Apocalipse 9

BLIVRE · Chapter 9/22

1E o quinto anjo tocou sua trombeta; e eu vi uma estrela que caiu do céu sobre a terra; e foi-lhe dada a chave do poço do abismo.

2E o poço do abismo foi aberto; e subiu fumaça do poço, como a fumaça de uma grande fornalha; e o sol e o ar se escureceram [por causa] da fumaça do poço.

3E da fumaça saíram gafanhotos sobre a terra; e foi dado a eles poder como o poder que os escorpiões da terra têm.

4E foi-lhes dito que não fizessem dano à erva da terra, nem a nenhuma [planta] verde, nem a nenhuma árvore; mas sim somente aos homens que não têm o sinal de Deus em suas testas.

5E foi-lhes concedido que não os matassem, mas sim que os atormentassem por cinco meses; e o tormento deles era semelhante ao tormento do escorpião, quando fere ao homem.

6E naqueles dias os homens buscarão a morte, e não a acharão; e desejarão morrer, e a morte fugirá deles.

7E a aparência dos gafanhotos [era] semelhante à de cavalos preparados para a batalha; e sobre as cabeças deles havia como coroas, semelhantes ao ouro; e seus rostos eram como rostos de homens.

8E tinham cabelos como cabelos de mulheres; e seus dentes eram como os de leões.

9E tinham couraças como couraças de ferro; e o ruído de suas asas era como o ruído de carruagens de muitos cavalos correndo para a batalha.

10E tinham caudas semelhantes às de escorpiões; e ferrões em suas caudas; e seu poder era de por cinco meses causarem dano aos homens.

11E tinham como rei sobre eles ao anjo do abismo; o nome dele em hebraico [é] “Abadom”, e em grego tem por nome “Apoliom”.

12Um ai [já] passou; eis que depois disto ainda vêm dois ais.

13E o sexto anjo tocou sua trombeta; e eu ouvi uma voz dos quatro chifres do altar de ouro, que estava diante de Deus.

14A qual dizia ao sexto anjo, que tinha a trombeta: “Solta os quatro anjos que estão presos junto ao grande rio Eufrates.”

15E foram soltos os quatro anjos, que tinham sido preparados para a hora, dia, mês e ano, para matarem a terça [parte] da humanidade.

16E o número dos exércitos de cavaleiros era duzentos milhões; e eu ouvi o número deles.

17E assim eu vi os cavalos n [esta] visão; e os que cavalgavam sobre eles tinham couraças de fogo, de jacinto e de enxofre; e as cabeças dos cavalos [eram] como cabeças de leões; e de suas bocas saía fogo, fumaça e enxofre.

18Por estes três a terça [parte] dos homens foi morta, pela fogo, pela fumaça e pelo enxofre que saía de suas bocas.

19Porque o poder deles está em sua boca, e em suas caudas; porque suas caudas [são] semelhantes a serpentes tendo cabeças, e com elas causam dano.

20E o resto da humanidade, que não foi morta por estas pragas, não se arrependeu das obras de suas mãos, para não adorar os demônios, e ídolos de ouro, de prata, de bronze, de pedra e de madeira, que não podem ver, nem ouvir, nem andar;

21E não se arrependeu de seus homicídios, nem de suas feitiçarias, nem de seu pecado sexual, nem de seus roubos.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The fifth trumpet releases monstrous locusts from the abyss that torment, but do not kill, the people without God's seal, for five months. The sixth trumpet unleashes an army of two hundred million demonic horsemen who kill a third of humanity, yet the survivors still do not repent.

Explanation

The bizarre description of the locusts — with crowns, human faces, women's hair, lions' teeth, iron breastplates, and scorpion tails — uses language highly typical of Jewish apocalyptic literature to describe intense spiritual and psychological torment, more than a literal creature to be identified. The name of the king of these beings, Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, both meaning 'destruction' or 'destroyer,' reinforces his role as an agent of chaos coming from the abyss, not from God directly. The saddest point of the chapter is its ending: even after suffering such severe judgments, surviving humanity still does not repent of idolatry, sorcery, immorality, and theft, showing just how hard the human heart can become even in the face of evident calamity. Today's practical application is that judgments and suffering alone do not guarantee repentance; a change of heart requires a voluntary response to God's grace.

