to design any determinate time; but only that seeing five months is the time that locusts live, and are in their strength and power, even the five, hottest months in the year, from April to September h, this seems to denote, that as long as the locusts live, the Saracens in the east, and the monks and friars in the west, so long men should be tormented by them; for it is certain that these have had power to torment men longer time than barely five months; yea, even though these should be understood, according to the prophetic style used in this book, of five months of years, or an hundred and fifty years; and though this should be doubled, seeing they are repeated, Re 9:10; and so make up in all three hundred ears; for both the Saracens and the Romish clergy have distressed men, either of them, longer time than this: indeed, the flourishing condition of the Saracens was but about three hundred years, or two five months; but their empire or dominion lasted longer, even from the year 622, which was the year of the “Hegira”, or flight of Mahomet, to the year 1057 i, when the Turkish empire succeeded it: though it is pretty remarkable, that from the year 612, in which Mahomet began to preach publicly, and so let out the smoke with the locusts, to the year 762, in which the city of Bagdad was built, when and where the Saracens settled, and made no more excursions of any consequence, were just an hundred and fifty years, or five months of years, as Mr. Daubuz observes; and I will not say that this is not intended by this prophecy. Noah’s flood prevailed over the earth one hundred and fifty days, or five months, Ge 7:24.
And their torment [was] as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man; which gives great pain, is very distressing, and their stings are poisonous and mortal: it signifies how troublesome and afflictive those locusts were; to be among them was to live among scorpions, as in Eze 2:6. As these locusts are like scorpions, so scorpions have been seen sometimes with wings like locusts; such an one, Pausanias k relates, was brought into Ionia by a Phrygian.
h Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29. i Petav. Rationar. par. 1. l. 7. c. 13. & l. 8. c. 13. k Boeotica, sive l. 9. p. 573. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 25. & Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 20. & l. 16. c. 41, 42.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That they should not kill them ( ). Sub-final object clause (subject of ) with and the subjunctive of either present (continued action) or aorist (constative, form the same), the usual construction with . The locusts are charged to injure men, but not to kill them.
But that they should be tormented (‘ ). Sub-final clause again with , but this time with the first future passive indicative (like Rev 3:9; Rev 6:4; Rev 8:3; Rev 13:12) of , old verb, to test metals (from , Mt 4:24) by touchstone, then to torture like Mt 8:29, further in Rev 11:10; Rev 12:2; Rev 14:10; Rev 20:10.
Five months ( ). Accusative of extent of time. The actual locust is born in the spring and dies at the end of summer (about five months).
Torment (). Late word for torture, from , in N.T. only in Rev 9:5; Rev 14:11; Rev 18:7; Rev 18:10; Rev 18:15. The wound of the scorpion was not usually fatal, though exceedingly painful.
When it striketh a man ( ). Indefinite temporal clause with and the first aorist active subjunctive of (Mt 26:51), old verb, to smite, “whenever it smites a man.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
They should be tormented (basanisqwsin). See on torments, Mt 4:24.
Striketh [] . Dr. Thomson says that the scorpion cannot strike sideways. All accounts agree as to the fearful pain from its sting.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And to them it was given,” (kai edothe autois) “And it was doled out or given over to them,” the locusts of above described powers of a scorpion, a stinging scorpion, Eze 2:6.
2) “That they should not kill them,” (hina me apokteinosin autous) “In order that they should not kill (the men),” who had not the seal of God, the seal against coming death by Divine judgment wrath – Suffering, calamity was to be theirs before death came, Luk 21:34-36.
3) “But that they should be tormented five months,” (All’ hina basanisthesontai menas pente) “But in order that they (the men) should be tormented (for a period of) five months; the annual period of time (April to September) that locusts normally plague men and the earth. This particular tormenting plague, without death seems to occur during the early part of the latter 42 months of tribulation the great, Rev 11:6-8.
4) “And their torment was the torment of a scorpion,” (kai ho basanismos auton hos basanismos skorpiou) “And their torment is (exists as) or like the torment of a scorpion,” that has the painful, tormenting stinger in his tail, crawling into the house, the bed, one’s shoes, and clothes, to sting unexpectedly, shockingly.
5) “When he striketh a man,” (hotan paise anthropon) “Whenever it stings a man,” bringing excruciating pain and torture, Rev 9:10; Rev 11:7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) And to them . . .Better, And it was given to them that they should not kill them (i.e., those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads), but that they should be tortured five months. The general period of a locust plague is about five months: as the natural locusts commit their ravages only for five months, so the ravages of these symbolical ones will be only for a short period (Stuart). Their power is to inflict torment, and not death. The next verse tells us that men would consider death preferable to this torment; but the relief of the grave is denied them.
