Revelation 9:6

My Notes

What Does Revelation 9:6 Mean?

"And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." The INVERSION of the normal human condition: normally people FLEE from death. In these days, people SEEK death — and death FLEES from them. The seeking and the fleeing have reversed. Death, which normally hunts humans, now RUNS from them. The people who normally run from death now CHASE it. The torment (verse 5 — five months of locust-torture) is so severe that death becomes DESIRABLE and UNATTAINABLE.

The phrase "men seek death, and shall not find it" (zētēsousin hoi anthrōpoi ton thanaton kai ou mē heurēsousin auton — people will seek death and will absolutely not find it) uses the STRONGEST possible negation: ou mē (absolutely not, by no means) — they will NEVER find it. The seeking is REAL. The finding is IMPOSSIBLE. Death is SOUGHT but UNAVAILABLE. The torment is so severe that the sufferers want to die — and CAN'T. The inability to die is itself the judgment.

The "death shall flee from them" (pheuxetai ho thanatos ap' autōn — death will flee from them) PERSONIFIES death as a FUGITIVE: death RUNS AWAY from the people who chase it. The normal relationship (humans flee death, death pursues) is COMPLETELY REVERSED. Death becomes the one who ESCAPES. The people become the ones who PURSUE. The inversion is the measure of the torment: when death becomes more attractive than living, the suffering has exceeded every previous level.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does death being DESIRED but UNAVAILABLE teach about the extremity of the torment?
• 2.How does death FLEEING from people (instead of pursuing them) describe the complete inversion?
• 3.What does the five-month duration teach about sustained suffering without relief?
• 4.What current suffering seems severe — and does this verse put it in perspective against the coming judgment?

Devotional

Men will SEEK death — and NOT FIND it. They'll DESIRE to die — and death will FLEE from them. The relationship with death is COMPLETELY REVERSED: normally you run from death. Now death runs from YOU. The torment is so severe that dying is DESIRED but IMPOSSIBLE. The inability to die IS the judgment.

The 'seek death and shall not find it' describes TORMENT that exceeds death's relief: the locust-torture (verse 5 — five months of sting-like-scorpion pain) is SO SEVERE that the sufferers would PREFER death. Death would be RELIEF. Death would be MERCY. And it's UNAVAILABLE. The strongest negation in Greek (ou mē — absolutely not, by no means) guarantees: they will NOT find death. The seeking is desperate. The finding is impossible.

The 'death shall flee from them' PERSONIFIES death as a RUNNER: death doesn't just fail to arrive. Death FLEES — actively runs away, escapes, avoids the people who pursue it. The personification is horrifying: death has become the thing that's AFRAID of the people. The normal predator (death hunting humans) has become the prey (death fleeing from humans). The inversion measures the torment's severity.

The FIVE-MONTH duration (verse 5) makes the death-seeking SUSTAINED: the desire to die isn't a momentary impulse. It lasts FIVE MONTHS. One hundred and fifty days of pain so severe that death is sought DAILY and refused DAILY. The duration and the impossibility together create the maximum suffering: sustained torment WITHOUT the escape of death. The pain continues. The dying doesn't.

What suffering in your world is so severe that death seems preferable — and what does this verse say about the extremity of the coming judgment?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture