Revelation 8-9 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

960 961 962 963[for] five months. 9.11 They have over them a king, the messenger / angel of the abyss,959(...continued)eksousia auton, literally, “and in the tails of theirs the authority of theirs,” is read by P47,Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, P, Uncial Manuscript 0207 (see), Minuscules 1006, 1611, 1841,2053, 2344 (see), 2351 (see) and a few other Greek manuscripts. It is changed to read kai.evn tai/j ourai/j auvtw/n evxousi,an ev,cousin tou/, literally “and in the tails of theirs, authority theyhave to...” by Minuscule 2329 (see), the Majority Text (K) and the Harclean Syriac. The variantreading does not change the meaning of Revelation, but is the attempt by these copyiststo enhance the original text which is comparatively more difficult to read.960Compare Revelation 9:5. Hendricksen asked concerning the entire picture of thelocust hordes, “...Can you conceive of a more frightful and horrible and true picture of the operationof the powers of darkness in the souls of the wicked during this present age?” (P. 122)Hal Lindsey holds that this description of the grasshopper army could easily be taken asa description of Cobra helicopters such as those used in Viet-Nam. The "torment" will resultfrom the use of a nerve-gas sprayed from the tail of those helicopters! (The Late GreatPlanet Earth, p. 139) See footnote 931.961The conjunction kai, kai, “and,” is interpolated into the original text at the beginningof this verse by P, Minuscules 1854, 2351, some other Greek manuscripts, the entire Latintradition, the Philoxenian Syriac and the Harclean Syriac (with markings to indicate the conjunctionwas not found in the exemplar being copied / translated). The interpolation does notchange the meaning of Revelation.962The third person plural present indicative verb ÷ïõóéí, echousin, “they have,” ischanged to the feminine plural present participle ev ,cousai, echousai, “ones having,” by theMajority Text (K) and by Tyconius (who died after 390 A.D.). The variant reading does notchange the meaning of Revelation.963Before the accusative singular noun âáóéëÝá, basilea, “a king,” the definite accusativesingular article to,n, ton, “the,” is interpolated into the original text by Sinaiticus and UncialManuscript 0207. This may be simply the reflection of the differing convictions among Greekwriters across the centuries as to whether or not the definite article should be used beforenouns and names. Its interpolation does not change the meaning of Revelation.Many commentators have noted that Proverbs 30:27 states that "the grasshoppershave no king." Maybe so with earthly grasshoppers, but it is definitely not the case with thesegrasshoppers out of the abyss! Apocalyptic grasshoppers are not the same as ordinarygrasshoppers! When you see a movie like Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” how do youinterpret its meaning? Do you understand it to mean ordinary, sea-gulls and crows? Is it notan example of the “surreal” and “apocalyptic vision”? How do you think we should understandand interpret apocalyptic visions such as these in Revelation 8-9?445