Revelation 9:10 BSB

Revelation 9:10

They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months.

KJV

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

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Commentary

3 voices

Alcuin of York

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION (804)

And they had tails like to scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. We have already spoken about scorpions' tails. Note also that the apostle calls sin a sting. [1 Cor. 15:56] We have already spoken …

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

And they have tails like scorpions - That is, each tail is like a scorpion, not like the tail of a scorpion. To hurt the unsealed men five months - Five prophetic months; that is, seventy-nine common years So long did these calamities last.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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 Rev 9:5 - 150 years.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἔχουσιν	echousin	they have	G2192 →
οὐρὰς	ouras	tails	G3769 →
ὁμοίας	homoias	like	G3664 →
σκορπίοις	skorpiois	as scorpions	G4651 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
κέντρα	kentra	stingers	G2759 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
ταῖς	tais	the	G3588 →
οὐραῖς	ourais	tails	G3769 →
αὐτῶν	autōn	of them	G846 →
ἡ	hē	[is] the	G3588 →
ἐξουσία	exousia	power	G1849 →
αὐτῶν	autōn	of them	G846 →
ἀδικῆσαι	adikēsai	to injure	G91 →
τοὺς	tous	<the>	G3588 →
ἀνθρώπους	anthrōpous	men	G444 →
μῆνας	mēnas	for months	G3376 →
πέντε.	pente	five.	G4002 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Revelation 9:5
The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
leads to
- Job 2:6
  “Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.”
- Revelation 9:3
  And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
Through
Revelation 9:3
And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
leads to
- Joel 1:4
  What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Revelation 9:5
  The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
- Deuteronomy 8:15
  He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- Joel 2:25
  I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
Through
Revelation 9:19
For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.
leads to
- Isaiah 9:15
  The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
- Ephesians 4:14
  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

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Taw — The Mark of God

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About Revelation

The Transfiguration — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Revelation: the study guide →Read chapter 9 →The featured study →

Continue: Revelation 9 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Revelation

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Revelation