Revelation 9:8
in Revelation 9They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
KJV
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
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This verse in Revelation 9
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHair 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.
This site's exposition
horses prepared unto battle
on Revelation 9:7-9
John reaches for eight comparisons in three verses trying to describe what he saw, shapes like horses prepared for battle, something like crowns of gold, faces like men, hair like women, teeth like lions, breastplates like iron, and wings whose sound was like many chariots and horses running to battle, the repeated as it were and like unto marking a vision straining human language rather than a code awaiting decryption. The composite picture, human intelligence and cruelty riding on beastlike power and speed, armored and swift, has struck commentators across the centuries as describing something genuinely monstrous rather than any known creature, natural or engineered.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
After this, the divine evangelist vividly and fearfully describes to us the nature of the worms. In each of the descriptions concerning them, one would marvel at the precision of the account; for he did not say that they had the "teeth of lions", the …
In the image of the horses he shows the suddenness of persecution that runs around so that it might oppress the innocent and obstruct [their path] to the celestial kingdom.… We recall that it was written that upon the heads of the twenty-four elders, who …
A commentator
Primasius of HadrumetumCOMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:7-8 · Written before 560.
proposed
By the locusts prepared as horses for war he means those who originate evil teachings. For just as locusts which destroy by their mouth, so also these persons tear asunder by their preaching. It is as we read, "fierce wolves not sparing the flock." Moreover, …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Some have interpreted these words and those which come afterward to indicate that the locusts are angels who administer the divine punishment and who are metaphorically described through each of the various images. These images would then describe either their fearsomeness and the panic they …
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle: and on their heads were, as it were, crowns like gold. It is right for the heretics to be represented by horses because of their rapidity in running about. They are prepared …
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(2.) They had the show of wisdom and sagacity, the faces of men, though the spirit of devils. (3.) They had all the allurements of seeming beauty, to ensnare and defile the minds of men-- hair like women; their way of worship was very gaudy and ornamental.
And they had hair, as the hair of women,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
13 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 |
| εἶχον | eichon | they had | G2192 → | 707 times |
| τρίχας | trichas | hair | G2359 → | 15 times |
| ὡς | hos | like | G5613 → | 500 times |
| τρίχας | trichas | hair | G2359 → | 15 times |
| γυναικῶν, | gunaikon | of women, | G1135 → | 211 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὀδόντες | odontes | teeth | G3599 → | |
| αὐτῶν | auton | of them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὡς | hos | like [those] | G5613 → | 500 times |
| λεόντων | leonton | of lions | G3023 → | 9 times |
| ἦσαν. | esan | were. | G1510 → | 2333 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἶχονthey had
eichonG2192 →707 times
τρίχαςhair
trichasG2359 →15 times
ὡςlike
hosG5613 →500 times
τρίχαςhair
trichasG2359 →15 times
γυναικῶν,of women,
gunaikonG1135 →211 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ὀδόντεςteeth
odontesG3599 →
αὐτῶνof them
autonG846 →5565 times
ὡςlike [those]
hosG5613 →500 times
λεόντωνof lions
leontonG3023 →9 times
ἦσαν.were.
esanG1510 →2333 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
1 Peter 3:3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 2:9–10
Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
- Isaiah 3:18–24
In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
- 1 Timothy 2:9–10
Through
1 Timothy 2:9Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:30
And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain;…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 3:3–5
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
- Titus 2:3–5
Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teachers of good.
- Psalms 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
- Isaiah 3:16
The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—
- Jeremiah 4:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Revelation
This page draws on 10 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 9:7-9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation; Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:7-8 and Ticonius, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:7-8.