Revelation 16:9

And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues. Yet they did not repent and give Him glory.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The visionary records the aftermath of the fourth angel pouring his bowl on the sun, directing the account to the readers of Revelation. It captures the immediate human response to divine judgment before the fifth bowl is poured out.

The words — The text uses ἐκαυματίσθησαν (ekaumatisthēsan) to denote being scorched by intense heat, and ἐβλασφήμησαν (eblasphēmēsan) to record that they cursed the name of God. These terms describe physical burning and verbal reviling without metaphorical qualification.

The thread — The pattern of unrepentant cursing under judgment appears in Jeremiah 5:3, where struck people refuse to feel pain or return. This same trajectory repeats in Revelation 2:21 and Revelation 16:21, showing a consistent biblical record of hardened resistance to divine correction.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that suffering from divine authority does not automatically produce repentance or glory to God. It requires readers to examine whether their own responses to hardship align with the text’s explicit call to repentance rather than defiance.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Cross-references

Revelation 2:21 Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
Revelation 16:21 And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
Jeremiah 5:3 O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
Luke 13:5 No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Revelation 11:13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
Luke 13:3 No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Daniel 5:22 But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
Amos 4:6 “I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
Isaiah 8:21 They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.