And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
And. So Syriac; but A B 'Aleph (') omit "and."
Had - `have.'
A king ... which is the angel. So A 'Aleph (') read the article before "angel." Translate, 'They have as king over them the angel,' etc.: Satan (cf. Revelation 9:1). B omits the article, 'They have as king an angel,' etc.: some chief demon under Satan. I prefer, from Revelation 9:1, the former.
Bottomless pit - `abyss.'
Abaddon - i:e., destruction (Job 26:6; Proverbs 27:20). The locusts are supernatural-Satan's instruments to torment, yet not kill, the ungodly. As in the case of godly Job, Satan was allowed to torment with elephantiasis, but not to touch life. In Revelation 9:20, these two woe-trumpets are called "plagues." Andreas of Cesarea, 500 AD, held that the locusts mean evil spirits, permitted to come on earth and afflict men with various plagues.