Revelation 8:10

The Third Trumpet, Rev_8:10-11

10. burning as it were a lamp] Rather, like a torch, with a flaring trail of fire. The same image is used of natural shooting stars, e.g. Verg. Aen. ii. 694.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_8:10-11

There fell a great star from heaven.

Apostasy

1. By the fall of this star from heaven, we see that apostasy from the truth in pastors is a Luciferian sin, and they thereby are like unto him.

2. Where saving grace is not, all other gifts and endowments soever will never avail to preserve from apostasy, and make one to persevere.

3. As there are no personal gifts, so there is no place or succession that is personal only thereto, that can privilege from apostasy; for here we see a star for light, and in heaven for place, yet to fall from heaven.

4. We see it is not small stars, but a great star that falleth from heaven; whereby we see whom Satan most assaulteth, viz., those that are in primest places and of most excellent gifts.

5. From shining as a heavenly star, by apostasy, we see this star turns to be only as a burning earthly lamp: whereby we are taught what a change sin and apostasy maizes from the better to the worse, as in this star from heaven to earth, from standing to falling, and from shining to burning only; by fiery ambition and bitter contention like wormwood, hating most of any the professors of that truth which formerly they held. (Wm. Guild, D. D.)

Brilliant bitterness

Commentators say that the star Wormwood of my text was a type of Attila, king of the Huns. He was so called because he was brilliant as a star, and, like wormwood, he embittered everything he touched. A more extraordinary character history does not furnish than this man, Attila, the king of the Huns. The story goes that one day a wounded heifer came limping along through the fields, and a herdsman followed its bloody track on the grass to see where the heifer was wounded, and went on back, further and further, until he came to a sword fast in the earth, the point downward as though it had dropped from the heavens, and against the edges of this sword the heifer had been cut. The herdsman pulled up that sword and presented it to Attila. Attila said that sword must have dropped from the heavens from the grasp of the god Mars, and its being given to him meant that Attila should conquer and govern the whole earth. Other mighty men have been delighted at being called liberators, or the Merciful, or the Good, but Attila called himself, and demanded that others call him, The Scourge of God. The Roman Empire conquered the world, but Attila conquered the Roman Empire. He was right in calling himself a scourge, but instead of being the Scourge of God, he was the scourge of hell. Because of his brilliancy and bitterness, the commentators might well have supposed him to be the star Wormwood of the text. Have you ever thought how many embittered lives there are all about us, misanthropic, morbid, acrid, saturnine? The European plant from which wormwood is extracted, Artemisia absinthium, is a perennial plant, and all the year round it is ready to exude its oil. And in many human lives there is a perennial distillation of acrid experiences. Yea, there are some whose whole work is to shed a baleful influence on others. There are Attilas of the home, Attilas of the social circle, Attilas of the Church, Attilas o! the State, and one-third of the waters of all the world, if not two-thirds of the waters, are poisoned by the falling of the star Wormwood. It is not complimentary to human nature that most men, as soon as they get great power, become overbearing. The more power men have the better, if their power be used for good. The less power men have the better, if they use it evil. Some of you are morning stars, and you are making the dawning life of your children bright with gracious influences, and you are beaming upon all the opening enterprises of philanthropic and Christian endeavour, and you are heralds of day. Keep on shining with encouragement and Christian hope! Some of you are evening stars, and you are cheering the last days of old people. But are any of you the star Wormwood? Do you scold and growl from the thrones paternal or maternal? Are your children everlastingly pecked at? What is your influence upon the neighbourhood, the town, or the city of your residence? I will suppose that you are a star of wit. What kind of rays do you shoot forth? Do you use that splendid faculty to irradiate the world or to rankle it? Are your powers of mimicry used to put religion in contempt? Is it a bunch of nettlesome invective? Is it fun at others misfortune? Then you are the star Wormwood. Yours is the fun of a rattlesnake trying how well it can sting. But I will change this, and suppose you are a star of worldly prosperity. Then you have large opportunity. You can encourage that artist by buying his picture. You can improve the fields, the stables, the highway by introducing higher style of fowl and horse and cow and sheep. You can endow a college. You can build a church. You can put a missionary of Christ on that foreign shore. But suppose you grind the face of the poor. Suppose when a mans wages are due you make him wait for them because he cannot help himself. Suppose by your manner you act as though he were nothing and you were everything. Suppose you are selfish and overbearing and arrogant. You are the star Wormwood, and you have embittered one-third, if not three-thirds, of the waters that roll past your employes and operatives and dependents and associates. Are we embittering the domestic or social or political fountains, or are we like Moses, who, when the Israelites in the wilderness complained that the waters of Lake Marah were bitter and they could not drink them, their leader cut off the branch of a certain tree and threw that branch into the water, and it became sweet and slaked the thirst of the suffering host? Are we with a branch of the Tree of Life sweetening all the brackish fountains that we can touch? What is true of individuals is true of nations. God sets them up to revolve as stars, but they may fall wormwood. Witness Thebes, Tyre, Nineveh, Babylon, and Imperial Rome. (T. De Witt Talmage.)

