Revelation 8:11

Revelation 8:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
• New International Version (NIV)the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Context of Revelation 8:11

9and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed. 10Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; it landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. (Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned. 12Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day and for a third of the night likewise. 13Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead, proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!”

Revelation 8:11 word by word

καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἀστέρος λέγεται ὁ Ἄψινθος· καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ τρίτον τῶν ὑδάτων εἰς ἄψινθον, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπέθανον ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων ὅτι ἐπικράνθησαν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• the nameὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the nameὄνομαonoma · nameG3686
• of the starἀστήρastēr · starG792
• is calledλέγωlegō · to say: callG3004
• Wormwoodἄψινθοςapsinthos · wormwoodG894
• the third partτρίτοςtritos · thirdG5154
• of the watersὕδωρhudōr hudatos · waterG5204
• becameγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• wormwoodεἰςeis · towardG1519
• manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• diedἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• they were made bitterπικραίνωpikrainō · to embitterG4087

Cross-references for Revelation 8:11

• Deuteronomy 29:18Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.
• Ruth 1:20But she replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me ‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly.
• Proverbs 5:4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
• Jeremiah 9:15So then, listen to what I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say. ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment.
• Jeremiah 23:15So then I, the Lord who rules over all, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: ‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’”
• Lamentations 3:5He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship.
• Amos 5:7The Israelites turn justice into bitterness; they throw what is fair and right to the ground.
• Amos 6:12Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant.
• Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.
• Exodus 15:23Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.)

Commentaries on Revelation 8:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11The star is called Wormwood - So called from the bitter or distressing effects produced by its influence.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11And the name of the star is called Wormwood - Is appropriately so called. The writer does not say that it would be actually so called, but that this name would be properly descriptive of its qualities. Such expressions are common in allegorical writings. The Greek word - ̓́ apsinthos- denotes “wormwood,” a well-known bitter herb. That word becomes the proper emblem of bitterness. Compare Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15; Lamentations 3:15, Lamentations 3:19…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 The first angel sounded the first trumpet, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. A storm of heresies, a mixture of dreadful errors falling on the church, or a tempest of destruction. The second angel sounded, and a great mountain, burning with fire, was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood. By this mountain some understand leaders of the persecutions; others, Rome sacked by the Goths and Vandals, with…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10-11The star named Wormwood (a shrubby plant that produces a bitter extract) is symbolic, not physical. Bitter water is linked to judgment from early in Israel’s history (Exodus 15:22–26; Numbers 5:18; Jeremiah 9:13–16; 23:15). The message is that widespread judgment has started.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. The symbolizers interpret the star fallen from heaven as a chief minister (Arius, according to Bullinger, Bengel, and others; or some future false teacher, if, as is more likely, the event be still future) falling from his high place in the Church, and instead of shining with heavenly light as a star, becoming a torch lit with earthly fire and smouldering with smoke. And "wormwood," though medicinal in some cases, if used as ordinary water would not…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 8:11

• Angel (a Spirit)
• Astronomy
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena
• Stars
• Vision
• Water
• Wormwood

In the dictionaries

• Wormwood
• Bitter; Bitterness
• Ethics
• Literature, Sub-Apostolic
• Midian; Midianites
• Number
• Revelation of John
• Wormwood, the Star

Commentaries on Revelation 8

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings