Revelation 9:5

9:5 torture them for five months: This time period is a symbolically complete number based on the fingers on a hand. It is also the normal life span of locusts, suggesting that their entire purpose was to torture people.

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

Rev 9:5. Μῆνας πέντε) Some Lat. MSS. have six months. I was long ago, but easily added to V. The number five is repeated, Rev 9:10. Five months in prophecy are 79 complete ordinary years, from A. 510 to 589. The men who were tormented were Israelites, who had not received the Divine seal: the locusts were Persians, who dreadfully harassed them.

Rev 9:5; Rev 9:10. Βασανισθῶσι· ἀδικῆσαι) The one fact is expressed in a twofold manner, passively and actively. The locusts ἀδικοῦσι, hurt: men βασανίζονται, are tormented. So, to slay and to be slain, Rev 9:15; Rev 9:18; to have those who nourish, and to be nourished, ch. Rev 12:6; Rev 12:14.

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

Rev 9:5 . παίσῃ here, like ἐπάταξεν Jas 4:7 , represents LXX, tr. of נכה in sense of reptile’s bite; the scorpion with its long-fanged tail stings the prey which it has already gripped with its claws ( cf. Sen. Hercul. 1218). Scorpions were a natural symbol for vicious and dangerous opponents ( cf. Eze 2:6 , Luk 10:9 ), whose attacks were always painful and might be mortal. “The sting is not perilous.… The wounded part throbs with numbness and aching till the third day, there is not much swelling” (Doughty, Ar. Des. i. 328). But the effects were not always so mild (Arist. H. N. ix. 29).

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

they . . . they--The subject changes: the first "they" is the locusts; the second is the unsealed.

five months--the ordinary time in the year during which locusts continue their ravages.

their torment--the torment of the sufferers. This fifth verse and Rev 9:6 cannot refer to an invading army. For an army would kill, and not merely torment.

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 5. To them it was given] That is, they were permitted.

That they should be tormented five months] Some take these months literally, and apply them to the conduct of the Zealots who, from May to September, in the year of the siege, produced dreadful contests among the people; or to the afflictions brought upon the Jews by Cestius Gallus, when he came against Jerusalem, before which he lay one whole summer, or nearly five months.-See Joseph., Bell. Jud., l. ii. c. 19.

Others consider the months as being prophetical months, each day being reckoned for a year; therefore this period must amount to one hundred and fifty years, counting thirty days to each month, as was the general custom of the Asiatics.

Their torment was as the torment of a scorpion] The phraseology here is peculiar, and probably refers to the warlike weapon called a scorpion, several of which, or men armed with them, Cestius Gallus brought with him in his army.

Isidore describes this scorpion thus: Scorpio est sagitta venenata arcu vel tormentis excussa, quea, dum ad hominem venerit, virus qua figit infundit; unde et scorpio nomen accepit. "The scorpion is a poisoned arrow shot from a bow or other instrument, which, when it wounds a man, deposits the poison with which it is covered in the wound; whence it has the name of scorpion." Seneca, in his Hercules OEtaeus, act iv., ver. 1218, describes the torment which is occasioned by this species of poisoned arrow: -

Heu qualis intus scorpius, quis fervida

Plaga revulsus cancer infixus meas

Urit medullas?

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

(5) And to them . . .—Better, And it was given to them that they should not kill them (i.e., those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads), but that they should be tortured five months. The general period of a locust plague is about five months: “as the natural locusts commit their ravages only for five months, so the ravages of these symbolical ones will be only for a short period” (Stuart). Their power is to inflict torment, and not death. The next verse tells us that men would consider death preferable to this torment; but the relief of the grave is denied them.

And their torment . . .—Literally, and the torture of them (i.e., the torture inflicted by them) is as the torture of a scorpion when it has stricken a man. The wound of a scorpion occasions intense suffering: we have in it the symbol of the malicious cruelty of the merciless. The emblem is used in Ezekiel: the rebellious and malicious opponents of the prophet being compared to scorpions (Eze_2:6). We may compare the similar imagery of the bee for the Assyrian power (Isa_7:18), and the Psalmist’s complaint that his enemies came about him like bees—a swarm, irritating him with wing and sting. The tenth verse tells us the way in which the injury was inflicted: there were stings in their tails.

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

5. five months] It has been conjectured that this period is named, as being the time for which a plague of the literal locusts is liable to last. But more probably the period is to be reckoned on the same principle—whatever that be—as the other periods of time indicated in this book.