An angel … saying Woe … to the inhabiters of the earth.--

The body and the bird

And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth! The true reading of the text is given in the Revised Version. It was not an angel flying, but a solitary eagle or vulture, that St. John saw. Hovering high overhead, a mere speck in the sky, and its harsh cry sounding as if it uttered over and over again the ominous words, Woe, woe, woe!

I. This eagle has often been seen. It has long hovered over and at last descended upon:

1. Corrupt communities.

2. Corrupt men. Many imagine that the great laws of God will be, no doubt, fulfilled amid nations and Churches and other bodies of men, but they will not take note of individuals.

II. It is good that it should be seen. In the physical world, if there were no scavengers, no agents whereby what is corrupt and corrupting could be rendered harmless, life could not go on.

III. Men sometimes think they see it when they do not. Poor Job--his friends, his comforters, would have it that his dreadful sufferings were judgments of God upon him.

IV. Men often fail to see it when they might and should.

1. The bird may be invisible. It may be so far up in the sky, so far away, that our limited eyesight cannot travel so far, it is out of our range.

2. It may be restrained. God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish.

3. It may have already descended, and be doing its work, and you not know it.

4. If it come not now, it will fasten on him the moment he reaches the next worlds shore. Ah, yes l if a man have made, is soul carrion-like, the eagle of judgment will find him sooner or later in trouble; from without or within, here or yonder--there is no escape. Remember, then:

(1) They are fools who make a mock at sin.

(2) Turn from it, and pray for the heart to love and dread the Lord, and to diligently live after His commandments. (S. Conway, B. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 8:10-11. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven — Bengelius, and some other commentators, interpret this of Arius and his heresy, and the persecutions connected therewith; “and no doubt,” as Mr. Scott observes, “such events might very aptly be represented by the falling of a star, and its imbittering and poisoning the waters to the destruction of those who drank of them: yet the series of the prophecy favours the interpretation of those who explain these verses as predicting the continuation of those calamities which subverted the empire.” Stars, in prophetic style, are figurative representations of many things. Among others they signify kings and kingdoms, eminent persons of great authority and power. Rivers, and fountains of waters — To supply them, may be considered as necessary to the support of life; the drying up these expresses the scarcity of things necessary. Here then we have a prophecy which aptly expresses a judgment to come on the seat of the Roman empire, which should destroy the power of it in its spring and fountain, and cut off all its necessary supports; as when rivers and fountains, so necessary to life, are infected, and become rather deadly than fit for use. At the sounding of the third trumpet, says Bishop Newton, “a great prince appears like a star shooting from heaven to earth, a similitude not unusual in poetry. His coming therefore is sudden and unexpected, and his stay but short. The name of the star is called Wormwood, and he infects the third part of the rivers and fountains with the bitterness of wormwood — That is, he is a bitter enemy, and proves the author of grievous calamities to the Roman empire. The rivers and fountains have a near connection with the sea; and it was within two years after Attila’s retreat from Italy, that Valentinian was murdered; and Maximus, who had caused him to be murdered, reigning in his stead, Genseric, the king of the Vandals, having settled in Africa, was solicited by Eudoxia, the widow of the deceased emperor, to come and revenge his death. Genseric accordingly embarked with three hundred thousand Vandals and Moors, and arrived upon the Roman coast in June, 455, the emperor and people not expecting nor thinking of any such enemy. He landed his men, and marched directly to Rome; whereupon the inhabitants fleeing into the woods and mountains, the city fell an easy prey into his hands. He abandoned it to the cruelty and avarice of his soldiers, who plundered it for fourteen days together, not only spoiling the private houses and palaces, but stripping the public buildings, and even the churches, of their riches and ornaments. He then set sail again for Africa, carrying away with him immense wealth, and an innumerable multitude of captives, together with the Empress Eudoxia and her two daughters; and left the state so weakened, that in a little time it was utterly subverted. Some critics understand rivers and fountains with relation to doctrines; and in this sense the application is still very proper to Genseric, who was a most bigoted Arian, and during his whole reign most cruelly persecuted the orthodox Christians.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THIRD TRUMPET—The wormwood waters, Rev_8:10-11.

