Revelation 9:17
Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.) Revelation 9:17 appears in the Greek New Testament. The text above is from the Tischendorf 8th edition. Each word links to its Strong’s number and a concise gloss. Click any word for its full Thayer’s Greek Lexicon entry.Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
- 3 hapax legomena — only here in the Greek New Testament
- 3 first appearances in the Greek New Testament
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Compare translations 3
The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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King James Version Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
And thus in the vision I saw the horses and the ones riding on them: having fiery and hyacinth and sulfurous breastplates. And the heads of the horses as heads of lions, and from their mouths comes fire and smoke and sulfur.
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).
Show all 19 translations
Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.
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World English Bible Public Domain
Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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King James Version Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
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American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates `as' of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.
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Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.
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Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in a vision, and them that sate on them, hauing firie habbergions, and of Iacinth, and of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were as the heades of lyons: and out of their mouthes went foorth fire and smoke and brimstone.
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Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision: and they that sat on them, had breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone, and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions: and from their mouths proceeded fire, and smoke, and brimstone.
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Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting upon them, having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses `are' as heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceedeth fire, and smoke, and brimstone;
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Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses [are] as heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceed fire, and smoke, and brimstone;
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Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
This is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode on them: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue and sulfurous yellow. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
And thus in the vision I saw the horses and the ones riding on them: having fiery and hyacinth and sulfurous breastplates. And the heads of the horses as heads of lions, and from their mouths comes fire and smoke and sulfur.
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Darby Bible Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sat upon them, having breastplates of fire and jacinth and brimstone; and the heads of the horses [were] as heads of lions, and out of their mouths goes out fire and smoke and brimstone.
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World Messianic Bible Public Domain
Thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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Webster's Bible Public Domain
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breast-plates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions: and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone.
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Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
In my vision I saw the horses and their riders who wore breastplates as red as fire, and dark blue and yellow. The heads of the horses looked like lions, and fire and smoke and sulfur streamed out of their mouths.
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Bible in Basic English Public Domain
And so I saw the horses in the vision, and those who were seated on them, having breastplates of fire and glass and of burning stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and a smell of burning.
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Text-Critical English NT CC BY 4.0
Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.
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Tyndale New Testament (1534) Public Domain
And thus I sawe the horses in a vision and them that sate on the havynge fyry habbergions of a Iacyncte coloure and brymstony and the heeddes of the horses werre as the heeddes of lyons. And out of their mouthes went forth fyre and smoke and brymstone.
Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).
Word by word
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- Appears 1× in the Greek New Testament
- First appears here
- Part of Speech
- Adjective
- Case
- Accusative
- Number
- Plural
- Gender
- Masculine
Full Thayer's Definition
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- οὕτως hoútō G3779 “thus” Adverb
- ἴδον horáō G3708 “to see” Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 1st person, Singular
- τοὺς ho G3588 “the” Article, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- ἵππους híppos G2462 “horse” Noun, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- ἐν en G1722 “in” Preposition
- τῇ ho G3588 “the” Article, Dative, Singular, Feminine
- ὁράσει hórasis G3706 “sight” Noun, Dative, Singular, Feminine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- τοὺς ho G3588 “the” Article, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- καθημένους káthēmai G2521 “to sit down” Verb, Present, Middle or Passive deponent, Participle, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- ἐπ’ epí G1909 “upon” Preposition
- αὐτῶν autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- ἔχοντας échō G2192 “to have” Verb, Present, Active, Participle, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- θώρακας thṓrax G2382 “breast” Noun, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- πυρίνους pýrinos G4447 “fiery” Adjective, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- ὑακινθίνους hyakínthinos G5191 “hyacinth-colored” Adjective, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- θειώδεις theiṓdēs G2306 “sulfurous” Adjective, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- αἱ ho G3588 “the” Article, Nominative, Plural, Feminine
- κεφαλαὶ kephalḗ G2776 “head” Noun, Nominative, Plural, Feminine
- τῶν ho G3588 “the” Article, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- ἵππων híppos G2462 “horse” Noun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- ὡς hōs G5613 “as” Adverb
- κεφαλαὶ kephalḗ G2776 “head” Noun, Nominative, Plural, Feminine
- λεόντων léōn G3023 “lion” Noun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- ἐκ ek G1537 “from” Preposition
- τῶν ho G3588 “the” Article, Genitive, Plural, Neuter
- στομάτων stóma G4750 “mouth” Noun, Genitive, Plural, Neuter
- αὐτῶν autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- ἐκπορεύεται ekporeúomai G1607 “to go forth” Verb, Present, Middle or Passive deponent, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular
- πῦρ pŷr G4442 “fire” Noun, Nominative, Singular, Neuter
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- καπνὸς kapnós G2586 “smoke” Noun, Nominative, Singular, Masculine
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- θεῖον theîon G2303 “brimstone” Noun, Nominative, Singular, Neuter
About this verse
These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →
- 39
- words
- 24
- distinct lemmas
- Revelation
- section
Notable vocabulary
3 hapax legomena — words that appear only here in the entire Greek New Testament:
First appearance in Scripture
These words make their first canonical appearance in the Greek New Testament here:
Shared distinctive vocabulary
ὁράσει sight G3706 occurs in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:
Cross-references
14Topical passages linked to Revelation 9:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.
- Revelation 9:18 By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
- 1 Chronicles 12:8 Of the Gadites there separated themselves to David to the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, that could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the roes on the mountains;
- Revelation 14:10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
- Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- Genesis 19:24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; Fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
- Isaiah 5:28–29 Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind.
- Isaiah 30:33 For a Topheth is prepared of old; yes, for the king it is made ready; he has made it deep and large; the pile of it is fire and much wood; the breath of Yahweh, like a stream of sulfur, does kindle it.
- Revelation 20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Ezekiel 33:22 Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.
- Revelation 9:9 They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
- Revelation 11:5 If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
- Revelation 21:20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.
Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).
Lesson kit
Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.
Revelation, in the Revelation, opens this verse with 39 words (24 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is pýrinos (“fiery”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.
Discussion questions
- The word pýrinos carries the sense “fiery.” How does it shape the verse?
- This verse holds 3 words here found nowhere else in the Greek New Testament. What might the rare words draw attention to?
- 3 words here appear for the first time in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
- Acts 2:17 shares the word «sight» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
- “horse” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
- These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
- Reading how Tyndale Open Study Notes and Bengel's Gnomon read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?
Things to notice
- 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in the Greek New Testament.
- 3 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
- These translations choose different wording for 17 words in this verse.
- “horse” occurs 2× in this single verse.
- 24 distinct Greek lemmas span 39 words in this verse.
Commentary
Notes on Revelation 9:17 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.
Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →
Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale Open Resources
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Bengel's Gnomon
Johann Albrecht Bengel
Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Expositor's Greek Testament
ed. W. Robertson Nicoll
The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne
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.
John Gill's Exposition
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Trapp's Complete Commentary
John Trapp
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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
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).
Matthew Poole's English Annotations
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
Daniel D. Whedon
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Kretzmann's Popular Commentary
Paul E. Kretzmann
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament
William Burkitt
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The People's New Testament
B. W. Johnson
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.
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
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.
Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament
Marvin R. Vincent
Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.