Revelation 9:18

By these three--A, B, C, and Aleph read (apo for kupo), "From"; implying the direction whence the slaughter came; not direct instrumentality as "by" implies. A, B, C, Aleph also add "plagues" after "three." English Version reading, which omits it, is not well supported.

by the fire--Greek, "owing to the fire," literally, "out of."

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 18. By these three was the third part of men killed] That is, By these was great carnage made.

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

(18) By these three . . .—Better, From these three plagues were the third part of mankind slain, by the tire and the smoke and the brimstone which goeth forth out of their mouths. For the power of the horse is in their mouth, and in their tails, for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they hurt (or, injure). The destructive power in this vision is in mouth and tail, in the last trumpet-vision it was in the tail only (Rev_9:10). The devastating power is increased; the foes come swift as horsemen, strong as lions, venomous as serpents, breathing forth elements that blind and burn with deadly power. We have, then, forces which are mighty, malicious, and relentless, and which are bidden forth against mankind for their sins of worldliness. (See Rev_9:20-21.) It is not once only in the history of the world that such powers have been let loose. The desolations wrought by invading hordes— the force and ferocity of Turkish power establishing itself in Europe and threatening the power of Christendom—the widespread terror and slaughter promoted by the outbreak of the spirit of unrestrained violence in France, followed by reckless war, may illustrate such a vision as the present; but the main teaching of it is the never-failing truth that the spirit of worldliness provokes its own punishment, wherever it may exist, and its retribution is in a form which serves to reveal what latent power of destruction lurks behind every sin, and what hidden spiritual foes there are to intensify human passions and to increase human misery.

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

18. By these three] Read, by (lit. from) these three plagues were the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone, &c.

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.

And by these three was the third part of men killed,.... The Alexandrian copy, and some others, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, read, "by these three plagues": as the western Roman empire is in the preceding chapter frequently expressed by the third part of several things, see Rev 8:7; so here the eastern Roman empire by the third part of men; vast numbers of the inhabitants of which were destroyed by the Turks, through the use of guns, out of which issued fire, smoke, and brimstone; and Constantinople, the metropolis of it, was taken in this way, as before observed, with the taking of which the empire ceased.

By the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths; that is, by the firing of guns.

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

18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

Ver. 18. The third part of men killed] Not only of Christians, but also of their own; most of their poor being forced with victuals and other necessaries to follow their great armies in their long expeditions, of whom scarcely one of ten do ever return home again, but there perish by the way; if not by the enemy’s sword, yet by the wants, intemperateness of the air, or immoderate painstaking.

By the brimstone] By the gunpowder, or by their sulphured bow strings, which they discharge as out of their mouths, whereunto they draw or lay them.

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.

By these three - Three things - explained immediately as referring to the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone.

Was the third part of men killed - See the notes on Rev 8:7-12, on each of which verses we have notices of calamities that came upon the third part of the race, of the sea, of rivers, etc. We are not to suppose that this is to be taken literally, but the description is given as it appeared to John. Those immense numbers of horsemen would sweep over the world, and a full third part of the race of people would seem to fall before them.

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

That is, a great part of men were killed by these numerous armies. No such devastations were ever made by any enemies that ever appeared in the world, as by the Turks have been; nor ever were there such vast great guns made, out of which came

fire, and smoke, and brimstone.

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

By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths; by these three plagues (as in Revised Version)... the brimstone, which proceeded. Although the last clause technically is attached to "brimstone" only, yet the description applies to all three of the things mentioned. "The third part" again a large, but not the largest, part of mankind. (see on Rev_8:7) The locusts were forbidden to kill (ver. 5); these horsemen are permitted to do so. Each judgment of the trumpet visions appears to increase in severity. We may here see portrayed the terrible and destructive character of the results of sin. Such results are experienced to the full by the third part of men, the large class who" repent not of their murders, nor of their sorceries," etc. (ver. 21).

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

By these three - Which were inseparably joined. Were the third part of men - In the countries they over-ran. Killed - Omar alone, in eleven years and a half, took thirty-six thousand cities or forts. How many men must be killed therein!

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

18. By these three plagues. The fire, smoke and brimstone. These agencies slay the third part of men. We have before found that the Old Roman world was divided into three parts. One third part had been destroyed by the first four trumpet invasions. A second third part was taken by the Saracens. If now the third part was taken and destroyed by these three plagues, the symbolism would be fulfilled.

THE FULFILLMENT.

We have found that the Arabian scourge had fulfilled its work by a.d. 782. It had taken from the Eastern Empire its provinces in Africa, and most of its possessions in Asia. The world, according to Gibbon, was at this time divided into three parts. Two of these had fallen before five destructive agencies. One still remains to be destroyed by the angels bound at the river Euphrates.

