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Revelation 9:13

in Revelation 9

Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,

KJV

And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

This verse in Revelation 9

Commentary

15 notes on this verse
And the sixth angel sounded - See the notes on Rev 8:2, Rev 8:7. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God - In the language used here there is an allusion to the temple, but the scene is evidently laid in heaven. The temple in its arrangements was designed, undoubtedly, to be in important respects a symbol of heaven, and this idea constantly occurs in the Scriptures. Compare the Epistle to the Hebrews passim.

This site's exposition

The first woe has passed

on Revelation 9:12-14

The first woe has passed, the first of three announced at 8:13. At the sixth trumpet a voice from the golden altar orders the release of the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. It is the altar of the prayers at 8:3-5.

This site's exposition

the four horns of the golden altar

Wesley reads the golden altar before God as the altar of incense in heaven, where the tabernacle altar had four horns. The prayers of the saints rose from it in 8:3. Barnes reads the voice from the altar as heard in heaven, with the temple as its picture.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

"And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is in the presence of God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels." That is, the four corners of the earth which hold the four winds. "Which are bound in the great river Euphrates."

A commentator

Caesarius of Arles

EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:13, HOMILY 7 · Written before 542.

proposed

In the altar that is in the sight of God we are to understand the church. In the time of the last persecution she will despise the words and commands of that most inhumane of kings and will separate from those who have submitted to …

A commentator

Ticonius

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:13 · Written before 390.

proposed

When it says that the first woe has passed and the trumpet of the sixth angel has sounded, it announces the final preaching, that of the sixth age.

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

When "the angel sounded", "I heard a voice" coming "from the horns of the altar". "The horns of the altar", he says, are those that stand out among the angels and surpass the others. He calls the altar "golden" because of its honor and divine …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Alcuin of York

COMMENTARY ON REVELATION · Written before 804.

proposed

After these things the sixth angel also sounded the trumpet: and I heard the voice of one of the horns of the golden altar, which is before the eyes of God, saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet: Loose the four angels, who …
7 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, etc. The sixth angel represents the preachers of the final battle, who, at the prompting of the Gospel, expose the frauds of the Antichrist. The horns of the golden altar indeed represent the preeminent Gospels of the Church.

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

And the sixth angel sounded - Under this angel goes forth the second woe. And I heard a voice from the four corners of the golden altar - This golden altar is the heavenly pattern of the Levitical altar of incense.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The power of the church's enemies is restrained till God gives the word to have them turned loose. When nations are ripe for punishment, those instruments of God's anger that were before restrained are let loose upon them,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And the sixth angel sounded,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

a voice--literally, "one voice." from--Greek, "out of." the four horns--A, Vulgate (Amiatinus manuscript), Coptic, and Syriac omit "four." B and CYPRIAN support it.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The four horns of the golden altar - This is another not very obscure indication that the Jewish temple was yet standing.

The words behind it

21 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Hebrews 9:24

    For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 12:2

      Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…

    • Hebrews 9:11–12

      But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part…

    • Hebrews 9:23

      So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

  • Through

    Revelation 9:1

    Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 8:10

      Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

    • Revelation 9:2

      The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the…

    • Romans 10:7

      or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

    • 2 Timothy 3:1–5

      But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.

  • Through

    Hebrews 10:21

    and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 2:17

      For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement…

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
This page draws on 14 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); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Alcuin of York, COMMENTARY ON REVELATION; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Caesarius of Arles, EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:13, HOMILY 7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation; Ticonius, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 9:13 and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.