And their torment . . .Literally, and the torture of them (i.e., the torture inflicted by them) is as the torture of a scorpion when it has stricken a man. The wound of a scorpion occasions intense suffering: we have in it the symbol of the malicious cruelty of the merciless. The emblem is used in Ezekiel: the rebellious and malicious opponents of the prophet being compared to scorpions (Eze. 2:6). We may compare the similar imagery of the bee for the Assyrian power (Isa. 7:18), and the Psalmists complaint that his enemies came about him like beesa swarm, irritating him with wing and sting. The tenth verse tells us the way in which the injury was inflicted: there were stings in their tails.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Not kill As the war-demons (Rev 9:18) would. These inflict agonies; agonies from which, indeed, natural death may naturally, in time, result: but it is not the work of these error-demons, as of the war-demons, to slaughter and slay.
Tormented For misery is the outflow of error and sin.
Five months A divine limitation again, based on the nature of the locust, whose ravages last usually about five months; that is, from May to September. And so temptation, error, and sin have not limitless control over all the life of humanity. Gospel truths take their turn of influence and offer. Even the smoke of the bottomless pit produces but twilight here, not total darkness.
Torment of a scorpion The wounds of a scorpion are not usually fatal unless they are neglected; but the poison is so acrid that it occasions great agony. Like to this are the images of the hornet, the bee, and the wasp. See the Old Testament, for example Deu 7:20; Exo 23:28; Jos 24:12; Deu 1:44.
Torments A frequent word in the Greek in the Apocalypse. Its noun-form, , signifies the Libyan touchstone, by which the purity of metals was claimed to be tested. Thence the verb signified any examination of a thing by criticism, or of a person by torture. Thence it signifies any torment or suffering. In the New Testament it never signifies infliction on an inanimate object but once, Mat 14:24, where it speaks of a ship as “tossed by the waves.” Our seer applies the term here to the sting of the locusts; to the torment of the people by the two witnesses, Rev 11:10; to the pains of child-birth, Rev 12:2; and to the fiery torment of the wicked, Rev 14:10; Rev 20:10.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not in any circumstances find it, and they shall long to die and death flees from them.’
Scorpion stings are rarely deadly but they are so excessively painful that men so affected wish that they could die. Five months is the life cycle of certain types of locust. The idea would seem to be that during the life cycle of these ‘locusts’ they continue to bring pain and agony to men (not necessarily through one ‘sting’). Even here there is a limit set by God on what these creatures can do (‘it was given to them’) and limits on their time of activity.
It is probable that the anguish is to be seen as spiritual rather than physical, torment in the mind and spirit rather than in the body, although such anguish often produces, or results from, physical consequences. ‘Like the torment of a scorpion’ describes piercing pain which makes a man writhe in anguish. As a result men will want to die, but they will be so ill that they will be unable to find that way out. People with certain illnesses, physical, mental and spiritual, have suffered such torments, and when this occurs on a large scale, as it has for example in the Plagues with their distressing mental and spiritual effects, it may well be seen in these terms. Modern man likes to think he ‘knows’ the causes of illnesses which at various times especially plague mankind, but John is saying there is more to some of them than that (compare Luk 13:16). And when spiritual darkness falls on a land the same may be the case. The fact that there is a limit put on the torment is again a sign that God will not allow evil more than a certain amount of scope. All is controlled.
The locusts are now described in more detail and it is clear they are such locusts as have never been, nor ever could be. The passage is heavy in symbolism (they do not really look like this even in the spiritual realm) and we must recognise that they are almost certainly not seen by those they attack. They are described from heaven’s viewpoint. Earth sees nothing It is just aware of their effects. They are spiritual beings, fallen creatures arising from the abyss where they have been imprisoned (compare 2Pe 2:4; Jud 1:6), and invisible to mortal eye. It is by their effects that they are known. But John sees them for he is in a visionary state.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The plague of the locusts:
v. 5. And 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.
v. 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
v. 7. And 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.
v. 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
v. 9. And 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.
v. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months.
v. 11. And 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. Here the devastating spirits are described in detail. It is said of them, first of all: And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but should torture them five months; and their torture is as the torture of a scorpion when it strikes a man. The scorpion signified a vicious and dangerous opponent, whose attacks were always attended with excruciating pain, and might prove mortal. For a long time, for five months, but incidentally a definite time, fixed by the Lord, beyond which they did not dare to go, the evil hordes were to vex Christendom. The torture was almost unspeakably severe: And in those days men will seek death and will not find it, and they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The very withholding of death, under this refinement of torture, would result in intensifying its power; the tortured people crave in vain for some surcease of the torment, desiring death itself in preference to this torture. But this boon would be denied them.
