Revelation 9:16-19 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The number of the army, &c.— A description is here given of the forces, and of the means and instruments bywhich the Othmans should effect the ruin of the Eastern empire. Their army is described as very numerous,—myriads of myriads; and when Mohammed the second besieged Constantinople, he had 400,000 men in his army, besides a powerful fleet of thirty larger, and two hundred lesser ships. They are described too, chiefly, as horsemen; and so they are described also by Ezekiel and Daniel; as it is well known that their armies consisted chiefly of cavalry, especially before the order of Janizaries was instituted by Amurath the first. The Timariots, or horsemen, hold lands by serving in the wars, are the strength of the government, and are accounted in all between seven and eight thousand fighting men: some indeed say that they are a million: and, besides these, there are spahis and other horsemen in the emperor's pay. In the vision, that is in appearance, and not in reality, they had breast-plates of fire, and of hyacinth, and brimstone. The colour of fire is red, of hyacinth blue, and of brimstone yellow: and this has had a literal accomplishment: for the Othmans, from the first time of their appearance, have affected to wear such warlike apparel of scarlet, blue, and yellow. Of the spahis particularly, some have red, and some have yellow standards; and others red or yellow, mixed with other colours. In appearance too, the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, to denote their strength, courage, and fierceness; and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone, Revelation 9:17.—A manifest allusion to great guns and gunpowder; which were invented under this trumpet, and were of such signal service to the Othmans in their wars: for by these three was the third part of men killed; by these the Othmans made such havoc and destruction in the Greek or Eastern empire. Amurath the second broke into Peloponnesus, and took several strong places by means of his artillery. His son Mohammed, at the siege of Constantinople, employed such great guns, as were never made before. One, we are told, was so large, as to be drawn by seventy yoke of oxen, and by two thousand men: two more discharged a stone of the weight of half a talent; but the greatest of all discharged a ball of the weight of three talents, or about three hundred pounds. For forty days the wall was battered by these guns, and so many breaches were made, that the city was taken by assault, and an end put to the Grecian empire. They had power to hurt by their tails, &c. Revelation 9:19. In this respect they very much resemble the locusts; only the different tails are adapted to the different creatures; the tails of scorpions to locusts, the tails of serpents, with a head at each end, to horses. By this figure it is meant, that the Turks draw after them the same poisonous train as the Saracens; they profess and propagate the same imposture; they do hurt not only by their conquests, but also by the spreading of their false doctrine; and wherever they establish their dominion, there too they establish their religion. Many, indeed, of the Greek church remained, and are still remaining among them; but are subject to a capitation tax for the exercise of theirreligion; are burthened with the most heavy and arbitrary impositions; are compelled to the most servile drudgery; are abused in their persons, and robbed of their property; but notwithstanding these and greater persecutions, some remains of the Greek church are still preserved among them, as we may reasonably conclude, to serve some great and mysterious ends of Providence.