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 to them it was given that they should not kill them,.... As the power of the locusts was limited with respect to the persons they should hurt, so with regard also to the mischief they should do; for even those whom they were suffered to annoy they might not kill, that is, utterly root out and destroy, so as that they were no more: and thus, though the Saracens killed great numbers in the eastern empire, by their frequent incursions and ravages, and made large conquests, yet they could never destroy the empire itself, or bring it in subjection to them; nor did they ever take Constantinople, the metropolis and seat of the empire, though they often besieged it. And as for the western locusts, the months, friars, &c. though they kill the souls, yet not the bodies of men that are under their power and influence:

but that they should be tormented five months; that is, not that the locusts should be tormented, but men by the locusts; and so the eastern empire was grievously teased and tormented by the Saracens, and many parts of it were conquered, plundered, and pillaged by them, though it was not killed and put an end to. In the year 628, Mahomet with his Saracens having obtained a place in Arabia Felix to dwell in, died in the year 631; from which time his successors, the Saracens, by little and little, subdued Palestine, Syria, and Egypt; and, in the year 640, took Persis, putting King Hormisda to flight; they laid siege to Constantinople seven years, but without success; in the year 698, Carthage was taken by them; and in following times many countries on the continent, and many of the islands, were grievously infested and distressed by them; though the empire itself did not fall into their hands; it was tormented by them, but not destroyed. And the western locusts have most dreadfully tormented men by their exorbitant dues demanded of them; and by obliging them to confessions, and to attend Mass; by enjoining them whippings, fastings, pilgrimages, and penances, and with the terrors of purgatory, and the like. The time that the locusts should torment men, which is "five months", seems not to design any determinate time; but only that seeing five months is the time that locusts live, and are in their strength and power, even the five, hottest months in the year, from April to September (h), this seems to denote, that as long as the locusts live, the Saracens in the east, and the monks and friars in the west, so long men should be tormented by them; for it is certain that these have had power to torment men longer time than barely five months; yea, even though these should be understood, according to the prophetic style used in this book, of five months of years, or an hundred and fifty years; and though this should be doubled, seeing they are repeated, Rev 9:10; and so make up in all three hundred ears; for both the Saracens and the Romish clergy have distressed men, either of them, longer time than this: indeed, the flourishing condition of the Saracens was but about three hundred years, or two five months; but their empire or dominion lasted longer, even from the year 622, which was the year of the "Hegira", or flight of Mahomet, to the year 1057 (i), when the Turkish empire succeeded it: though it is pretty remarkable, that from the year 612, in which Mahomet began to preach publicly, and so let out the smoke with the locusts, to the year 762, in which the city of Bagdad was built, when and where the Saracens settled, and made no more excursions of any consequence, were just an hundred and fifty years, or five months of years, as Mr. Daubuz observes; and I will not say that this is not intended by this prophecy. Noah's flood prevailed over the earth one hundred and fifty days, or five months, Gen 7:24.

And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man; which gives great pain, is very distressing, and their stings are poisonous and mortal: it signifies how troublesome and afflictive those locusts were; to be among them was to live among scorpions, as in Eze 2:6. As these locusts are like scorpions, so scorpions have been seen sometimes with wings like locusts; such an one, Pausanias (k) relates, was brought into Ionia by a Phrygian.

(h) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29. (i) Petav. Rationar. par. 1. l. 7. c. 13. & l. 8. c. 13. (k) Boeotica, sive l. 9. p. 573. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 25. & Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 20. & l. 16. c. 41, 42.

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

5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

Ver. 5. And to them it was given] This is often repeated in this book, to show that though Antichrist and his actuaries bandy and bend all their forces to destroy souls, yet they are bounded by God, and can do no more than is given them from above.

Five months] Locusts used to live no longer. See Pliny, lib. xi. cap. 29. There are those who interpret these five months of those 500 years, wherein the pope stood in his full pride and power. For, ab eo tempore quo per vos Papa Antichristus esse coepit (saith Bellarmine) non modo non crevit eius imperium, sed semper magis ac magis decrevit, Since you first began to call the pope Antichrist he hath lost a great part of his command and commodity. (De Pap. Rom., lib. iii. cap. 21.)

As the torment of a scorpion] Pliny testifieth that of all creeping things that are poisonous, the sting of a scorpion is most cruel and grievous.