The impression of the destructive activity of the hordes is heightened by their appearance: And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads what resembled crowns like gold, and their faces like faces of men, and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions; and they had scaly plates like iron coats of mail, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many chariots rushing to battle; and they had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to injure men five months. This description is partly fanciful, partly realistic, the former being true of the crowns gleaming like gold and of the antennae waving like a girl’s long hair; the latter, of the shape of the head, of the segmented, scaly body, of their omnivorous appetite, and of the whirring noise made by them when in flight. The description is completed by the naming of their leader: They had over them as king the angel of the abyss, whose name is in Hebrew Abaddon, but in Greek he has as his name Apollyon. Surely a fitting name for the ruler and leader of the devastating hordes, for it means Destroyer.
The interpretation of this entire picture, vv. 1 -11, in the absence of authentic explanation by the Lord Himself, presents the same difficulties as most of the other pictures in this book of vision and prophecy. So much seems to be certain that the fallen star is an exceptionally great teacher, but one that has fallen away from the pure truth. His doctrine is one that savors of hell and destruction, and the result of its promulgation is that the pure saving knowledge of God is darkened on the earth. Moreover, he will gain many adherents, whose heresy would act as a spiritual plague in the midst of Christendom. For where the precious Word of God is despised and not accepted in true faith, there God will finally take this Word away and permit false and soul-destroying doctrine to be taught. And finally, the fact that the leader of the false believers bore the name Destroyer and had the power to torture apostate Christendom for five months, indicates that he was a mighty ruler and great warrior, whose destructive activity would vex also the true children of God.
This description may be applied to at least two historical movements of great extent. Luther writes: “The first woe, the fifth angel, is the great heretic Arius and his companions, who tormented Christendom so terribly in all the world that the text well says the pious people would rather have died than to have witnessed all of it; and yet they had to see it all, and could not die. He even says that an angel out of hell, called the Destroyer, is their king…. For not only in a spiritual manner, but also bodily, with the sword, they persecuted the true Christians. ” Arius was a presbyter of the congregation at Alexandria in Egypt at the beginning of the fourth century, who introduced the terrible doctrine that Christ was not true God with the Father, but a mere creature. In spite of all efforts of faithful teachers to have this doctrine put out of the Church, since it overthrows the very foundations of Christianity, Arianism persisted for several centuries, being spread very rapidly by various Germanic nations that had accepted it, during the so-called migration of nations. It was a truly terrible visitation upon such Christians as were members of the Church in name only, but proved a torture also for the faithful few that clung to the doctrine of Scriptures. Other commentators find in this fallen star and in the hordes that followed him, led by the angel from the abyss, the Pope and his entire hierarchy. And it is true that every detail of the picture as here drawn may well be applied to this anti-Christian system in all its ramifications, to this day the greatest enemy of the Church of Christ in the whole world. Would that all true Christians had their eyes opened to see and understand this fact and to comport themselves accordingly!
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rev 9:5-9. But that they should be tormented five months, &c. But that they should torment, &c. one hundred and fifty years, from the year 612 to the year 762. See on Rev 9:10. As the Saracens were to hurt only the corrupt and idolatrous Christians, so these they were not to kill, but only to torment; and were to bring such calamities upon the earth, as should make men weary of their lives, Rev 9:5-6. Not that it could be supposed that the Saracens would not kill many thousands in their incursions; on the contrary, their angel has the name of the destroyer, Rev 9:11. They might kill them as individuals, but still they should not kill them as a political body,as a state or empire. They might greatly harass and torment both the Greek and the Latin churches, but they should not utterly extirpate the one or the other. They besieged Constantinople, and even plundered Rome; but they could not make themselves masters of either of those cities. They dismembered the Greek empire, of Syria, Egypt, &c. but they were never able to subdue the whole. As often as they besieged Constantinople, they were repulsed. They attempted it in the year 672, in the reign of Constantine Pogonatus; but their ships were destroyed by the sea-fire invented by Callinicus; and after seven years fruitless pains, they were obliged to raise the siege. They attempted it again in the reign of Leo Isauricus, in the year 718, but were forced to desist by famine and pestilence, and losses of