10. Fell a great star—As the star fall of Rev_9:1, is based on the first fall of Satan, so this fall may be based on the apostasy of Adam and his race. Burning… lamp, or rather torch, is emblem, as in previous trumpets, of divine wrath.

Rivers… fountains—The sources of draughts to quench thirst.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:10-11 The star named Bitterness (literally wormwood, a shrubby plant yielding a bitter extract) is symbolic rather than physical. Bitter water is connected with judgment from early in Israel’s national experience (Exod 15:22-26; Num 5:18; Jer 9:13-16; 23:15). The message is that wide-scale judgment has begun.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 8:10. Ὁ τρίτος, the third) The connection of events, times, and places, proves that the Arian and Vandal calamities are here pointed out. That Arius is the star, is the true judgment of Bullinger, Nigrinus, Viegas (although, following the opinion of Lyranus and Aureolus, he enters into a disputation also respecting Pelagius), also of Forbes, Cocceius, Gulichius, Sandhagen, N. Muler, Bierman, Amelius, Horchius, Vitringa, Reinbeck, Stock, Lœseken: and before all these, Seb. Meyer thought that Arius, together with other heretics, is here pointed out. The interpretation of Brightman concerning the Arian Emperors, Constantius and Valens, is weightily refuted by Marck. If these emperors are considered as a star on account of their princely majesty, I do not see on what grounds their fall can be referred to their departure from the faith, and not rather to the loss of their imperial glory. By which very argument also James Abbadie is refuted, who, in his work published not only in French but also in Belgic, interprets the star as referring to Count Boniface, by whose invitation the Vandals seized upon Africa. Independently of this, there was a great influx of Arianism into the state also: so that we cannot be surprised that this heresy has a place among the trumpets.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_8:10-11. The third trumpet brings a poisoning of a third part of the rivers and fountains of waters (upon the land), and thereby the death of many men.

If, therefore, a certain connection with the second trumpet-vision be found in the fact that damage to the other waters follows that done to the sea, yet the two visions need in no way be drawn together, not even in reference to the so-called fulfilment.[2484] The nature of the damage of Rev_8:10 is entirely different from that of Rev_8:8; it is also, in Rev_8:11, intended for men. In general, however, the preparatory visitations represented by the trumpetjust as by the seal-visionsare so directed that one blow follows another until finally the Lord comes.

ἜΠΕΣΕΝ ἘΚ Τ. ΟὐΡ. ἈΣΤΉΡ, Κ.Τ.Λ. That the star itself is abandoned to ruin, and, hence, has been torn from its place,[2485] is a statement entirely out of place. The text marks only the ruinous effect which the star is to have; but in connection therewith lies the idea, that, just to produce the effect intended by God, the falling of the star has been caused by the determinate Divine will.

The words ΚΑΙΌΜΕΝΟς Ὡς ΛΑΜΠΆς make it manifest, that the great star which John saw fall from heaven had a luminous flame, but in no way show that the great star was any meteor, comet, or falling star.[2486]

ΚΑῚ ἜΠΕΣΕΝ ἘΠῚ ΤῸ ΤΡΊΤΟΝ ΤῶΝ ΠΟΤΑΜῶΝ, Κ.Τ.Λ. If any one should ask how this is to happen, the answer may be given with Ebrard, that the star in its fall is to be scattered so that its sparks and fragments may fly into the water; but the question and answer come from a consideration not belonging to the text.

Ὁ ἌΨΙΝΘΟς[2487]. The masc. form, instead of the usual ΤῸ ἈΨΊΝΘΙΟΝ or Ἡ ἌΨΙΝΘΟς, is chosen because of its congruence with Ὁ ἈΣΤΉΡ.[2488] The name designating[2489] the nature of the star declares its effect (ἘΠΙΚΡΆΝΘΗΣΑΝ).

ΤῸ ΤΡΊΤΟΝ ΤῶΝ ὙΔΆΤΩΝ. From this combination of the previously mentioned ΠΟΤΑΜΟΊ and ΠΗΓΑῚ ὙΔΆΤΩΝ, the result is expressly, that already in Rev_8:10 the third of the ΠΗΓ. ὙΔ. is to be thought of, which is clear also from the connection with ΤῸ ΤΡΊΤΟΝ Τ. ΠΟΤ.

ἘΓΈΝΕΤΟ

ἘΙς ἌΨΙΝΘΟΝ. The same thing is indicated by ἘΠΙΚΡΆΝΘΗΣΑΝ. By the falling star Wormwood, the waters are made wormwood-water whose poisonous bitterness brings death to many men. The consideration that wormwood[2490] is no deadly poison, is not at all pertinent, because it is not natural wormwood that is here treated of.