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 to them it was given - There is here the same indefiniteness as in the former verse, the impersonal verb being here also used. The writer does not say by whom this power was given, whether by God, or by the leader of the host. It may be admitted, however, that the most natural interpretation is to suppose that it was given them by God, and that this was the execution of his purpose in this case. Still it is remarkable that this is not directly affirmed, and that the language is so general as to admit of the other application. The fact that they did not kill them, but tormented them - if such a fact should be found to exist - would be in every sense a fulfillment of what is here said.

That they should not kill them - This is in accordance with the nature of the symbol. The locusts do not themselves destroy any living creature; and the sting of the scorpion, though exceedingly painful, is not usually fatal. The proper fulfillment of this would be found in what would not be generally fatal, but which would diffuse misery and wretchedness. (Compare Rev 9:6.) Perhaps all that would be necessarily meant by this would be, not that individual people would not be killed, but that they would be sent to inflict plagues and torments rather than to take life, and that the characteristic effects of their appearing would be distress and suffering rather than death. There may be included in the fair interpretation of the words, “general distress” and “sorrow”; acts of oppression, cruelty, and violence; such a condition of public suffering that people would regard death as a relief if they could find it.

But that they should be tormented - That is, that they should be subjected to ills and troubles which might be properly compared with the sting of a scorpion.

Five months - So far as the words here are concerned this might be taken literally, denoting five months or one hundred and fifty days; or as a prophetic reckoning, where a day stands for a year. Compare the notes on Dan 9:24 ff. The latter is undoubtedly the correct interpretation here, for it is the character of the book thus to reckon time. See the notes on Rev 9:15. If this be the true method of reckoning here, then it will be necessary to find some events which will embrace about the period of one hundred and fifty years, during which this distress and sorrow would continue. The proper laws of interpretation demand that one or the other of these periods should be found - either that of five months literally, or that of 150 years. It may be true, as Prof. Stuart suggests (in loco), that “the usual time of locusts is from May to September inclusive - five months.” It may be true, also, that this symbol was chosen partly because that was the fact, and they would, from that fact, be well adapted to symbolize a period that could be spoken of as “five months”; but still the meaning must be more than simply it was “a short period,” as he supposes. The phrase a few months might designate such a period; but if that had been the writer’s intention, he would not have selected the definite number five.

And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, ... - See the notes on Rev 9:3. That is, it would be painful, severe, dangerous.

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

Supposing the Saracens and Turks here meant by the locusts, here arise two difficulties:

1. How it can be said of them, that they had no power to kill, but only torment men.

2. How their time is set for five months, whereas they have already tormented the world more than a thousand years; and how long they shall yet continue to do so, God only knows: they are both great difficulties.

Alsted tells us: That Mahomet began in the year 622, and the Saracens entered Spain 714, where they were called Moors, and kept possession of that kingdom eight hundred years, and that in the year 719, they besieged Constantinople with a navy of three thousand ships and three hundred thousand land soldiers; that before this time they had made themselves masters of Arabia, Palestina, Syria, Persia, Egypt, Africa, and Spain; and in the year 726, carried into France an army consisting of three hundred and seventy-five thousand, where they were beaten by Charles Martell, father to King Pepin. Mr, Mede telleth us, that the Saracens grievously vexed the countries subject to the Roman emperor, but could not take either Rome or Constantinople. The latter was taken by the Turks, in the year 1457, commanded by Sultan Mahomet. This is but a hard interpretation of those words,

that they should not kill them; which, it may be, hath made some other interpreters choose to interpret these locusts to signify the Roman clergy, who indeed did not kill men for religion, of many years. But both the one and the other tormented the world enough, and that like a scorpion, which pierceth a man with a venomous sting, and puts him to great pain. For the five months, we shall again meet with them, Rev 9:10.

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

5. Not kill—As the war-demons (Rev_9:18) would. These inflict agonies; agonies from which, indeed, natural death may naturally, in time, result: but it is not the work of these error-demons, as of the war-demons, to slaughter and slay.

Tormented—For misery is the outflow of error and sin.

Five months—A divine limitation again, based on the nature of the locust, whose ravages last usually about five months; that is, from May to September. And so temptation, error, and sin have not limitless control over all the life of humanity. Gospel truths take their turn of influence and offer. Even the smoke of the bottomless pit produces but twilight here, not total darkness.

