---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Revelation 9:1. A star fall from heaven — An angel encompassed with light suddenly descended, and seemed like a star falling from heaven. The key of"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9"
---

Verse [Revelation 9:1](../../../kjv/revelation/9/1). ***A star fall from heaven*** — An angel encompassed with light suddenly descended, and seemed like a *star* falling from heaven.
***The key of the bottomless pit.*** — Power to inundate the earth with a flood of temporal calamities and moral evils.

Verse [Revelation 9:2](../../../kjv/revelation/9/2). ***He opened the bottomless pit*** — το φρεαρ της αβυσσου *The pit of the bottomless deep*. Some think the angel means *Satan*, and the bottomless pit *hell*. Some suppose *Mohammed* is meant; and Signior *Pastorini* professes to believe that *Luther* is intended!
***There arose a smoke*** — False doctrine, obscuring the true light of heaven.

Verse [Revelation 9:3](../../../kjv/revelation/9/3). ***Locusts*** — Vast hordes of military troops: the description which follows certainly agrees better with the *Saracens* than with any other people or nation, but may also apply to the Romans.
***As the scorpions of the earth have power.*** — Namely, to hurt men by *stinging* them. Scorpions may signify *archers*; and hence the description has been applied to *Cestius Gallus*, the Roman general, who had many *archers* in his army.

Verse [Revelation 9:4](../../../kjv/revelation/9/4). ***They should not hurt the grass*** — Neither the common people, the men of middling condition, nor the nobles. However, this appears rather to refer to the prudent counsels of a military chief, not to destroy the *crops* and *herbage* of which they might have need in their campaigns.
***Which have not the seal of God*** — All false, hypocritical, and heterodox Christians.

Verse [Revelation 9:5](../../../kjv/revelation/9/5). ***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?

Verse [Revelation 9:6](../../../kjv/revelation/9/6). ***In those days shall men seek death*** — So distressing shall be their sufferings and torment that they shall long for death in *any form*, to be rescued from the evils of life. There is a sentiment much like this in *Maximianus*, Eleg. i., ver. 111, commonly attributed to *Cornelius Gallus*:-
Why is light given to the miserable,
And life to the bitter of soul?
Who wait for death, but it is not;
And dig for it more than hid treasures.
They rejoice for it, and are glad,
And exult when they find the grave.
[Job 3:20-22](../../../kjv/job/3/20-22).

Verse [Revelation 9:7](../../../kjv/revelation/9/7). ***The locusts were like unto horses*** — This description of the locusts appears to be taken from [Joel 2:4](../../../kjv/joel/2/4). The whole of this symbolical description of an overwhelming military force agrees very well with the troops of Mohammed. The Arabs are the most expert horsemen in the world: they live so much on horseback that the horse and his rider seem to make but one animal. The *Romans* also were eminent for their cavalry.
***Crowns like gold*** — Not only alluding to their costly *tiaras* or *turbans*, but to the extent of their conquests and the multitude of powers which they subdued.
***Their faces*****were*****as the faces of men****.*] That is, though locusts symbolically, they are really men.

Verse [Revelation 9:8](../../../kjv/revelation/9/8). ***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.

Verse [Revelation 9:9](../../../kjv/revelation/9/9). ***They had breastplates-of iron*** — They seemed to be invulnerable, for no force availed against them.
***The sound of their wings*** — Their hanging weapons and military trappings, with the clang of their shields and swords when they make their fierce onsets. This simile is borrowed from [Joel 2:5-7](../../../kjv/joel/2/5-7).

Verse [Revelation 9:10](../../../kjv/revelation/9/10). ***They had tails like unto scorpions*** — This may refer to the consequences of their victories. They infected the conquered with their pernicious doctrines.
***Their power*****was*****to hurt men five months****.*] The locusts make their principal ravages during the *five* summer *months*. But probably these may be *prophetic months*, as above, in [Revelation 9:5](../../../kjv/revelation/9/5)-150 years.

Verse [Revelation 9:11](../../../kjv/revelation/9/11). ***A king over them*** — A supreme head; some think Mohammed, some think Vespasian.
***The angel of the bottomless pit*** — The chief envoy of Satan.
***Abaddon*** — From אבד *abad*, he destroyed.
***Apollyon.*** — From απο, *intensive*, and ολλυω, *to destroy*. The meaning is the same both in the Hebrew and Greek.