ἐκ τ. ὑδ. Cf. Rev_9:8; Winer, p. 344. The cause appears as the source from which the effect comes.

[2484] Against Ebrard. Cf. on Rev_8:8-9.

[2485] Ebrard.

[2486] Ebrard.

[2487] Against C. a Lap., Wetst., Züll., etc.

[2488] Ew.

[2489] Cf. Rev_6:8.

[2490] Cf. Winer, Rwb., in loc.

The star falling from heaven (the Church), which makes the waters bitter and poisonous, is readily interpreted by allegorical expositors as heresy. So Beda: Heretics falling from the summit of the Church attempt, with the flame of their wickedness, to taint the fountains of divine Scriptures. More definitely still, N. de Lyra, who had referred the two preceding trumpets to Arius and Macedonius: Pelagius, who preached contrary to the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. Luther: Origen, who by philosophy and reason imbittered and corrupted the Scriptures, as the high schools with us have done until the present. Vitr, Beng., etc., refer it to Arius. Mede understands Romulus Augustulus; Laun., Gregory the Great. But to the expositors who find everywhere in the Apoc. the particular facts of the history of the Church and the world represented, such matters are not subject to the option of an allegorizing interpretation, as they refer all to events contemporaneous with John. Thus in the star, Grot. finds the Egyptian mentioned in Act_21:38; while Herder, whose opinion Böhmer has reproduced, finds Eleazar,[2491] a fiery, audacious young man, the prime originator of the spirit of the zealots, through whom the animosity was first aggravated. Hengstenb. also here traces again the war. Stars he regards as signifying, in general, sovereigns; the fire with which the great star burns is the fire of wrath, war, and conquest; the water of the streams is a symbol of prosperity: the whole designates, therefore, the calamity of war.

[2491] Jos., B. Jud., ii. 17.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 8:10-11 . The third part of all drinking waters is poisoned by a huge, noxious, torch-like meteor shooting down from the sky (Vergil’s “de coelo lapsa per umbras Stella facem ducens multa cum luce concurrit,” Aen. ii. 693, 694). Wormwood, a bitter drug typical of divine punishment, was apparently supposed to be a mortal poison; thus Pliny ( H. N. ii. 232) ascribes the bitterness of Lake Sannaus (Anava) in the Lycos valley to the circa nascente apsinthio . But this feature of the vision is taken from Iranian or Mandaean eschatology (Brandt, 584 f.), where among the signs of the end are famine, wars, a star falling from heaven and making the sea red [ cf. Rev 16:3 ], and a cyclone with a dust-storm. Cf. 4 Ezr 5:9 , et in dulcibus aquis salae inueniuntur. Rivers and fountains were associated in the ethnic mind ( cf. Neh 2:13 ) with supernatural spirits and curative properties; hence upon them this stern prophet of monotheism sees the doom of God falling. ἐγένετο … εἰς , a Hebraistic constr., common in Apocalypse and in quotations from O.T., but “decidedly rare elsewhere” in N.T. (Simcox). Springs (like those, e.g. , near Smyrna) and fountains naturally appeared to the ancient mind somewhat mysterious and separate; their lack of visible connexion with rivers or lakes suggested the idea that they sprang from the subterranean abyss or that they were connected with daemons. Hence their role in the final convulsions of nature (4 Esd. 6:24 uenae fontium stabunt, Ass. Mos. x. 8 et fontes aquarum deficient). Cf. Rohrbach’s Im Lande Jahwehs und Jesu (1901), 30 f.; for their connexion with dragons, R. S. , 157, 161 f., and for their bubbling as a mark of sacred energy, ibid. 154 f.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The third execution upon the floods and fountains, that is, upon all fresh waters, in this verse: the effect whereof is, that many are destroyed with the bitterness of waters, in the verse following.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

a lamp--a torch.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. There fell a great star from heaven] This has given rise to various conjectures. Some say the star means Attila and his Huns, others, Genseric with his Vandals falling on the city of Rome; others, Eleazer, the son of Annus, spurning the emperor's victims, and exciting the fury of the Zealots; others, Arius; infecting the pure Christian doctrine with his heresy, c., &c. It certainly cannot mean all these and probably none of them. Let the reader judge.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) And the third angel . . .—Translate, And the third angel sounded, and there fell out of the heaven a great star burning (or, kindled—the light is not inherent, but borrowed) as a torch (or, lamp—same word as in Rev_4:5), and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the springs of the waters. The flaming star seems to symbolise the fall of a potentate; the trumpet-blast proclaims that the mighty who have been, as luminaries, admired, and perhaps worshipped, will fall. The advancing progress of Christianity is to be marked by many such a fall. The rulers of earth, burning with lust of conquest or with pride of fanaticism, will be plucked from their seat among the stars (Oba_1:4); but their fall is accompanied, as in the last instance, with miseries. The fountains and rivers are smitten, the sources of health and joy, the streams of prosperity, are injured.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the third angel sounded,.... His trumpet:

