Revelation 9:17

I saw. The description of the horses and their riders seems to follow the familiar Hebrew inverted parallelism: first the horses, then the riders are mentioned; then the riders are described, and finally the horses.

Breastplates. That is, of the riders.

Of fire. That is, fiery. Perhaps not only the armor of the cavalrymen appeared bright, but the troops themselves may have appeared to the prophet as clothed with fire. See below on “jacinth.”

Jacinth. Gr. huakinthinos, a violet or dark-blue color. Some suggest that this may represent the smoke accompanying the fire (see below on “fire and smoke and brimstone”). Others see the color as descriptive of the Turkish uniform, in which the colors red (or scarlet), blue, and yellow are said to have predominated. The fire, they believe, represents the red color, and the brimstone the yellow.

Brimstone. Gr. theiōdeis, “sulphurous,” “of brimstone.” Fire and brimstone are frequently mentioned together in the book of Revelation (chs. 9:18; 14:10; 19:20; 20:10; 21:8). For a possible significance of the color see the foregoing on “jacinth.”

Heads of lions. This comparison of the “horsemen” to the king of beasts suggests ferocity and majesty.

Fire and smoke and brimstone. The same things that appeared to clothe the cavalrymen also come forth from the mouths of their horses. The mention of “smoke” here in place of the “jacinth” of the horsemen strengthens the suggestion that the two are the same (see the foregoing on “jacinth”). Compare the description of leviathan in Job 41:19–21. Expositors who identify the sixth trumpet with the ravages of the Ottoman Turks see in the “fire and smoke and brimstone” a reference to the use of gunpowder and firearms, introduced about this time. They point out that the discharge of a musket by a mounted cavalryman could make it appear from a distance as if fire were coming out of the horse’s mouth.