Bible Strands
Revelation 9:8
They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — John receives a vision of the fifth trumpet judgment, describing locusts emerging from the smoke of the abyss to torment humanity.
The words — εἶχον (eichon) = they had; γυναικῶν (gunaikōn) = of women. The text states the locusts possessed hair resembling women’s and teeth resembling lions’.
The thread — The lion-teeth imagery parallels Joel 1:6, while the hair description intersects with cultural norms in 1 Corinthians 11:14 and 1 Peter 3:3.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of a deliberate juxtaposition: hybrid creatures that blend human, feminine, and predatory traits to signal unnatural terror.
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 they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Cross-references
- Joel 1:6 For a nation has invaded My land, powerful and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.
- 1 Corinthians 11:14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
- 1 Peter 3:3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
- 2 Kings 9:30 Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.
- Psalms 57:4 My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Isaiah 3:24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
- 1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,