The Locusts (And Not Helicopters) of Revelation 9:7-11

Another interesting quote from Klein, Hubbard and Blomberg regarding Revelation 9:7-11.

Or again in 9:7-11, the bizarre description of the locusts of the fifth trumpet probably called to mind the distinctive appearance of the Parthian hordes that periodically attacked Rome in its northeastern-most outposts. Unlike the Romans, the Parthians relied heavily on a “corps of mounted archers, whose tactices were to shoot one volley as they charged and another over their horses “tails”. There was therefore some factual basis for John’s surrealist picture of ‘horses able to wound with their mouths and their tails.’ [n. 135: G. B. Caid, The Revelation of St. John the Divine, BNTC (London: Black; New York: Harper & Row, 1966). 122]” (Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. p. 441)