and there fell a great star from heaven; not Mahomet, as some think, for this time is too soon for him, who rose up under the fifth trumpet; nor Arius, for whom it is too late, who lived in the times of Constantine; and still less Origen, who lived before his time; but rather Pelagius, who was a man of great eminence in the church, of much learning, and made great pretensions to religion and holiness, and, like a star and lamp, shone forth awhile, with great lustre and splendour, but fell into very great errors; denying original sin, and asserting the purity of human nature, crying up the power of man's free will, and asserting that human nature, without the grace of God, was able to keep the whole law, even to perfection; and his name, according to his doctrine, was wormwood and gall, which embittered the sweet doctrines of the free grace of God, and affected the fountains and rivers, the sacred Scriptures, from whence these doctrines flow; so that instead of being pleasant and wholesome to men, through his false glosses and perverse interpretations of them, they became bitter and poisonous; and many souls, that received and imbibed his sense of them, died spiritually, and were lost and perished, as all must inevitably, who depend on the strength and works of nature, and deny and despise the grace of God: but it is best, as the other trumpets, so to understand this of the invasions of the above barbarous people, particularly the Vandals under Genseric, who being turned out of Spain by the Goths, went into Africa, where peace was made, and part of Africa given them to dwell in; after which Genseric, through treachery, seized upon Carthage, and greatly afflicted Sicily: Theodosius made war against them to no purpose, and peace being made between Valentinian and Genseric, Africa was divided between them; and some time after Rome was spoiled by Genseric of all its riches (r). Mr. Daubuz thinks Attila, king of the Huns, called the dread of the world, and the scourge of God, is meant by this star; who was a rebel against the Romans, and made sad ravages in the empire; at the beginning of which troubles a great comet appeared; and, according to Cassiodorus (s), the Huns were auxiliaries to the Romans against the Goths; but Litorius the Roman general was taken; and after this the Huns rebelled, and depopulated Thrace and Illyricum; and Attila, their king, having slain his brother Bleda, and partner, became sole monarch; and though the Romans under Actius, by the help of the Goths, beat him in the fields of Catalaun, and obliged him to depart, yet afterwards, having got a reinforcement, he entered with great force into Aquileia, with whom Pope Leo made peace:

burning as it were a lamp; this star resembled that which is called Lampadias, which Pliny says (t) imitates, or bears a likeness to burning torches; and he speaks of a spark which fell out of a star, which had such an appearance (u): this is expressive of war, and great destruction in the empire:

and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water; that is, upon the large provinces and chief cities belonging to the Roman empire, and the governors of them, who suffered very bitterly and severely in these times; compare with this Eze 32:2. The last clause, "and upon the fountains of waters", is left out in the Alexandrian copy.

(r) Cassiodor. Chronicon in Theodos. 44. & in Marcian. 45. (s) Chronicon, ib. (t) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 25. (u) lb. c. 35.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

Ver. 10. There fell a great star] Falling stars were never but meteors. That grand apostate of Rome may well he meant by this blazing, burning comet. He was in falling by degrees from the time of Constantine till Phocas, who sat upon the chair of pestilence.

Burning as it were a lamp] He seems to allude to that kind of comet that is called Lampadias. (Mede.)

The third part of the rivers] i.e. Corrupted true doctrine, and perverted the Scriptures with his false glosses.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the third angel sounded - Indicating, according to the interpretation above proposed, some important event in the downfall of the Roman empire.

And there fell a great star from heaven - A star is a natural emblem of a prince, of a ruler, of one distinguished by rank or by talent. Compare the notes on Rev 2:28. See Num 24:17, and the notes on Isa 14:12. A star falling from heaven would be a natural symbol of one who had left a higher station, or of one whose character and course would be like a meteor shooting through the sky.