various kinds. In the following verses, 7, &c. the nature and qualities of these locusts are described, partly in allusion to the properties of natural locusts and the description given of them by Joel, and partly in allusion to the habits and manners of the Arabians, to shew that not real, but figurative locusts are here intended. The first quality mentioned is, their being like unto horses prepared unto battle, which is described also in swordsearcher://bible/Joe 2:4 . Many authors have observed, that the head of a locust resembles that of a horse. The Italians therefore call them cavalette, or, as it were, little horses. The Arabians too have in all ages been famous for their horses and horsemanship: their strength is well known to consist chiefly in their cavalry. Another distinguishing mark and character is, their having on their heads as it were crowns like gold; which is an allusion to the head-dress of the Arabians, who have constantly worn turbans or mitres, and boast of having those ornaments for their common attire, which are the crowns and diadems of other people. The crowns likewise signify the kingdoms and dominions which theyshould acquire: and in the space of about eighty years, or thereabouts, they subdued Palestine, Syria, both Armenias, almost all Asia Minor, Persia, India, Egypt, Numidia, all Barbary,even to the river Niger, Portugal, Spain; they added also a great part of Italy, as far as to the gates of Rome; and moreover, Sicily, Candia, Cyprus, and other islands of the Mediterranean. It is worthy of observation, that mention is not made here, as in the other trumpets, of the third part; forasmuch as this plague fell no less without the bounds of the Roman empire than within it, and extended itself even to the remotest Indies. They had also faces as the faces of men, and hair as the hair of women; and the Arabians wore their beards, or at least mustachoes, as men; while the hair of their heads was flowing, or plaited like that of women. Another property, described in Joe 1:6 . is their having teeth as the teeth of lions; that is, strong to devour: and it is wonderful “how the locusts bite and gnaw all things, (as Pliny says,) even the doors of the houses.” They had also breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron: and the locusts have a hard shell or skin, which has been called their armour. This figure is designed to express the defensive, as the former was the offensive arms of the Saracens. And the sound of their wings, &c. is a comparison similar to that used, Joe 2:5 . and Pliny affirms, that they fly with so great a noise of their wings, that they may be taken for birds. Their wings, and the sound of their wings, denote the swiftness and rapidity of their conquests; and it is astonishing, that in less than a century the Saracens erected an empire, which extended from India to Spain. Moreover, they are thrice compared to scorpions, Rev 9:3; Rev 9:5; Rev 9:10 and had stings in their tails; that is, they should draw a poisonous train after them; and wherever they carried their arms, there also they should distil the venom of a false religion. See the next note. Some read the last clause, Of chariots, when many horses are rushing into battle.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
5 And 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.
Ver. 5. And to them it was given ] This is often repeated in this book, to show that though Antichrist and his actuaries bandy and bend all their forces to destroy souls, yet they are bounded by God, and can do no more than is given them from above.
Five months ] Locusts used to live no longer. See Pliny, lib. xi. cap. 29. There are those who interpret these five months of those 500 years, wherein the pope stood in his full pride and power. For, ab eo tempore quo per vos Papa Antichristus esse coepit (saith Bellarmine) non modo non crevit eius imperium, sed semper magis ac magis decrevit, Since you first began to call the pope Antichrist he hath lost a great part of his command and commodity. (De Pap. Rom., lib. iii. cap. 21.)
As the torment of a scorpion ] Pliny testifieth that of all creeping things that are poisonous, the sting of a scorpion is most cruel and grievous.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 9:5 . here, like Jas 4:7 , represents LXX, tr. of in sense of reptile’s bite; the scorpion with its long-fanged tail stings the prey which it has already gripped with its claws ( cf. Sen. Hercul. 1218). Scorpions were a natural symbol for vicious and dangerous opponents ( cf. Eze 2:6 , Luk 10:9 ), whose attacks were always painful and might be mortal. “The sting is not perilous. The wounded part throbs with numbness and aching till the third day, there is not much swelling” (Doughty, Ar. Des. i. 328). But the effects were not always so mild (Arist. H. N. ix. 29).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
that . . . not. As in Rev 9:4.
tormented. Greek. basanizo, literally to test (metals) by the touchstone, then to torture. Occurs: Rev 11:10; Rev 12:2 (pained); Rev 14:10; Rev 20:10. See Mat 8:29. Mar 5:7. Luk 8:28. “Torment” is specially connected with demons.
five months. Compare the fixed periods of Num 11:19, Num 11:20; 2Sa 24:13; where the term is taken literally, as it should be here also. The period of locusts is five months: May-September. See Gen 7:24.
torment. Greek. basanismos. Here; Rev 14:11; Rev 18:7, Rev 10:15. See App-197. The verb, above.
