Revelation 9
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Revelation 1:13-2:1 on the verso side of Papyrus 98 from the second century.
Book	Book of Revelation
Category	Apocalypse
Christian Bible part	New Testament
Order in the Christian part	27

Revelation 9 is the ninth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle,^[1][2] but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate.^[3] In this chapter, the next two angels' trumpets are sounded, following the sounding of the first four trumpets in chapter 8.^[4] These two trumpets and the final trumpet, sounded in chapter 11, are sometimes called the "woe trumpets".^[5]

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others:^[6][a]

• Papyrus 115 (ca. AD 275; extant verses 1–5, 7–16, 18–21)
• Papyrus 47 (3rd century)
• Papyrus 85 (4th century; extant verses 19–21)
• Codex Sinaiticus (330-360)
• Codex Alexandrinus (400-440)
• Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (ca. 450; extant verses 17–21)

Old Testament references

• Revelation 9:20: Psalm 115:4; Psalm 135:15^[8]

The Fifth Trumpet (9:1–11)

Verse 1

Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.^[9]

English nonconformist Moses Lowman explains that "stars, in the language of prophecy, signify angels.^[10]

"The key to the bottomless pit" (Biblical Greek: ἡ κλεὶς τοῦ φρέατος τῆς ἀβύσσου, romanized: hē kleis tou phreatos tēs abyssou) is translated as "the key to the shaft of the Abyss" in the New International Version.

Verse 3

Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.^[11]

These locusts are 'a demonized version of the army of locusts in Joel 2:1–11'.^[12]

Verse 4

They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree ^[13]

Early Methodist theologian Joseph Benson says that this instruction "demonstrates that they were not natural but symbolical locusts."^[14]

Verse 11

And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.^[15][16]

The Vulgate adds a Latin equivalent, latine habens nomen Exterminans, which the Wycliffe Bible explains as "Destroyer". The latter also describes the angel as "the angel of deepness".^[17]

The Sixth Trumpet (9:12–21)

Verse 16

Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.^[18]

See also

• Abaddon/Apollyon
• Euphrates
• Jesus Christ
• John's vision of the Son of Man
• Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
• Seven trumpets
• Related Bible parts: Joel 2, Revelation 8, Revelation 10, Revelation 11

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Bauckham, Richard (2007). "81. Revelation". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 1287–1306. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Gill, John. Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746-1763).

External links

• Revelation 9 King James Bible - Wikisource
• English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Archived 2019-06-17 at the Wayback Machine
• Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
• Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)