Revelation 9:6
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And in those days men will be hoping for death, and it will not come to them; and they will have a great desire for death, and death will go in flight from them.
Webster's Revision
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
World English Bible
In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.
Clarke's Revelation 9:6 Bible Commentary
In those days shall men seek death - So distressing shall be their sufferings and torment that they shall long for death in any form, to be rescued from the evils of life. There is a sentiment much like this in Maximianus, Eleg. i., ver. 111, commonly attributed to Cornelius Gallus: -
Nunc quia longa mihi gravis est et inutilis aetas,
Vivere cum nequeam, sit mihi posse mori?
O quam dura premit miseros conditio vitae!
Nec mors humano subjacet arbitrio.
Dulce mori miseris; sed mors optata recedit:
At cum tristis erit, praecipitata venit.
"Seeing that long life is both useless and burdensome When we can no longer live comfortably, shall we be permitted to die? O how hard is the condition on which we hold life! For death is not subjected to the will of man. To die is sweet to the wretched; but wished - for death flees away. Yet when it is not desired, it comes with the hastiest strides."
Job expresses the same sentiment, in the most plaintive manner: -
Why is light given to the miserable,
And life to the bitter of soul?
Who wait for death, but it is not;
And dig for it more than hid treasures.
They rejoice for it, and are glad,
continued...
Barnes's Revelation 9:6 Bible Commentary
And in those days shall men seek death ... - See the notes on Revelation 9:5. It is very easy to conceive of such a state of things as is here described, and, indeed, this has not been very uncommon in the world. It is a state where the distress is so great that people would consider death a relief, and where they anxiously look to the time when they may be released from their sufferings by death. In the case before us it is not intimated that they would lay violent hands on themselves, or that they would take any positive measures to end their sufferings; and this, perhaps, may be a circumstance of some importance to show that the persons referred to were servants of God. When it is said that "they would seek death," it can only be meant that they would look out for it - or desire it - as the end of their sorrows. This is descriptive, as we shall see, of a particular period of the world; but the language is beautifully applicable to what occurs in all ages and in all lands.
There is always a great number of sufferers who are looking forward to death as a relief. In cells and dungeons; on beds of pain and languishing; in scenes of poverty and want; in blighted hopes and disappointed affections, how many are there who would be glad to die, and who have no hope of an end of suffering but in the grave! A few, by the pistol, by the halter, by poison, or by drowning, seek thus to end their woes. A large part look forward to death as a release, when, if the reality were known, death would furnish no such relief, for there are deeper and longer woes beyond the grave than there are this side of it. Compare the notes on Job 3:20-22. But to a portion death will be a relief. It will be an end of sufferings. They will find peace in the grave, and are assured they shall suffer no more. Such bear their trials with patience, for the end of all sorrow to them is near, and death will come to release their spirits from the suffering clay, and to bear them in triumph to a world where a pang shall never be felt, and a tear never shed.
Wesley's Revelation 9:6 Bible Commentary
9:6 The men - That is, the men who are so tormented.