Revelation 9:3

“And there came out of the smoke locusts the earth, etc.] Not literally, for these locusts might not meddle with the grass, nor any green thing, or tree, as locusts do, only men, (<660904>Revelation 9:4); and had a king over them, (<660911>Revelation 9:11); which locusts have not, (<203027>Proverbs 30:27), though the allusion is to such, which spawn and breed in pits, and may be properly said to come out of them; hence in the Hebrew tongue they are called ybg, from abg, “a pit”, or “ditch”: nor are devils intended, though they may be compared to locusts for their original, hell, or the bottomless pit; and for their numbers, we read of a legion of them in one man; and for their hurtful and…”

“upon--Greek, "unto," or "into." as the scorpions of the earth--as contrasted with the "locusts" which come up from hell, and are not "of the earth." have power--namely, to sting.”

“And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth - That is, they escaped from the pit with the smoke. At first they were mingled with the smoke, so that they were not distinctly seen, but when the smoke cleared away they appeared in great numbers. The idea seems to be, that the bottomless pit was filled with vapor and with those creatures, and that as soon as the gate was opened the whole contents expanded and burst forth upon the earth. The sun was immediately darkened, and the air was full, but the smoke soon cleared away, so that the locusts became distinctly visible. The appearance of these locusts is described in another part of the chapter, Revelation 9:7 ff. The locust is a…”

“And out of the smoke - Not out of the bottomless pit, but from the smoke which issued thence. There went forth locusts - A known emblem of a numerous, hostile, hurtful people. Such were the Persians, from whom the Jews, in the sixth century, suffered beyond expression. In the year 540 their academies were stopped, nor were they permitted to have a president for near fifty years. In 589 this affliction ended; but it began long before 540. The prelude of it was about the year 455 and 474: the main storm came on in the reign of Cabades, and lasted from 483 to 532. Toward the beginning of the sixth century, Mar Rab Isaac, president of the academy, was put to death. Hereon followed an…”

“9:3-4 The locusts . . . from the smoke with their power to sting like scorpions are fiercer than those of the Egyptian plague (see Exod 10:14-15). Rather than eating plants, these locusts are like stinging scorpions that viciously attack people. Only people without the seal of God (see Rev 7:1-8) receive this painful judgment. While the stings cause painful torture, they are not life-threatening (9:5-6).”

“locusts: Exo 10:4-15; Jdg 7:12; Isa 33:4; Joe 1:4, Joe 2:25; Nah 3:15, Nah 3:17 as: Rev 9:5, Rev 9:10, Rev 9:11; Deu 8:15; Kg1 12:11; Eze 2:6; Luk 10:19 Revelation 9:4”