Revelation of John 9:10
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
tails like unto scorpions--like unto the tails of scorpions. and there were stings--There is no oldest manuscript for this reading. A, B, Aleph, Syriac, and Coptic read, "and (they have) stings: and in their tails (is) their power (literally, 'authority': authorized power) to hurt."
Open source ↗In this chapter we have an account of the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, the appearances that attended them, and the events that were to follow; the fifth trumpet (Rev 9:1-12), the sixth (Rev 9:13, etc.).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
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.
And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
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.