Bible Strands
Revelation 9:7
And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads; and their faces were like the faces of men.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — John records this vision during the fifth trumpet judgment, detailing the emergence of a demonic swarm that inflicts prolonged torment on humanity.
The words — ὁμοιώματα (homoiōmata) refers to the visible forms or appearances of the locusts, and ἡτοιμασμένοις (hētoimasmenois) indicates they were equipped or prepared for combat.
The thread — The locust imagery parallels Nahum 3:17, where swarming insects represent a defeated army's guards, while the horse-like description echoes the beastly visions of Daniel 7:4.
Why it lands — The description forces readers to confront the reality that divine judgment operates through terrifying, unnatural forces that systematically strip away any hope of relief from suffering.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Daniel 7:8 While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
- Nahum 3:17 Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.
- Daniel 7:4 The first beast was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man and given the mind of a man.
- Joel 2:4 Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like swift steeds.