Devine Scripture

Revelation 9:2

What does Revelation 9:2 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 9:2 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 9:2 means

When the abyss is opened, smoke billows out like a great furnace, darkening sun and air. The picture is one of choking obscurity and oppressive atmosphere. The point is not curiosity about the abyss’s mechanics but the impact of its opening: pervasive darkness and distress. The smoke heralds what follows—an invasion from below and a world dimmed by spiritual gloom. God allows it, yet He has not lost His grip; the darkness is neither endless nor ownerless. It serves to reveal the true nature of the forces emerging and to underscore how judgment can bring confusion and fear to a world already estranged from its Maker.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And he made the great deep open and a smoke went up from it, like the smoke of a great oven; and the sun and the air were made dark because of the smoke.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and he did open the pit of the abyss, and there came up a smoke out of the pit as smoke of a great furnace, and darkened was the sun and the air, from the smoke of the pit.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And he opened the bottomless pit: and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And it opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up smoke out of the pit as [the] smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke of the pit.

Context

This verse follows the granting of the key and shows its immediate effect. The furnace-like smoke prepares for the arrival of the locusts in verse 3 and explains why the scene becomes so ominous. In earlier trumpets, darkness came through natural means; here it comes from the abyss, signaling a different source and purpose. The imagery shapes the reader’s expectations for demonic activity under divine limits, which will be specified in verses 4–5.

v.1And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.

v.2This passage

v.3And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Genesis 19:28

    and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

  • Isaiah 14:31

    Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

  • Acts 2:19

    And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:

  • Revelation 8:12

    And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.

  • Genesis 15:17

    And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces.

  • Joel 2:2

    a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.

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