Revelation of John 9:16
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And the number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Compare with these two hundred million, Psa 68:17; Dan 7:10. The hosts here are evidently, from their numbers and their appearance (Rev 9:17), not merely human hosts, but probably infernal, though constrained to work out God's will (compare Rev 9:1-2). and I heard--A, B, Aleph, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and CYPRIAN omit "and."
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 ↗9:16 The relationship of the four angels to their army is not clear. • 200 million: This figure represents an innumerable multitude. Even at its greatest strength, the ancient Roman army with twenty-one legions numbered only about 126,000 soldiers. It is unproductive to use this number in attempting to identify any specific country with such an overwhelming destructive force.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:
A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.
The chariots of God are tens of thousands— thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.
I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.
Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.
At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all desirable young men, horsemen mounted on steeds.