Revelation 9:7

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
shapes	ὁμοιώματα homoiōmata	G3667	a form · noun — nominative plural neuter
locusts	ἀκρίδων akridōn	G200	a locust (as pointed · noun — genitive plural feminine
unto	ὅμοια homoia	G3664	similar (in appearance or character) · adjective — nominative plural neuter
horses	ἵπποις ippois	G2462	a horse · noun — dative plural masculine
prepared	ἡτοιμασμένοις hētoimasmenois	G2090	to prepare · verb — perfect passive participle, dative plural masculine
unto	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
battle	πόλεμον, polemon	G4171	warfare (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
on	ἐπὶ epi	G1909	properly · preposition
their	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural feminine
heads	κεφαλὰς kephalas	G2776	the head (as the part most readily taken hold of) · noun — accusative plural feminine
were	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
crowns	στέφανοι stephanoi	G4735	a chaplet (as a badge of royalty · noun — nominative plural masculine
like	ὅμοιοι homoioi	G3664	similar (in appearance or character) · adjective — nominative plural masculine
gold	χρυσῷ, chrusō	G5557	gold · noun — dative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
their	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural feminine
faces	πρόσωπα prosōpa	G4383	the front (as being towards view) · noun — nominative plural neuter
as	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
faces	πρόσωπα prosōpa	G4383	the front (as being towards view) · noun — nominative plural neuter
men	ἀνθρώπων. anthrōpōn	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive plural masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked u…
Nahum 3:17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun arise…
Daniel 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and mad…
Joel 2:4-5 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 9:1-12

Upon the sounding of this trumpet, the things to be observed are, 1. A star falling from heaven to the earth. Some think this star represents some eminent bishop in the Christian church, some angel of the church; for, in the same way of speaking by which pastors are called stars, the church is called heaven; but who this is expositors do not agree. Some understand it of Boniface the third bishop of Rome, who assumed the title of universal bishop, by the favour of the emperor Phocas, who, being a usurper and tyrant in the state, allowed Boniface to be so in the church, as the reward of his flattery. 2. To this fallen star was given the key of the bottomless pit. Having now ceased to be a mini…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 9:7

prepared unto battle--Greek, "made ready unto war." Compare Note, see on Joe 2:4, where the resemblance of locusts to horses is traced: the plates of a horse armed for battle are an image on a larger scale of the outer shell of the locust. crowns-- (Nah 3:17). ELLIOTT explains this of the turbans of Mohammedans. But how could turbans be "like gold?" ALFORD understands it of the head of the locusts actually ending in a crown-shaped fillet which resembled gold in its material. as the faces of men--The "as" seems to imply the locusts here do not mean men. At the same time they are not natural locusts, for these do not sting men (Rev 9:5). They must be supernatural.

Adam Clarke on Revelation 9:7

The locusts were like unto horses - This description of the locusts appears to be taken from Joe 2:4. The whole of this symbolical description of an overwhelming military force agrees very well with the troops of Mohammed. The Arabs are the most expert horsemen in the world: they live so much on horseback that the horse and his rider seem to make but one animal. The Romans also were eminent for their cavalry. Crowns like gold - Not only alluding to their costly tiaras or turbans, but to the extent of their conquests and the multitude of powers which they subdued. Their faces were as the faces of men - That is, though locusts symbolically, they are really men.

John Gill

The Church Fathers

And on their heads were crowns like gold. The twenty-four elders, who are the Church, have golden crowns. But these, pretending to be like gold, falsely imagine foolish triumphs of victory.
— Bede, Commentary on Revelation

And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle. That is, like the last persecutors. For in the last battle, which he will describe in the following angel, he says that horses fight. Or simply as horses are driven into battle not by their own reason, but by the impulse of their rider, so evil teachers, driven by a demonic spirit, attack the Church.
— Bede, Commentary on Revelation

And their faces were like the faces of men, etc. In their human face, a simulation of reason; in the hair of women, flowing and effeminate habits; in the teeth of lions, which both tear apart and often bring a natural stench, the ferocity of the mind and the fame of bad doctrine; and in iron breastplates, hardened hearts against the truth, he notes. Those who have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Tim. III), come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves (Matt. VII).
— Bede, Commentary on Revelation

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Diadem — The tiara of a king (Ezek. 21:26; Isa. 28:5; 62:3); the turban (Job 29:14). In the New Testament a careful distinction is drawn between the diadem as a badge of royalty (Rev. 12:3; 13:1; 19:12) and…
Locust — There are ten Hebrew words used in Scripture to signify locust. In the New Testament locusts are mentioned as forming part of the food of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6). By the Mosaic law…
Armies · Compared to: Locusts — Compared to: Locusts
Crown · SYMBOLI — SYMBOLI
Locust · General references — General references
Locust, The · Described as: Like to horses prepared for battle — Described as: Like to horses prepared for battle

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 9:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 9:7

Adam Clarke on Revelation 9:7

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Revelation 9:1-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Revelation 9:7

Adam Clarke on Revelation 9:7

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Revelation 9:7-10