Fun facts

  • The names 'Abaddon' (Hebrew) and 'Apollyon' (Greek), both mentioned in verse 11, literally mean 'destruction' and 'destroyer'; 'Abaddon' also appears elsewhere in the Old Testament, such as in Job 26:6 and Proverbs 15:11, as a poetic synonym for the realm of the dead.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Apocalipse 9:1The abyss was, in Jewish thought, a kind of underground prison where forces of chaos were locked away. Giving someone the key means authorizing the opening of something that until then had been sealed shut.
  2. Apocalipse 9:2The smoke coming out of the abyss, compared to the smoke of a great furnace, darkens the sun and the air, echoing the same idea of the abyss as a prison of destructive forces, already mentioned in verse 1.
  3. Apocalipse 9:3Locusts were one of the most feared disasters of antiquity, another reference to the plagues of Egypt, in Exodus. But these act the opposite of real locusts: they do not eat plants, only torment people, a sign that the scene is symbolic, not a description of real insects.
  4. Apocalipse 9:4Unlike real locusts, which would eat plants, these creatures are ordered not to touch vegetation, only people without the protective seal described in chapter 7 - a sign that the scene is symbolic, and the seal determines who is affected.
  5. Apocalipse 9:5The torment is limited - five months - and not fatal, compared to the pain of a scorpion's sting, an intense but not final suffering.
  6. Apocalipse 9:6This describes suffering so great that death, normally seen as the worst possible fate, becomes something desired and yet unattainable.
  7. Apocalipse 9:7The comparison to horses prepared for battle and crowns of golden appearance builds an image of an organized, threatening army, even though it is made up of symbolic creatures.
  8. Apocalipse 9:8Hair like a woman's and teeth like a lion's continue building this hybrid creature, mixing human and animal features in a deliberately strange and frightening way.
  9. Apocalipse 9:9The breastplates of iron and the noise compared to chariots of war reinforce the same idea of overwhelming military force used in the previous verses.
  10. Apocalipse 9:10This closes the physical description of these creatures by repeating the scorpion image already used in verse 5, with tails capable of harming for a limited period of five months.
  11. Apocalipse 9:11The two names, one in Hebrew and one in Greek, mean the same thing: ‘Destruction’ or ‘Destroyer.’ The text itself translates the symbol for the reader, naming this king by what he does, without tying him to any specific place or time.
  12. Apocalipse 9:12This marks the end of the first “woe” announced in the previous chapter, warning that two more similar laments are still to come.
  13. Apocalipse 9:13The sixth trumpet brings a voice coming from the four corners (“horns”) of the golden altar, the same altar from which the prayers of the saints rose at the beginning of chapter 8.
  14. Apocalipse 9:14The Euphrates River was the historical eastern border of the Roman Empire, and in Israel's memory, the direction from which the great invading empires of the past had come, such as Assyria and Babylon. That is why it became the natural symbol of danger coming from the east for the earliest readers.
  15. Apocalipse 9:15Four angels, bound until then, are released at an exact, already determined moment, “an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year,” to cause the death of a third of humanity - a detail suggesting a predetermined plan, not a random event.
  16. Apocalipse 9:16The number given, two hundred million, is an exaggerated way of conveying an impossibly large army, typical of apocalyptic language, which uses extreme numbers for emphasis.
  17. Apocalipse 9:17The colors of the breastplates - fire, jacinth (a bluish tone), and brimstone - combined with lions' heads spewing fire, smoke, and brimstone, form an image of visual terror more than a literal description of a real army.
  18. Apocalipse 9:18This sums up the devastating effect of these three plagues coming out of the horses' mouths - fire, smoke, and brimstone - responsible for the death of a third of humanity.
  19. Apocalipse 9:19This explains that the power of these creatures lies not only in their mouths but also in their tails, compared to serpents with heads of their own, capable of causing harm on their own.
  20. Apocalipse 9:20This mockery of idols that cannot see, hear, or walk also appears in Psalm 115. The point is to show how strange it is to keep worshiping objects made by human hands even after going through so many disasters.
  21. Apocalipse 9:21“Sorceries” translates a Greek word linked to the use of potions and drugs associated with the magical practices of the time; the list of sins the text says people did not give up shows that not even this level of suffering was enough to produce repentance.

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