Revelation 9:6
in Revelation 9In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.
KJV
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
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This verse in Revelation 9
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd in those days men shall seek death,.... Or desire to die, as Job did: and shall not find it; or shall not die: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them; death will be preferred to a miserable life; it will be chosen rather than life, Jer 8:3. The ravages of the Saracens, their incursions, and the invasions by them, struck such terror into the inhabitants of divers parts of the empire, that they made death more eligible to them than life.
This site's exposition
torment them for five months
on Revelation 9:5-6
The locusts are not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, about the life of a locust swarm. The pain is like the stinging of a scorpion, and men will seek death and will not find it.
This site's exposition
they will long to die
Gill reads the men who seek death as men who long to die, as Job did, and cites Jeremiah 8:3, where death is chosen. He sets the torment of verse 5 in the days of the Saracen armies. The locusts may torment and may not kill.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Could it be that some of the Fathers accepted the concept of restoration [ἀποκατάστασιν] from this point onward, saying that sinners are punished only up to this time, but thereafter no longer, as if they have been purified by the punishment? But what should be …
They say that death is a rest. And so, they seek death, not that they may die but that they might have rest from evil things while the evil vices die away. They desired to die, that is, that they might die to the world …
The Medieval Church3 voices
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it: they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them. The days in question run all the way from the Lord's coming to the end of the world. Indeed the elect …
Through these words the magnitude of the evils is revealed. For it is common among those in severe troubles to call upon death. But it is from the judgments of God that death does not come to those in the midst of trouble who seek …
And in those days men will seek death, and will not find it. Preferring to end a miserable life with a quick death. As blessed Cyprian lamented under the Decian storm: "To those willing to die, he says, it was not permitted to be killed."
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
shall desire--Greek, "eagerly desire"; set their mind on. shall flee--So B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read. But A and Aleph read, "fleeth," namely continually. In Re 6:16, which is at a later stage of God's judgments, the ungodly seek annihilation, not from the torment of their suffering, but from fear of the face of the Lamb before whom they have to stand.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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: - Nunc quia longa mihi gravis est et inutilis aetas, Vivere cum nequeam, sit mihi posse mori? O quam dura premit miseros conditio vitae! Nec mors humano subjacet arbitrio.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And in those days shall men seek death ... - See the notes on Rev 9:5. It is very easy to conceive of such a state of things as is here described, and, indeed, this has not been very uncommon in the world. It is a state where the distress is so great that people would consider death a relief, and where they anxiously look to the time when they may be released from their sufferings by death. In the case before us it is not intimated that they would lay violent hands on themselves, or that they would take any positive measures to end their sufferings; and this, perhaps, may be a circumstance of some importance to show that the persons referred to were servants of God. When it is said that “they would seek death,” it can only be meant that they would look out for it - or desire it - as the end of their sorrows. This is descriptive, as we shall see, of a particular period of the world; but the language is beautifully applicable to what occurs in all ages and in all lands. There is always a great number of sufferers who are looking forward to death as a relief. In cells and dungeons; on beds of pain and languishing; in scenes of poverty and want; in blighted hopes and disappointed affections, how many are there who would be glad to die, and who have no hope of an end of suffering but in the grave! A few, by the pistol, by the halter, by poison, or by drowning, seek thus to end their woes. A large part look forward to death as a release, when, if the reality were known, death would furnish no such relief, for there are deeper and longer woes beyond the grave than there are this side of it. Compare the notes on Job 3:20-22. But to a portion death will be a relief. It will be an end of sufferings. They will find peace in the grave, and are assured they shall suffer no more. […]
The words behind it
24 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ταῖς | tais | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἡμέραις | hemerais | days | G2250 → | 389 times |
| ἐκείναις | ekeinais | those | G1565 → | |
| ζητήσουσιν | zetesousin | will seek | G2212 → | |
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄνθρωποι | anthropoi | men | G444 → | 549 times |
| τὸν | ton | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θάνατον | thanaton | death | G2288 → | 120 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐ | ou | certainly | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| μὴ | me | no more | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| εὑρήσουσιν | heuresousin | will find | G2147 → | 175 times |
| αὐτόν· | auton | it; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐπιθυμήσουσιν | epithumesousin | they will long | G1937 → | |
| ἀποθανεῖν, | apothanein | to die, | G599 → | 110 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| φεύγει | pheugei | he flees | G5343 → | 29 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θάνατος | thanatos | death | G2288 → | 120 times |
| ἀπ᾽ | ap᾽ | from | G575 → | 640 times |
| αὐτῶν. | auton | them. | G846 → | 5565 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ταῖςthe
taisG3588 →19766 times
ἡμέραιςdays
hemeraisG2250 →389 times
ἐκείναιςthose
ekeinaisG1565 →
ζητήσουσινwill seek
zetesousinG2212 →
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ἄνθρωποιmen
anthropoiG444 →549 times
τὸν<the>
tonG3588 →19766 times
θάνατονdeath
thanatonG2288 →120 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐcertainly
ouG3756 →1664 times
μὴno more
meG3361 →1066 times
εὑρήσουσινwill find
heuresousinG2147 →175 times
αὐτόν·it;
autonG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐπιθυμήσουσινthey will long
epithumesousinG1937 →
ἀποθανεῖν,to die,
apothaneinG599 →110 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
φεύγειhe flees
pheugeiG5343 →29 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
θάνατοςdeath
thanatosG2288 →120 times
ἀπ᾽from
ap᾽G575 →640 times
αὐτῶν.them.
autonG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 23:30At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
it leads to
- Hosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 6:16
And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 2:19
Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 10:8
Through
Revelation 6:16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
it leads to
- Luke 23:30
At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 4:2
At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.
- Revelation 20:11
Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Luke 23:30
Through
Isaiah 2:19Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:10
Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty.
- Isaiah 2:10
Through
Jeremiah 8:3And wherever I have banished them, the remnant of this evil family will choose death over life,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:14
I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD.…
- Jeremiah 29:14
Where this verse is studied
About Revelation
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alcuin of York, COMMENTARY ON REVELATION; Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:6; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Ticonius, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:6.