he = it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 9:5. ) Some Lat. MSS. have six months. I was long ago, but easily added to V. The number five is repeated, Rev 9:10. Five months in prophecy are 79 complete ordinary years, from A. 510 to 589. The men who were tormented were Israelites, who had not received the Divine seal: the locusts were Persians, who dreadfully harassed them.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
it was: Rev 13:5, Rev 13:7, Dan 5:18-22, Dan 7:6, Joh 19:11
they should not: That is, should not kill them as a political body, state, or empire; and accordingly, however they desolated the Greek and Latin churches, they could not extirpate them, nor gain possession of the empire. Rev 11:7, Job 2:6
they should be: Rev 9:10
five: Five prophetical months, each consisting of 30 days, and each day denoting a year, amount to 150 years; and accordingly, from the time that Mohammed began to propagate his imposture ad 612, the building of Bagdad, when they ceased from their ravages, ad 763, are just 150 years.
and their: Rev 9:3
Reciprocal: 2Ch 10:11 – scorpions Zec 14:12 – Their flesh Rev 9:15 – an hour
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 9:5. Not kill them. The clergy needed to retain their dupes that they might further exploit them for their own selfish interests. Five months is a definite period of time if taken literally, but in actual history we do not find such processes as have been described being so exact in their beginning and ending. The figure refers to some particular period in the history of the apostate church when the oppression by the clergy was active to an extraordinary degree.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 5.
Should not kill: “And 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 it striketh a Prayer of Manasseh–Rev 9:5.
The victims were not put to death–the descriptions of the siege of Jerusalem.
But tormented five months: This referred to the literal period of time for the season of locusts, from spring to autumn (May to September), but here it figuratively denoted the full time, the whole period for the effects described, designating figuratively the period of the siege.
Torment as of a scorpion when he strikes man: The baneful effects of the siege on its victims had figuratively all of the sting of the scorpion’s tail-sorrow, suffering, famine, pestilence, carnage, stench and putrefaction, indescribable. Vivid description of these deadly carriers of the scourge of pestilence and putrefaction are narrated in dictionaries of antiquities and historical works, such as Josephus and Pliny
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 9:5. While men are thus the object of the locust plague, its violence is even as to them restrained. And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. The killing of men is reserved for a still higher stage of judgment, under the sixth trumpet. In the meantime torment alone is to be inflicted, but that of a kind most painful and acute, as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man. The locust is generally said to have no sting (see below). Here, therefore, in order to bring out the terror of the plague, it has the sting of the scorpion assigned to it (comp. Deu 8:15; Eze 2:6).The time during which the torment is to be inflicted is five months, and the explanation most commonly accepted is, that five months are the period of the year during which locusts commit their ravages. The explanation is improbable, because(1) There is no sufficient proof that five months is really the duration of a locust-plague. Such a plague is rather short and swift; (2) It is out of keeping with the style of the Apocalypse to give literal periods of time; (3) On the supposition that five months are the ordinary duration of a locust-plague, the ravages here referred to are committed during the whole time to which the plague naturally belongs; whereas the period of five months is named for the sake of showing that the plague is checked. We must, therefore, apply the same principle of interpretation as in chap. Rev 8:1. Five is the half of ten: it denotes a broken, imperfect, limited, shortened time. The type of the period spoken of may perhaps be found in the Deluge, which lasted for five months.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, God would bring such dreadful judgments and calamities upon the wicked world, that men should be an affliction beyond all other afflictions, that they could not die: to flee death is a great misery, but to have death flee from us, or flee before us, and not be able to find it, is a far greater misery; God can so embitter life by afflictions and sufferings, that those who dread death may yet desire to die; not for any good that they see in death, but only to get rid of the troubles of this life: In those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Their victims suffer mental and spiritual pain because of the sting, but, though they desire it, they do not die. The word for torment is used of Lot and by the demon who possessed the man in the land of the Gadarenes. ( 2Pe 2:8 ; Mar 5:7 ; Luk 8:28 ) Again, we can see that God is in control because he only allows this to continue for five months.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 5
That they should not kill them; that they should not utterly destroy the nations which they conquered.–Five months; that is, for a moderate season, represented by five months, in allusion to the period during which the activity of the locust continues.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
They could not kill people, and their mission lasted only five months. The wound they caused would be very painful but not fatal.
"The scorpion belongs to the largest and most malignant of all insect tribes. Its general appearance is like a lobster, but much more hideous. Its sting located near the end of its tail is not always fatal, but can be. It ranks with the snake in its hostility toward human beings (cf. Luk 10:19; Luk 11:12)." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. 30.]