EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Revelation 9:5
5The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. But they could cause them very bad pain for five months. Their pain was like the great pain from a scorpion when it hurts someone.
Revelation 9:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
- New International Version (NIV)They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
Context of Revelation 9:5
3Then locusts came out of the smoke and they came down on the earth. They received power to cause great pain, like the power of scorpions. 4They knew that they must not do anything bad to the grass on the earth. They must not attack any plant or any tree. They could only attack people who did not have God's seal on the front of their heads. The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. But they could cause them very bad pain for five months. Their pain was like the great pain from a scorpion when it hurts someone. 6During that time of great pain, people will want to kill themselves. They will want to die, but they will not find any way to die. 7The locusts were like horses that were ready to fight in a war. They wore something on their heads that seemed to be gold crowns. Their faces looked like human faces.
Read all of Revelation 9Revelation 9:5 word by word
καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτούς, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα βασανισθήσονται μῆνας πέντε, καὶ ὁ βασανισμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς βασανισμὸς σκορπίου ὅταν παίσῃ ἄνθρωπον.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Andκαίkai · andG2532
- to themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- it was givenδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
- thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
- they shouldἀποκτείνωapokteinō · to killG615
- notμήmē · notG3361
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- they should be tormentedβασανίζωbasanizō · to torture: tortureG928
- fiveπέντεpente · fiveG4002
- monthsμήνmēn · monthG3376
- tormentὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- tormentβασανισμόςbasanismos · tormentG929
- asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- of a scorpionσκορπίοςskorpios · scorpionG4651
- whenὅτανhotan · when(-ever)G3752
- he strikethπαίωpaiō · to strikeG3817
- a manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
Cross-references for Revelation 9:5
- Revelation 13:5The wild animal received authority to rule people for 42 months. It could speak proud words and insult God.
- Daniel 5:18I tell you this, King Belshazzar. The powerful God who rules over everything gave authority to your father, Nebuchadnezzar, to rule as king. God made him very great and very famous, so that he ruled with power. People respected him as a great king.
- Daniel 7:6Then I saw another animal. It seemed like a leopard, but it had four wings on its back. They were like a bird's wings. This animal had four heads. It received authority to rule.
- John 19:11Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power against me unless God had given it to you. So the man who sold me to you has done a worse thing than you have done.’
- Revelation 11:7When these two servants of God have finished speaking God's messages, a wild animal will attack them. This is the animal that lives in the deep hole. It will come up out of the hole. It will be stronger than the two servants and it will kill them.
- Job 2:6So the Lord said to Satan, ‘I agree to give you power over Job himself. But you must not cause his death.’
- Revelation 9:10They had poison in their tails, like scorpions. They had power to attack people with their tails and to cause them pain for five months.
- Revelation 9:3Then locusts came out of the smoke and they came down on the earth. They received power to cause great pain, like the power of scorpions.
Commentaries on Revelation 9:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5To 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5And to them it was given - There is here the same indefiniteness as in the former verse, the impersonal verb being here also used. The writer does not say by whom this power was given, whether by God, or by the leader of the host. It may be admitted, however, that the most natural interpretation is to suppose that it was given them by God, and that this was the execution of his purpose in this case. Still it is remarkable that this is not directly…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5torment them for five months: This time period is a symbolically complete number based on the fingers on a hand. It is also the normal life span of locusts, suggesting that their entire purpose was to torture people.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. they ... they--The subject changes: the first "they" is the locusts; the second is the unsealed. five months--the ordinary time in the year during which locusts continue their ravages. their torment--the torment of the sufferers. This fifth verse and Re 9:6 cannot refer to an invading army. For an army would kill, and not merely torment.Read the comment
Topics related to Revelation 9:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Revelation 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
EasyEnglish Bible 2018 — Copyright © MissionAssist 2018
Commentaries