Burning as it were a lamp - Or, as a torch. The language here is such as would describe a meteor blazing through the air; and the reference in the symbol is to something that would have a resemblance to such a meteor. It is not a lurid meteor (livid, pale, ghastly) that is here referred to, but a bright, intense, blazing star - emblem of fiery energy; of rapidity of movement and execution; of splendor of appearance - such as a chieftain of high endowments, of impetuousness of character, and of richness of apparel, would be. In all languages, probably, a star has been an emblem of a prince whose virtues have shone brightly, and who has exerted a beneficial influence on mankind. In all languages also, probably, a meteor flaming through the sky has been an emblem of some splendid genius causing or threatening desolation and ruin; of a warrior who has moved along in a brilliant but destructive path over the world; and who has been regarded as sent to execute the vengeance of heaven. This usage occurs because a meteor is so bright; because it appears so suddenly; because its course cannot be determined by any known laws; and because, in the apprehensions of people, it is either sent as a proof of the divine displeasure, or is adapted to excite consternation and alarm. In the application of this part of the symbol, therefore, we naturally look for some prince or warrior of brilliant talents, who appears suddenly and sweeps rapidly over the world; who excites consternation and alarm; whose path is marked by desolation, and who is regarded as sent from heaven to execute the divine purposes - who comes not to bless the world by brilliant talents well directed, but to execute vengeance on mankind.

And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters - On the phrase, “the third part,” see the notes on Rev 8:7. This reference to the “rivers” and to the “fountains of waters” seems, in part, to be for the purpose of saying that everything would be affected by this series of judgments. In the previous visions the trees and the green grass, the sea and the ships, had been referred to. The rivers and the fountains of waters are not less important than the trees, the grass, and the commerce of the world, and hence this judgment is mentioned as particularly bearing on them. At the same time, as in the case of the other trumpets, there is a propriety in supposing that there would be something in the event referred to by the symbol which would make it more appropriate to use this symbol in this case than in the others. It is natural, therefore, to look for some desolations that would particularly affect the portions of the world where rivers abound, or where they take their rise; or, if it be understood as having a more metaphorical sense, to regard it as affecting those things which resemble rivers and fountains - the sources of influence; the morals, the religion of a people, the institutions of a country, which are often so appropriately compared with running fountains or flowing streams.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A great star fell. The bishop of Meaux thinks this agrees very well to Cochebas, or Barcochebas, who in Adrian’s time pretended to be the true Messias of the Jews; his name also signifying a star. He was the chief cause of those wars, and of the other destruction of the Jews. (Witham) --- The third trumpet points out to us the punishment that falls upon the Roman empire, in its destruction by the northern nations. These people spread themselves over the third part of the rivers and provinces of ancient Rome. The star is called wormwood, from the bitter calamities and miseries which they inflicted upon the Roman empire. (Pastorini)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

There fell a great star from heaven: stars, in their metaphorical notion, signify some eminent persons in the state, or in the church; accordingly interpreters are divided in their senses; some thinking that it is meant of a political star, some eminent civil governor, and apply it to Caesar Augustulus, who, about the year 480, was forced to give over the empire, by Odoacer; of him Mr. Mede understands this prophecy. Others understand it of some ecclesiastical star, who apostatized, and apply it to Pelagius. I do rather incline to those who apply it to some ecclesiastical star; and Pelagius might be pointed at, as probably as any other in these times, for he was a great professor, and so burned

as a lamp. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and did corrupt a great part of the church.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. In the Old Testament trouble is foretold under the symbol of darkened stars. (cf. Eze_32:7 Joe_2:10) In Mat_24:29 the falling of stars is part of the general picture of the coming of the judgment day. The description here may therefore symbolize an act of judgment one more of the troubles inflicted by God upon the guilty world. The frequent use of the symbol, star, as a type of one in an exalted position, has led most commentators to interpret the star of individual rulers, especially of those who poisoned the waters of Divine truth by heresy. But it seems more likely that the event here portrayed carries one step further the description of God"s vengeance on the wicked, which has been already partially set forth. At first vegetation, then the sea, now the land waters, are smitten. The star, as the means employed by God, is typical of the awe striking nature of the punishment, and is indicative of the fact that the judgment is the act of God, and proceeds directly from heaven, and is not to be attributed to merely natural circumstances. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. Not upon a third part of the fountains, but upon all fountains, just as in ver. 7 "all green grass" is visited with the plague. As stated above, another part of creation (and therefore another portion, of mankind) is afflicted. It is, of course, Impossible to point out the complete fulfilment of this judgment, Which is yet being fulfilled, but we may mention as illustrations the trouble caused to man by means of land waters, by floods, by drought, by pestilence. As before, only part suffers from this visitation; the greater part is spared.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, and it fell on the third part of the rivers - It seems Africa is meant by the rivers; (with which this burning part of the world abounds in an especial manner;) Egypt in particular, which the Nile overflows every year far and wide. ln the whole African history, between the irruption of the barbarous nations into the Roman empire, and the ruin of the western empire, after the death of Valentinian the Third, there is nothing more momentous than the Arian calamity, which sprung up in the year 315. It is not possible to tell how many persons, particularly at Alexandria, in all Egypt, and in the neighbouring countries, were destroyed by the rage of the Arians. Yet Africa fared better than other parts of the empire, with regard to the barbarous nations, till the governor of it, whose wife was a zealous Arian, and aunt to Genseric, king of the Vandals, was, under that pretense, unjustly accused before the empress Placidia. He was then prevailed upon to invite the Vandals into Afric; who under Genseric, in the year 428, founded there a kingdom of their own, which continued till the year 533. Under these Vandal kings the true believers endured all manner of afflictions and persecutions. And thus Arianism was the inlet to all heresies and calamities, and at length to Mahometanism itself. This great star was not an angel, (angels are not the agents in the two preceding or the following trumpet,) but a teacher of the church, one of the stars in the right hand of Christ. Such was Arius. He fell from on high, as it were from heaven, into the most pernicious doctrines, and made in his fall a gazing on all sides, being great, and now burning as a torch. He fell on the third part of the rivers - His doctrine spread far and wide, particularly in Egypt. And on the fountains of water - wherewith Afric abounds.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

