And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.
8. as the hair of women ] It is said that, in Arabic poetry, the same comparison is used of the antenn of the natural locust: but more probably this is one of the supernatural features of the description.
teeth of lions ] Joe 1:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they had hair as the hair of women – Long hair; not such as men commonly wear, but such as women wear. See the notes on 1Co 11:14. This struck John as a peculiarity, that, though warriors, they should have the appearance of effeminacy indicated by allowing their hair to grow long. It is clear from this, that John regarded their appearance as unusual and remarkable. Though manifestly designed to represent an army, yet it was not the usual appearance of men who went forth to battle. Among the Greeks of ancient times, indeed, long hair was not uncommon (see the notes above referred to on 1Co 11:14), but this was by no means the usual custom among the ancients; and the fact that these warriors had long hair like women was a circumstance that would distinguish them particularly from others. On this comparison of the appearance of the locusts with the hair of women see the remarks of Niebuhr, in the notes on Rev 9:7.
And their teeth were as the teeth of lions – Strong; suited to devour. The teeth of the locust are by no means prominent, though they are strong, for they readily cut down and eat up all vegetable substances that come in their way. But it is evident that John means to say that there was much that was unusual and remarkable in the teeth of these locusts. They would be ravenous and fierce, and would spread terror and desolation like the lions of the desert.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Hair as the hair of women] No razor passes upon their flesh. Their hair long, and their beards unshaven.
Their teeth were as the teeth of lions.] They are ferocious and cruel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they had hair as the hair of women; dishevelled, or hanging loose; the Arabians were wont to go so; or this may signify, that they were beautiful as well as terrible to look upon.
And their teeth were as the teeth of lions; sharp and strong: see Joe 1:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. hair of womenlong andflowing. An Arabic proverb compares the antlers of locusts to thehair of girls. EWALD inALFORD understands theallusion to be to the hair on the legs or bodies of the locusts:compare “rough caterpillars,” Jer51:27.
as the teeth of lions(Joe 1:6, as to locusts).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they had hair, as the hair of women,…. Some locusts have smooth, others hairy heads n: this fitly points at the Arabians or Saracens, who, as Pliny says o, used to wear long hair without cutting it, and attired as women, and have their names also from women: they were called Hagarenes, from Hagar, Abraham’s handmaid, by whom he had Ishmael, the father of these people; afterwards they took the name of Saracens, from Sarah, the wife of Abraham, whose posterity they would be thought to be; though they may have the latter name, either from , to “rob” and “steal”, with the Arabians, or from the same word, as it signifies to “comb”, from the combing and plaiting: of their hair. This may also point at the effeminacy of the western locusts, the monks and friars, who dress more like women than men; and many of them claim the virgin Mary for their patroness; and may in general design the votaries of the church of Rome, who are under the vow of a monastic life, as those among the Jews, under a Nazarite’s vow, wore long hair.
And their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions; so in Joe 1:6; which may denote the ravages and devastations of the Saracens in the empire, robbing, pillaging, and destroying all they met with; and is applicable enough to the devouring jaws of the Romish clergy, their plundering the estates of men, their cruelties and barbarities exercised by their Inquisition, &c. Pliny says p, that locusts will gnaw the doors of houses.
n Gloss. in T. Bab. Cholin. fol. 65. 1. o Hist. Nat. l. 6. c. 28. p L. 11. c. 29.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They had (). Imperfect active, late form as in Mr 8:7 in place of the usual .
As hair of women ( ). That is long hair (1Co 11:15), with no reference to matters of sex at all, for just before is used, not (men as distinct from women). Perhaps the antennae of the locust were unusually long.
As the teeth of lions ( ). Supply (the teeth) before . See Joe 1:6. The locust is voracious.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hair of women. The antennae of the locust. There is said to be an Arabic proverb in which the antennae of locusts are compared to girls’ hair.
Teeth of lions. Compare Joe 1:6.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they had hair,” (kai eichon trichas) “And they had hair,” on their heads, or hairs on their head they had The armor-laden horse-like locusts, with golden crowns of kingly headgear arrayed and ranked for battle had antennas like a woman’s hair or horse’s mane failing over their faces.
2) “As the hair of women,” (hos trichas gunaikon) “As the hairs of women,” considered to be long hair upon their heads, antennae appearing on their heads as a woman’s long flowing hair, untied, loose in the wind, and abundant, moving as if to do battle, to attack their victims.
