Revelation 9 in the early church
[Vulgate: Apocalypse]
24 passages quote, allude to, or echo Revelation 9, grouped by verse; passages on the same verse are in date order. Verse text from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). References use the Protestant English Bible's numbering, with a writer's own numbering in brackets where it differs.
Verses: 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 10 · 11 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 20
Revelation 9:2
The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:2–3 | Apology against Rufinus 3.31 · Jerome | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 401–402 |
Revelation 9:3
And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:3 | Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 4.1.6 (22.6) · Hermas | echo, low confidence | ca. 100–150 |
| Rev 9:3 | Heads against Gaius, fragment III (on Rev 9:2-3) · Hippolytus of Rome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 200-235 |
Revelation 9:4
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:4 | Heads against Gaius, fragment III (on Rev 9:2-3) · Hippolytus of Rome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 200-235 |
| Rev 9:4 | Lines 1003–1026 · Commodian | allusion, medium confidence | 3rd century (disputed) |
Revelation 9:5
The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:5 | Lines 813–836 · Commodian | allusion, medium confidence | 3rd century (disputed) |
| Rev 9:5 | Book of Rules 5 · Tyconius | quotation, high confidence | ca. 380 |
Revelation 9:6
In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:6 | Epistle of the Apostles 44 · Anonymous | echo, low confidence | ca. 140-170 |
| Rev 9:6 | Sibylline Oracles 8.351ff. · Anonymous | allusion, high confidence | 2nd-3rd cent. |
| Rev 9:6 | Divine Institutes 7.16.12 · Lactantius | allusion, high confidence | ca. 303–311 |
Revelation 9:10
They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:10 | Miscellanies 3.18.106 · Clement of Alexandria | allusion, low confidence | ca. 198–203 |
Revelation 9:11
They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:11 | Lines 789–812 · Commodian | allusion, high confidence | 3rd century (disputed) |
| Rev 9:11 | Eleven Tractates 1.20 · Priscillian | allusion, high confidence | ca. 380–385 |
Revelation 9:14
saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:14 | Heads against Gaius, fragment IV (on Rev 9:14-15) · Hippolytus of Rome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 200-235 |
| Rev 9:14 | Commentary on Daniel 3.9 · Hippolytus of Rome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 202-204 |
| Rev 9:14 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 51.34.2 · Epiphanius of Salamis | quotation, high confidence | 374-377 |
| Rev 9:14 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 51.34.6 · Epiphanius of Salamis | quotation, high confidence | 374-377 |
Revelation 9:15
So the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:15 | Heads against Gaius, fragment IV (on Rev 9:14-15) · Hippolytus of Rome | quotation, high confidence | ca. 200-235 |
| Rev 9:15 | Book of Rules 5 · Tyconius | quotation, high confidence | ca. 380 |
Revelation 9:16
And the number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:16 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 51.34.2 · Epiphanius of Salamis | quotation, medium confidence | 374-377 |
Revelation 9:17
Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:17 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 51.34.2 · Epiphanius of Salamis | quotation, medium confidence | 374-377 |
| Rev 9:17 | Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 51.34.8 · Epiphanius of Salamis | allusion, high confidence | 374-377 |
Revelation 9:20
Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev 9:20 | 2 Clement 1.6 · Anonymous | echo, low confidence | ca. 100–150 |
| Rev 9:20 | Lines 741–764 · Commodian | allusion, medium confidence | 3rd century (disputed) |