angel (See Scofield "Heb 1:4")

star Cf. Rev 9:1; Isa 14:12 contra, Dan 12:3

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sounding of the third and fourth trumpets:

v. 10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon a third art of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters;

v. 11. and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third art of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.

v. 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten and the third part of the moon and the third art of the stars, so as the third art of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

v. 13. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhibiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound!

The third plague struck the waters of the earth: And the third angel sounded his trumpet; and there fell from heaven a huge star like a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the springs of water; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters turned to wormwood, and many among men died of the waters, because they had been made bitter. Here is the picture of an immense meteor shooting down out of the sky, filled with a bitter drug said to be a mortal poison which it was able to impart to all waters and springs with which it came in contact. Thus it has happened more than once that men who considered themselves shining lights and bright stars in the firmament of the Church have been found filled with the poison of false doctrine, which they all too often imparted to the sermons and books that were spread broadcast by them. By such men the Water of Life, the pure Gospel of the Savior is made bitter and poisonous, and all men that drink of this poisoned water fall victims to spiritual death. The description fits especially well in the case of the great rationalistic teachers, who poisoned the fountains of the pure inspired Word.

The fourth plague struck the firmament of the sky: And the fourth angel sounded his trumpet; and the third part of the sun was smitten and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars, the result being that the third part of them was darkened, and that the day had no light for its third part and the night likewise. Here is a picture of an unusual disturbance in the sky, by which all the bodies of light in the firmament mere affected in such a manner as to take away a third part of their power both by day and by night. This is what happens in the Church when men that call themselves ministers of the Gospel darken the light of Scriptures with their own opinions, substituting arbitrariness and uncertainty for the infallible basis of the truth of God. Just as soon as speculations concerning the divine Word are introduced into the pulpit, just so soon the light of God is dimmed. It is a pity that, as the text notes throughout, the third art of the creatures were destroyed by these plagues, that a large part of the Church has always been struck by the various heresies. But there is still this comfort, that the third part is not the whole. The entire Church will: not give way to error; God will keep His chosen ones in His Word and faith. The portals of hell shall not prevail against His Church.

The narrative now again shows an interval in the action: And I saw, and I heard an eagle (or: angel) flying in mid-heaven with a loud cry, Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell upon the earth, for the rest of the trumpet-voices of the three angels that are about to sound their trumpets! In the midst of the sky, in the zenith, directly over the heads of men, the eagle was flying, and his screaming cry was a warning against security, a call to repentance, before the remaining trumpets should sound and bring still greater woes and distresses to the inhabitants of the earth. It is absolutely necessary that all Christians heed the warning words of their pastors in these last days of the world, lest they be overwhelmed by the woes which are coming upon the Church.

Summary

The prophet, at the beginning of the third vision, sees the opening of the seventh seal and witnesses the blowing of the trumpets by four angels, the consequence being that plagues visited the earth, the sea, the waters, and the sky.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The next judgment inflicted, or rather the farther progress of the former judgment, was the infecting of the waters and rivers with a mortal bitterness by a bitter star falling from heaven into them; denoting, some say, the fall of a great captain amongst the Jews in Judea; others understand it of heresy in general, of the Arian heresy in particular; and some apply it to the fall of Rome, the seat of the western empire; so Mr. Mede.