3) “And their teeth were as the teeth of lions,” (kai hoi odontes auton hos leonton hesan) “And their teeth were (in appearance) similar to the teeth of lions,” king or ruler of the beasts; these locusts shall be devastating administrators of excruciating pain to men for a period of five months, having not only stings to give men excruciating pain but also lion-like teeth to tear the flesh of men, but to cut, to tear their flesh, not reaching into the vitals enough to kill them, but to cause fear, torments, and horror, as their calamity rages against the enemies of God, Joe 1:6. Lions’ teeth are set (four of them) crossed, to cross each other like a pair of scissors, to cut, to tear flesh for his protection or for food.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(8)And they had hair . . .Translate, And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions, and they had breastplates as iron breastplates; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of (having, i.e., drawn by) many horses, running to war. The hair: It is said that some locusts are hairy, and the passage in Jeremiah (Jer. 51:27) has been quoted as evidence (the rough caterpillars here spoken of being said to be locusts bristling with hair), but the application of the passage is uncertain: the rough caterpillar may be the locust in the third stage, when the wings are still enveloped in rough horny cases which stick upon their backs. Others think the idea of the woman-like hair has its basis in the antlers of the locust. The teeth like those of the lion is a description the origin of which is found in the prophet Joel, in his prediction of the locust plague: a nation cometh upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek-teeth (or, grinding-teeth) of a great lion. The terrible destructiveness of the locusts, and their strong, ceaseless, and resistless voracity, were thus described. Their breastplates are taken as descriptive of their thoraxes, which in the vision seemed strong as iron. The comparison of the sound of the wings to the thunderous sound of chariots and horses rushing into battle is repeated from Joel 2.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Hair of women ”If a woman have long hair it is a glory to her.” 1Co 11:15. “De Wette quotes from Niebuhr an Arabic proverb, in which the antlers of locusts are compared to the hair of girls.” Alford. The hairs of the natural locust are naturally increased and beautified to form the symbol of feminine attractiveness. Error is reason-like, like man, and seductive, like woman.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Ver. 8. As the hair of women ] Insinuative, and inductive to sin.
As the teeth of lions ] Joe 1:6 . Catching and carrying to their dens all they can come by, as Tecelius did out of Germany, as Otto sent by Gregory IX did out of England, where he left not so much money as he either carried with him or sent to Rome before him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 9:8. , as the hair of women) that is, hair growing long. Thus the Arabians in Pliny: and thus the Persians were in former times. schylus, according to Athenus, l. xiv. f. 627, . The Persians were called by the Delphic oracle .-Herodotus l. vi. f. 176. See altogether Thorn. Hyde Hist. Relig. of the ancient Persians, p. 369. The kingdom of the Persians, Dan 7:5, is represented as a shaggy bear.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
hair: 2Ki 9:30, Isa 3:24, 1Co 11:14, 1Co 11:15, 1Ti 2:9, 1Pe 3:3
and their: Psa 57:4, Joe 1:6
Reciprocal: Pro 30:14 – whose
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 9:8. Hair of women . . . teeth of lions; this is a very interesting combination. In 1Co 11:15 it is shown that women are expected to have long hair (that being the only distinction between the hair of women and that of men as far as the appearance is concerned.) Women are supposed to be milder and less harmful in their natural disposition. Hence when these creatures first appear they are regarded as women and thus would not be suspected as being such as needed to be avoided. But they had teeth like those of lions which indicates that they were in reality a dangerous group of creatures. That is a true picture of the clergy of Rome, including all from the pope down to the humblest priest.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 8.
The locust features: “And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth as the teeth of lions”–Rev 9:8.
The hair of women: The kind of insect forming this vision was that of the hairy species referred to in Jer 51:27 as “rough caterpillars,” or the “cankerworm” of the Revised Version, but is admittedly the variety of the devouring locust with a sort of bristling long hair. The comparison with the hair of women is because of the feature that draws attention, as the waving hair, the abundance of which is the woman’s natural glory– Joh 11:2; Joh 12:3; 1Co 11:14-15. It is used as a figure to impress the personality of the locust creatures of this vision.
The teeth of lions: The same figure is used in Joel’s vision of the army of locusts, which signified that “a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.” (Joe 1:6) It is a symbol of strength, as the frequent expression to put teeth in legislation, and is designed to personify the locusts of this vision.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The antennae of locusts are not hair, and, while they have hair on their legs, the comparison with the hair of women suggests hair on their heads. Perhaps the reference to hair like women’s, presumable long hair, is to convey their wildness.
"An old Arab proverb is often quoted which says that the locust has a head like a horse, a breast like a lion, feet like a camel, a body like a serpent, and antennae like the hair of a maiden." [Note: Ladd, p. 132.]
Long hair in biblical times was a sign of glory, so perhaps they have some glory. Lion-like teeth denote voracity.