Verse [Revelation 9:12](../../../kjv/revelation/9/12). ***One wo is past*** — That is, the wo or desolation by the symbolical scorpions.
***There came two woes more*** — In the trumpets of the sixth and seventh angels.

Verse [Revelation 9:13](../../../kjv/revelation/9/13). ***The four horns of the golden altar*** — This is another not very obscure indication that the Jewish temple was yet standing.

Verse [Revelation 9:14](../../../kjv/revelation/9/14). ***Loose the four angels*** — These four angels *bound*-hitherto restrained, in the Euphrates, are by some supposed to be the Arabs, the Saracens, the Tartars, or the Turks; by others, Vespasian's four generals, one in Arabia, one in Africa, one in Alexandria, and one in Palestine.

Verse [Revelation 9:15](../../../kjv/revelation/9/15). ***For an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year*** — We have in this place a year resolved into its component parts. Twenty-four *hours* constitute a *day*, seven *days* make a *week*, four *weeks* make a *month*, and twelve *months* make a *year*. Probably no more is meant than that these four angels were at *all* *times* prepared and permitted to inflict evil on the people against whom they had received their commission. There are some who understand these divisions of time as prophetical periods, and to these I must refer, not professing to discuss such uncertainties.

Verse [Revelation 9:16](../../../kjv/revelation/9/16). ***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.

Verse [Revelation 9:17](../../../kjv/revelation/9/17). ***Breastplates of fire-jacinth, and brimstone*** — That is, *red, blue*, and *yellow*; the first is the colour of *fire*, the second of *jacinth*, and the third of *sulphur*.
***And the heads of the horses*** — Is this an allegorical description of great *ordnance*? Cannons, on the mouths of which horses' heads were formed, or the mouth of the cannon cast in that form? *Fire,* *smoke*, and *brimstone*, is a good allegorical representation of *gunpowder*. The Ottomans made great use of heavy artillery in their wars with the Greeks of the lower empire.

Verse [Revelation 9:18](../../../kjv/revelation/9/18). ***By these three was the third part of men killed*** — That is, By these was great carnage made.

Verse [Revelation 9:19](../../../kjv/revelation/9/19). ***Their power is in their mouth*** — From these the destructive *balls* are projected; *and in their tails*, the *breech* where the *charge* of *gunpowder* is lodged.
***Their tails*****were*****like unto serpents, and had heads*** — If cannons are intended, the description, though allegorical, is plain enough; for *brass ordnance* especially are frequently thus ornamented, both at their *muzzles* and at their *breech*.

Verse [Revelation 9:20](../../../kjv/revelation/9/20). ***Yet repented not*** — The commission which these horsemen had was against idolaters; and though multitudes of them were destroyed, yet the residue continued their senseless attachment to dumb idols, and therefore heavier judgments might be expected. These things are supposed to refer to the desolation brought upon the Greek Church by the *Ottomans*, who entirely ruined that Church and the Greek empire. The Church which was then remaining was the *Latin* or western Church, which was not at all corrected by the judgments which fell upon the eastern Church, but continued its senseless adoration of angels, saints, relics, &c., and does so to the present day. If, therefore, God's wrath be kindled against such, this Church has much to fear.

Verse [Revelation 9:21](../../../kjv/revelation/9/21). ***Neither repented they of their murders*** — Their cruelties towards the genuine followers of God, the Albigenses, and Waldenses, and others, against whom they published crusades, and hunted them down, and butchered them in the most shocking manner. The innumerable murders by the horrible *inquisition* need not be mentioned.
***Their sorceries*** — Those who apply this also to the Romish Church understand by it the various *tricks, sleights of hand*, or *legerdemain*, by which they impose on the common people in causing images of Christ to bleed, and the various pretended *miracles* wrought at the tombs, &c., of pretended saints, holy wells, and such like.
***Fornication*** — Giving that honour to various creatures which is due only to the Creator.
***Their thefts.*** — Their exactions and impositions on men for *indulgences, pardons*, &c. These things *may* be intended, but it is going too far to say that this is the true interpretation. And yet to express any doubt on this subject is with some little else than heresy. If such men can see these things so clearly in such obscure prophecies, let them be thankful for their sight, and indulgent to those who still sit in darkness.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary -  Revelation 9"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9","name":"Clarke's Commentary -  Revelation 9","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse Revelation 9:1. A star fall from heaven — An angel encompassed with light suddenly descended, and seemed like a star falling from heaven. The key of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","name":"Clarke's Commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation","name":"Revelation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/revelation/9","name":"9"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```