Torment of a scorpion—The wounds of a scorpion are not usually fatal unless they are neglected; but the poison is so acrid that it occasions great agony. Like to this are the images of the hornet, the bee, and the wasp. See the Old Testament, for example Deu_7:20; Exo_23:28; Jos_24:12; Deu_1:44.

Torments— A frequent word in the Greek in the Apocalypse. Its noun-form, βασανος, signifies the Libyan touchstone, by which the purity of metals was claimed to be tested. Thence the verb signified any examination of a thing by criticism, or of a person by torture. Thence it signifies any torment or suffering. In the New Testament it never signifies infliction on an inanimate object but once, Mat_14:24, where it speaks of a ship as “tossed by the waves.” Our seer applies the term here to the sting of the locusts; to the torment of the people by the two witnesses, Rev_11:10; to the pains of child-birth, Rev_12:2; and to the fiery torment of the wicked, Rev_14:10; Rev_20:10.

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

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and it was given them i.e. the locusts that they the locusts should not kill them the unsealed, but that they the unsealed should be tormented five months. The devil and his agents have not unlimited power committed to them; they are restrained within limits by the will of God. The evils which follow in the train of heresy and infidelity are not as yet permitted to kill, (cf. Job_1:12) for this judgment extends only to the natural life of man. God reserves the final killing to himself at the great judgment day. This is shown in the limitation, "five months." This apparently meaningless period becomes explicable, when we remember that the usual duration of a locust plague is five months, viz. from April to September. The visitation is for the natural period of such occurrences; the torment is to extend to the natural period of man"s sojourn on the earth. It does not extend into the next life; other and special means are adopted for man"s punishment then, as set forth under the seventh trumpet. Various other explanations have been given of the five months.

(1) Five years of Gothic rule (Vitringa).

(2) Five months= 5 30 days; each day represents one year; therefore 150 years are signified, viz.

(a) of the Saracens, A.D. 830 A.D. 980 (Mede);

(b) Mohammed"s conquests, A.D. 612 A.D. 762 (Elliott).

(3) Hengstenberg believes 5 to signify a part of the complete number 10, and thus to symbolize an incomplete period, as compared with the period of the seventh trumpet.

(4) Bengel, following the principles assumed by him, makes the five months to equal 79 natural years, and assigns the period to A.D. 510 A.D. 589.

(5) Others take the expression to mean "a short time" merely.

(6) Wordsworth interprets it as meaning a limited time permitted by God, and thinks the Mohammedan period is signified, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. "Their torment," that is, the torment of the unsealed, according to Alford; the torment of the locusts (viz. that which they inflict), according to others. In either ease the meaning is the same. The last clause, "when he striketh a man," is perhaps added in contradistinction to the injury naturally inflicted by locusts, whose efforts are directed against the vegetation.

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

Not to kill them - Very few of them were killed: in general, they were imprisoned and variously tormented.

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

The plague of the locusts:

v. 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man.

v. 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

v. 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.

v. 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

v. 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

v. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months.

v. 11. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Here the devastating spirits are described in detail. It is said of them, first of all: And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but should torture them five months; and their torture is as the torture of a scorpion when it strikes a man. The scorpion signified a vicious and dangerous opponent, whose attacks were always attended with excruciating pain, and might prove mortal. For a long time, for five months, but incidentally a definite time, fixed by the Lord, beyond which they did not dare to go, the evil hordes were to vex Christendom. The torture was almost unspeakably severe: And in those days men will seek death and will not find it, and they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The very withholding of death, under this refinement of torture, would result in intensifying its power; the tortured people crave in vain for some surcease of the torment, desiring death itself in preference to this torture. But this boon would be denied them.

The impression of the destructive activity of the hordes is heightened by their appearance: And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads what resembled crowns like gold, and their faces like faces of men, and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions; and they had scaly plates like iron coats of mail, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many chariots rushing to battle; and they had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to injure men five months. This description is partly fanciful, partly realistic, the former being true of the crowns gleaming like gold and of the antennae waving like a girl’s long hair; the latter, of the shape of the head, of the segmented, scaly body, of their omnivorous appetite, and of the whirring noise made by them when in flight. The description is completed by the naming of their leader: They had over them as king the angel of the abyss, whose name is in Hebrew Abaddon, but in Greek he has as his name Apollyon. Surely a fitting name for the ruler and leader of the devastating hordes, for it means Destroyer.

