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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” 2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then ugly and painful sores appeared on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.⁠ 3 Next, the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.⁠ 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 Now I heard the angel of the waters saying:⁠ “You are just—the one who is and who was, the Holy One—because you have passed these judgments, 6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!”⁠ 7 Then I heard the altar reply, “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, your judgments are true and just!” 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was permitted to scorch people with fire. 9 Thus people were scorched by the terrible heat, yet they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain.⁠ 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east.⁠ 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.⁠ 14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. 15 (Look! I will come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition be seen.) 16 Now the spirits gathered the kings and their armies to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew.⁠ 17 Finally the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an⁠ earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and no mountains could be found. 21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 8:6 and Revelation 16:13

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation’s image of frog-like spirits emerging from mouths echoes the plague of frogs in Exodus, where they invaded every part of Egyptian life. In both, frogs function as a symbol of chaos, and Revelation reshapes it into a picture of final judgment.

Passages

Exodus 8:6

Hebrew Bible
3 The Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will come up and go into your house, in your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading troughs. 4 Frogs will come up against you, your people, and all your servants.”’” 5 The Lord spoke to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frog* up over the land of Egypt.’” 6 So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too. 8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord that he may take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will release the people that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Revelation 16:13

New Testament
11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. 15 (Look! I will come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition be seen.)
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... In ancient Mesopotamia, settlement sites can also be found around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where the people living there established a centralized society. And the people of that time also attached great importance to the rivers here, treating the frogs there as symbols of fertility and life. In the Sumerian poem Inanna and Enki, the first creature that the goddess Inanna tricked the water god Enki into giving the gods an order to send some water creatures for Enki to retrieve it was a frog. Therefore it seems that frogs came to be depicted in reliefs, sculptures and objects as a symbol of life-giving water. Furthermore, focusing on the life cycle of frogs, they are known to take on a completely different shape when they transform from juvenile to adult. Ancient peoples revered their shape as a symbol of rebirth. However, the frog has not always been interpreted in a positive light as a symbol of fertility. For example, the second plague of Egypt described in Exodus 8:6 was the work of frogs, and in the New Testament, frogs are associated with unclean spirits in Revelation 16:13. Thus, the social and symbolic importance of frogs has been preserved in many documents since antiquity, and it is clear that frogs were also familiar in ancient Mesopotamia ..."
Mai Tsuneki, “A Study of Frog-Shaped Artefacts in Mesopotamia,” Al-Rafidan 44 (2023): 1–3.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 8:6 and Revelation 16:13

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