After this the blessed evangelist depicts for us the nature of the worms in a way which is both subtle and fearful. In each of the statements about them, one might wonder at the accuracy of the account; for he did not say that they had lions’ teeth and scorpions’ tails and human faces, but that there was in each a sort of image disclosing a figurative picture, not the truth.
By such means, therefore, either their fearsomeness and amazing power is indicated, or he has truly sketched their shape.
He says, They have as their king the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apolluon. The name has either been invented to correspond with the aforementioned events of the vision, or perhaps not only are there “ministering spirits, sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation,” according to the divine apostle, but also spirits sent to punish those who deserve to be punished, rather like the angel who in a single night struck the hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians; and those who destroyed by fire the five cities of Sodom.
He says, The first woe has passed; two woes are still to come. Woe is the jargon denoting great distress and indicates present and future afflictions. So he says the one punishment has already been mentioned; two will be mentioned later.
By the “tails” he speaks of the leaders who have fallen away from the Head of the church, that is, from the Lord, and so those who were the first have become the last. This is as God thought it worthy to say through Isaiah, “The elders who are honored and admired are the head; and the prophet who teaches iniquity is the tail.” Therefore, the “power” of the locusts refers to the character of the false prophets who never desist from attacking the true church by their lying and venomous doctrines.
[The noise of their wings was like the sound of chariots] signifies that the few who were in the lead as the horses have now been multiplied in the chariots [that follow]. This suggests either an increase in the diversity of new opinions or the increase in the number of those who have been led astray. Moreover, they rush into battle because the preachers of error rebel against the truth and fight against unity. The apostle described such persons in a similar fashion, “As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith,” and following. … [That they had power in their tails] reminds us of what Isaiah wrote, “The elder and the honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail, and those who bless my people will lead them astray, and those who are blessed have fallen.” It is clear from this that these persons wish to rule that which every saint and teacher of the truth desires at all costs to avoid, namely, the glory of the world and the error of a destructive preaching. That they have power in their tails for five months indicates again the present life where falsehood can be strong and can either capture the useless or torment the spiritual for a short period of time.
Their iron breastplates show their hardness of heart.… We think that the sound of the wings of these spiritual locusts is said to resemble the sound of war chariots because of their speed in the air. For, as the blessed David says, “They make war upon us from on high.” And their tails which are like those of scorpions symbolize the result of sins, the producing of spiritual death. For “sin when it is perfected brings forth death.”
And they had tails like scorpions, etc. Just as a scorpion walks gently but strikes with its tail, so the fraudulent destruction of the wicked appears pleasant and harmless on the surface, but while it secretly kills, it covertly brings death.
Their power to harm men was for six months. This again suggests this life, where lies can prevail either to capture the useless or to torment the spiritually strong temporarily.
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 9:7-12
By such means, therefore, either their fearsomeness and amazing power is indicated, or he has truly sketched their shape.
He says, They have as their king the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apolluon. The name has either been invented to correspond with the aforementioned events of the vision, or perhaps not only are there “ministering spirits, sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation,” according to the divine apostle, but also spirits sent to punish those who deserve to be punished, rather like the angel who in a single night struck the hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians; and those who destroyed by fire the five cities of Sodom.
He says, The first woe has passed; two woes are still to come. Woe is the jargon denoting great distress and indicates present and future afflictions. So he says the one punishment has already been mentioned; two will be mentioned later.