Revelation 9:5-6

9:5 The locusts ¹  were not given permission ²  to kill ³  them, but only to torture ⁴  them ⁵  for five months, and their torture was like that ⁶  of a scorpion when it stings a person. ⁷  9:6 In ⁸  those days people ⁹  will seek death, but ¹⁰  will not be able to ¹¹  find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

¹ tn Grk “It was not permitted to them”; the referent (the locusts) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The word “permission” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

³ tn The two ἵνα (Jina) clauses of 9:5 are understood to be functioning as epexegetical or complementary clauses related to ἐδόθη (edoqh).

⁴ tn On this term BDAG 168 s.v. βασανισμός states, “1. infliction of severe suffering or pain associated with torture or torment, tormenting, torture Rv 9:5b. – 2. the severe pain experienced through torture, torment vs. 5a; 14:11; 18:10, 15; (w. πένθος) vs. 7.”

⁵ tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text but is picked up from the previous clause.

⁶ tn Grk “like the torture,” but this is redundant in contemporary English.

⁷ tn Grk “a man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in an individualized sense without being limited to the male gender.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁹ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹¹ tn The phrase “not be able to” was used in the translation to emphasize the strong negation (οὐ μή, ou mh) in the Greek text.