Rev 9:7-10 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 7 The locusts were like unto horses - This description of the locusts appears to be taken from . The whole of this symbolical description of an overwhelming military force agrees very well with the troops of Mohammed. The Arabs are the most expert horsemen in the world: they live so much on horseback that the horse and his rider seem to make but one animal. The Romans also were eminent for their cavalry. Crowns like gold - Not only alluding to their costly tiaras or turbans, but to the extent of their conquests and the multitude of powers which they subdued. Their faces were as the faces of men - That is, though locusts symbolically, they are really men.

Revelation of John 9:7-10

Verse 7

The locusts were like unto horses - This description of the locusts appears to be taken from Joe 2:4. The whole of this symbolical description of an overwhelming military force agrees very well with the troops of Mohammed. The Arabs are the most expert horsemen in the world: they live so much on horseback that the horse and his rider seem to make but one animal. The Romans also were eminent for their cavalry.

Crowns like gold - Not only alluding to their costly tiaras or turbans, but to the extent of their conquests and the multitude of powers which they subdued.

Their faces were as the faces of men - That is, though locusts symbolically, they are really men. Verse 8

Hair as the hair of women - No razor passes upon their flesh. Their hair long, and their beards unshaven.

Their teeth were as the teeth of lions - They are ferocious and cruel. Verse 9

They had breastplates - of iron - They seemed to be invulnerable, for no force availed against them.

The sound of their wings - Their hanging weapons and military trappings, with the clang of their shields and swords when they make their fierce onsets. This simile is borrowed from Joe 2:5-7. Verse 10

They had tails like unto scorpions - This may refer to the consequences of their victories. They infected the conquered with their pernicious doctrines.

Their power was to hurt men five months - The locusts make their principal ravages during the five summer months. But probably these may be prophetic months, as above, in Rev 9:5 - 150 years.