Revelation 9:14; The Great River Euphrates

Revelation 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 

Euphrates is probably a word of Aryan origin, signifying “the good and abounding river.” It is most frequently denoted in the Bible by the term “the river.” The Euphrates is the largest, the longest and by far the most important of the rivers of western Asia. It rises from two chief sources in the Armenian mountains, and flows into the Persian Gulf.

The entire course is 1780 miles, and of this distance more than two-thirds (1200 miles is navigable for boats. The width of the river is greatest at the distance of 700 or 800 miles from its mouth—that is to say, from its junction with the Khabour to the village of Werai. It there averages 400 yards. The annual inundation of the Euphrates is caused by the melting of the snows in the Armenian highlands. It occurs in the month of May.

The great hydraulic works ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar had for their chief object to control the inundation. The Euphrates is first mentioned in Scripture as one of the four rivers of Eden. Gen. 2:14.

Genesis 2:14 And the name of the third river isHiddekel: that isit which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 

We next hear of it in the covenant made with Abraham. Gen. 15:18.

Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 

During the reigns of David and Solomon it formed the boundary of the promised land to the northeast. Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:4.

Deuteronomy 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. 

Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 

Prophetical reference to the Euphrates is found in Jer. 13:4–7; 46:2–10; 51:63; Rev. 9:14; 16:12.

Jeremiah 13:4-7 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which isupon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. 

Jeremiah 46:2-10 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with yourhelmets; furbish the spears, andput on the brigandines. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed andturned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: forfear wasround about, saith the LORD. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Who isthis thatcometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? Egypt riseth up like a flood, and hiswaters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, andwill cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle andbend the bow. For this isthe day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 

Jeremiah 51:63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 

Revelation 9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 

Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 

“The Euphrates is linked with the most important events in ancient history. On its banks stood the city of Babylon; the army of Necho was defeated on its banks by Nebuchadnezzar; Cyrus the Younger and Crassus perished after crossing it; Alexander crossed it, and Trajan and Severus descended it.”—Appleton’s Cyc.

It was the precursor for the preparation of the Battle of Armageddon.

 Smith, W. (1986). In Smith’s Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.