Wahyu 9:8-17

9:8 They ¹  had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9:9 They had breastplates ²  like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 9:10 They have ³  tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability ⁴  to injure people for five months is in their tails. 9:11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. ⁵ 

9:12 The first woe has passed, but ⁶  two woes are still coming after these things!

9:13 Then ⁷  the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the ⁸  horns on the golden altar that is before God, 9:14 saying to the sixth angel, the one holding ⁹  the trumpet, “Set free ¹⁰  the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” 9:15 Then ¹¹  the four angels who had been prepared for this ¹²  hour, day, ¹³  month, and year were set free to kill ¹⁴  a third of humanity. 9:16 The ¹⁵  number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million; ¹⁶  I heard their number. 9:17 Now ¹⁷  this is what the horses and their riders ¹⁸  looked like in my ¹⁹  vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, ²⁰  dark blue, ²¹  and sulfurous ²²  yellow in color. ²³  The ²⁴  heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur ²⁵  came out of their mouths.

[9:8]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:9]  ² tn Or perhaps, “scales like iron breastplates” (RSV, NRSV) although the Greek term θώραξ (qwrax) would have to shift its meaning within the clause, and elsewhere in biblical usage (e.g., Eph 6:14; 1 Thess 5:8) it normally means “breastplate.” See also L&N 8.38.

[9:10]  ³ tn In the Greek text there is a shift to the present tense here; the previous verbs translated “had” are imperfects.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”

[9:11]  ⁵ sn Both the Hebrew Abaddon and the Greek Apollyon mean “Destroyer.”

[9:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in the context.

[9:13]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[9:13]  ⁸ tc ‡ Several key mss (Ì⁴⁷ א¹ A 0207 1611 2053 2344 pc lat sy^h co) lack the word τεσσάρων (tessarwn, “four”) before κεράτων (keratwn, “horns”). The word seems to have been added by scribes because a “horned” altar (described in the OT [Exod 30:2, 10]) could have only four “horns” or projections at the corners. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[9:14]  ⁹ tn Grk “having.”

[9:14]  ¹⁰ tn On λῦσον (luson) BDAG 606-7 s.v. λύω 2 states, “set free, loose, untie – a. lit. a pers., animal, or thing that is bound or tied…Angels that are bound Rv 9:14f.”

[9:15]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[9:15]  ¹² tn The Greek article τήν (thn) has been translated with demonstrative force here.

[9:15]  ¹³ tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term “month” since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[9:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “so that they might kill,” but the English infinitive is an equivalent construction to indicate purpose here.

[9:16]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “twenty thousand of ten thousands.”

[9:17]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of the description of the horses and riders, which is somewhat parenthetical in the narrative.

[9:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and those seated on them.”

[9:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the vision”; the Greek article has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[9:17]  ²⁰ tn L&N 79.31 states, “‘fiery red’ (probably with a tinge of yellow or orange).”

[9:17]  ²¹ tn On this term BDAG 1022 s.v. ὑακίνθινος states, “hyacinth-colored, i.e. dark blue (dark red?) w. πύρινος Rv 9:17.”

[9:17]  ²² tn On this term BDAG 446 s.v. θειώδης states, “sulphurous Rv 9:17.”

[9:17]  ²³ sn The colors of the riders’ breastplates parallel the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur in v. 18.

[9:17]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:17]  ²⁵ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”