A few years before the thousandth year of the Christian era, a fierce Tartar race, formidable by numbers and bravery, left their seats east of the Caspian Sea, and moved southwestward, until they rested upon the river Euphrates. A vast region of country east of that river fell before their arms. Persia became one of their provinces, and India, as far as the ocean, was subjected to their sway. But for two generations they “were bound by the river Euphrates” and lying upon its eastern banks, their armies were restrained by the river from ravaging the countries that lie to the west. For more than half a century, in some mysterious way, they were restrained at that river. At last, in the year 1057, sixty years after their appearance upon the east bank of that stream, after being bound for two generations, they crossed the Euphrates and marched upon the eastern Roman Empire. This people were called the Turkomans or Turkmans; we call them Turks.

There were four angels. This would imply, in some way, four powers. It is remarkable that this people were divided into four bodies, which formed four kingdoms, under the four grandsons of the leader who established the empire of the Turks in western Asia. The prince who was commissioned by the Caliph to attack the Greek Empire was named Togrul, but dying, his son, Alp Arsian, led the Turks across the Euphrates, and when he was slain in battle, he was succeeded by Malek Shah. If the reader will open at 532d page of Gibbon, Vol. V., he will find that the mighty empire of Malek Shah was divided into four principalities, under his four sons, which are described by the historian under the names of Persia, Kerman or India, Syria, Roum or Asia Minor, extending from the shores of the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. There are then four angels or messengers of destruction.

Observe the correspondence: (1) They were bound at the Euphrates. (2) There were four commands. (3) Their armies were horsemen, apparently countless. (4) They numbered their horsemen by myriads instead of by thousands. Gibbon often speaks of the myriads of horses. See Chap. LVII. (5) “The Ottomans until a very recent period wore warlike apparel of scarlet, blue and yellow.” (6) The first time that gunpowder and firearms were employed in war was in their campaigns. Constantinople was taken by cannon. See Gibbon, Chap. LXVIII. I quote one passage: “The great cannon of Mahomet has been separately noticed; an important and visible object in history of the times; but that enormous engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude; the long order of the Turkish artillery was pointed against the walls; fourteen batteries thundered at once on the most accessible places; and of one of these it is ambiguously expressed, that it was mounted with one hundred and thirty balls, or discharged one hundred and thirty bullets.” (7) There was power in the tails of the horses. This is a singular statement. No less singular is the fact that among the Turks the horse's tail is an emblem of power. The number of horses' tails determines rank. A Pacha of three tails is a great officer. The emblem of the rule of the Pachas, the most wasteful, oppressive, unjust rule the world has ever seen, is the horse's tail.

The Time. —One point more must suffice. It has been already shown that the prophetic period is three hundred and ninety-six years and four months, and it must evidently begin at the time when the angels were “loosed” in order to commence their work. It was in the year 1057 that the Turkish armies crossed the river and assailed the Empire. By the beginning of the next century their conquests extended to the Hellespont, and embraced all that portion of the world now portrayed upon the maps as Turkey in Asia. Then came the mighty uprising of Europe in the Crusades, which for the time beat back the torrent of Moslem invasion and recovered a portion of Asia. Between Europe and Asia the contest continued for two centuries, when Europe, weary of the fruitless struggle, abandoned the attempt, and the Turkish Empire, re-organized with the Ottoman Turks in power, passed over into Europe. The Eastern Empire was soon shorn of all its territories and reduced to the city of Constantinople. In the year 1453, assailed by two hundred thousand Turks, its walls battered down by the first cannon ever used in a siege, one hundred thousand of its citizens lying dead upon the ramparts, it was stormed by the Turks, and the last relic of the mighty empire which had existed for two thousand two hundred years was swept away forever. The work was done. The Empire fell in 1453. In 1057 the work began by the passage of the Euphrates. The interval between is three hundred and ninety-six years!

This remarkable prophecy is still more exact. The reader cannot fail to note particularly the language of the prophecy. We have found it to mean exactly 396 years and four months. On January 28th, 1057, according to Arabian historians, the Turks marched from Bagdad. 396 years and four months, or 120 days, would bring us to May 29th, 1453, the very day of the fall of Constantinople, and of the final overthrow of the Greek third part of the world.

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.

Connecting Statement:

John continues to describe the horses and the plagues brought upon humanity.

A third of the people

"One third of the people." See how you translated "A third" in Revelation 8:7. (See: Fractions)

For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails

The abstract noun "power" can be translated with an adjective. AT: "For it was the horses' mouths and tails that were so powerful" or "for it was the horses' mouths and tails that were able to hurt people" (See: Abstract Nouns)

translationWords

plague

fire

sulfur

power

horse

serpent

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

18. Primas[341] omits the whole verse.

[341] Primasius, edited by Haussleiter.

ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν. Text. Rec[342] omits πληγῶν with 1; א omits τριῶν.

[342] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

18. ἀπὸ τῶν … ἐκ τοῦ … The prepositions imply that the slaughter came of the plagues.

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.

These three. Add plhgwn plagues, on which see on Mr 3:10; Luk 10:30.

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