The interpretation of this entire picture, vv. 1-11, in the absence of authentic explanation by the Lord Himself, presents the same difficulties as most of the other pictures in this book of vision and prophecy. So much seems to be certain that the fallen star is an exceptionally great teacher, but one that has fallen away from the pure truth. His doctrine is one that savors of hell and destruction, and the result of its promulgation is that the pure saving knowledge of God is darkened on the earth. Moreover, he will gain many adherents, whose heresy would act as a spiritual plague in the midst of Christendom. For where the precious Word of God is despised and not accepted in true faith, there God will finally take this Word away and permit false and soul-destroying doctrine to be taught. And finally, the fact that the leader of the false believers bore the name Destroyer and had the power to torture apostate Christendom for five months, indicates that he was a mighty ruler and great warrior, whose destructive activity would vex also the true children of God.

This description may be applied to at least two historical movements of great extent. Luther writes: "The first woe, the fifth angel, is the great heretic Arius and his companions, who tormented Christendom so terribly in all the world that the text well says the pious people would rather have died than to have witnessed all of it; and yet they had to see it all, and could not die. He even says that an angel out of hell, called the Destroyer, is their king.... For not only in a spiritual manner, but also bodily, with the sword, they persecuted the true Christians. " Arius was a presbyter of the congregation at Alexandria in Egypt at the beginning of the fourth century, who introduced the terrible doctrine that Christ was not true God with the Father, but a mere creature. In spite of all efforts of faithful teachers to have this doctrine put out of the Church, since it overthrows the very foundations of Christianity, Arianism persisted for several centuries, being spread very rapidly by various Germanic nations that had accepted it, during the so-called migration of nations. It was a truly terrible visitation upon such Christians as were members of the Church in name only, but proved a torture also for the faithful few that clung to the doctrine of Scriptures. Other commentators find in this fallen star and in the hordes that followed him, led by the angel from the abyss, the Pope and his entire hierarchy. And it is true that every detail of the picture as here drawn may well be applied to this anti-Christian system in all its ramifications, to this day the greatest enemy of the Church of Christ in the whole world. Would that all true Christians had their eyes opened to see and understand this fact and to comport themselves accordingly!

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

That is, God would bring such dreadful judgments and calamities upon the wicked world, that men should be an affliction beyond all other afflictions, that they could not die: to flee death is a great misery, but to have death flee from us, or flee before us, and not be able to find it, is a far greater misery; God can so embitter life by afflictions and sufferings, that those who dread death may yet desire to die; not for any good that they see in death, but only to get rid of the troubles of this life: In those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it.

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

5. They should not kill them. This either implies that the armies symbolized by the locusts should seek not to destroy the races they attacked, or that they should not destroy the empire assailed. Five months. Their torment should continue five months, or one hundred and fifty prophetic days. Since a day is a symbol of a year, this implies one hundred and fifty years. Their torment was as the torment of a scorpion. Their warfare and torment shall be almost intolerable.

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.

They were not given permission

"They" refers to the locusts. (Revelation 9:03)

those people

the people whom the locusts were stinging

but only to torture them

Here the words "given permission" are understood. AT: "but only given permission to torture them" (See: Ellipsis)

to torture them for five months

The locusts would be allowed to do this for five months.

to torture them

"to make them suffer terrible pain"

the sting of a scorpion

A scorpion is a small insect with a poisonous stinger at the end of its long tail. The sting can cause severe pain or even death.

people will seek death, but will not find it

This can be restated to remove the abstract noun "death." AT: "people will try to find a way to die, but will not find it" or "people will try to kill themselves, but will not find a way to die" (See: Abstract Nouns)

will greatly desire to die

"will want very much to die" or "will wish that they could die"

death will flee from them

John speaks of death as if it were a person or animal that could run away. AT: "they will not be able to die" or "they will not die" (See: Personification)

translationWords

die

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

5. βασανισθήσονται; Erasmus altered this into βασανισθήσωνται; Text. Rec[319] reads βασανισθῶσι with B2.

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

5. μῆνας πέντε. It has been conjectured that this period is named, as being the time for which a plague of the literal locusts is liable to last. But more probably the period is to be reckoned on the same principle—whatever that be—as the other periods of time indicated in this Book.

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.

They should be tormented (basanisqwsin). See on torments, Mt 4:24.

Striketh [παιση] . Dr. Thomson says that the scorpion cannot strike sideways. All accounts agree as to the fearful pain from its sting.

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