If it be understood of heresy, it shows us what a poisonous, bitter, and deadly nature, error and heresy is of. Error is as damnable as vice, the one is an open road, the other a by-path, to hell and destruction; and accordingly that person, and that people, which have a due care over their soul’s salvation, will be as much afraid of erroneous principles as of debauched practices.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. When the third sounds his trumpet, a flaming star, called “wormwood,” falls on the rivers and fountains of water.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10, 11. And the third angel sounded. With the third trumpet the vision again changes. Now a great, burning, blazing meteor falls upon a third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters. A “third part of the earth,” a “third part of the sea,” and now “a third part of the rivers” are subjected to judgments.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

a huge star fell from the sky, blazing like a torch

"a huge star that was blazing like a torch fell from the sky." The fire of the huge star looked similar to the fire of a torch. (See: Simile)

torch

a stick with one end lit on fire to provide light

The name of the star is Wormwood

Wormwood is a shrub that tastes bitter. People made medicine out of it, but they also believed that it was poisonous. AT: "The name of the star is Bitterness" or "The name of the star is Bitter Medicine" (See: Translate Unknowns)

became wormwood

The bitter taste of the water is spoken of as if it were wormwood. AT: "became bitter like wormwood" or "became bitter" (See: Metaphor)

died from the waters that became bitter

"died when they drank the bitter water"

translationWords

angel

trumpet

heaven

fountain

water

name

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

10, 11. THE THIRD TRUMPET

10. καὶ ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ τρίτον. Primas[299] cod. flor[300] omit καὶ ἔπεσεν.

[299] Primasius, edited by Haussleiter.

[300] flor. Codex Toletanus 10th century at Madrid.

καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων. These words are omitted by A.

10. ὡς λαμπάς. “Like a torch,” with a flaring trail of fire. The same image is used of natural shooting stars, e.g. Verg. Aen. II. 694.

ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων. Only the third part, as appears from the next verse.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] And the third angel blew his trumpet, and there fell from heaven a great star burning as a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of the waters (it can hardly be said, as Düsterd., that we are here as matter of course to understand, on the third part of the fountains, any more than we are to limit the πᾶς χόρτος χλωρός in ver. 7 to all the grass within the third part of the earth). And the name of the star is called Wormwood (the more usual forms are τὸ ἀψίνθιον, or ἡ ἄψινθος. The masc. seems to be chosen on account of its conformity to ὁ ἀστήρ. There is a river in Thrace so called. See on the plant, and its medicinal use by the ancients, Winer, Realw. art. Wermuth: and Pliny, xxvii. 28), and the third part of the waters became (was turned into, see reff.) wormwood: and many of the men (who dwelt by these waters: such may be the force of the article. But τῶν ἀνθρ. may be general. It is the only place where the expression πολλ. τῶν ἀνθρ. occurs) died from (ἐκ of the source whence a result springs, see Winer, edn. 6, § 47, sub voce) the waters, because they were embittered (compare the converse history, Exo 15:23 ff., of the bitter waters being made sweet by casting a certain tree into them: see also 2Ki 2:19 ff. The question whether wormwood was a deadly poison or not, is out of place here. It is not said that all who drank, died. And the effect of any bitter drug, however medicinally valuable, being mixed with the water ordinarily used, would be to occasion sickness and death. It is hardly possible to read of this third plague, and not to think of the deadly effect of those strong spirituous drinks which are in fact water turned into poison. The very name absinthe is not unknown in their nomenclature: and there is no effect which could be so aptly described by the falling of fire into water, as this, which results in ardent spirit,—in that which the simple islanders of the South Sea call firewater. That this plague may go on to destroy even this fearful proportion of the ungodly in the latter days, is far from impossible, considering its prevalence even now in some parts of the civilized world. But I mention this rather as an illustration, than as an interpretation).

And the fourth angel blew his trumpet: and the third part of the sun was struck (it is not said, as in the case of the former three trumpets, with what. And this absence of an instrument in the fourth of these correlative visions perhaps teaches us not to attribute too much import to the instruments by which the previous judgments are brought about. It is the πληγή itself, not its instrument, on which attention should be directed) and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars, that the third part of them might be darkened, and the day might not shine during the third part of it (the limitation of the τὸ τρίτον is now manifestly to time, not to brightness. So E. V. rightly, “for a third part of it.” That this consequence is no natural one following upon the obscuration of a third portion of the sun, &c., is not to be alleged as any objection, but belongs to the altogether supernatural region in which these visions are situated. Thus we have a globe of fire turning sea-water to blood—a burning star embittering the waters: &c.), and the night in like manner (i. e. the night as far as she is, by virtue of the moon and stars, a time of light. And this is far more so under the glorious Eastern moon and stars, than in our mist-laden climate).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lamp [λαμπας] . Rev., torch. See on chapter Rev 4:5.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.