Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 9:3

"And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power." — Revelation 9:3 (ASV)

And there came . . .—Better, And out of the smoke there came forth locusts upon the earth; and there was given to them power, as the scorpions of the earth (? land-scorpions) have power.

The outcome of the gloom is the power of devastation and pain. This also refers to the Egyptian plagues—this time to the locusts (Exodus 10:12–15): They covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened.

Similarly, Joel describes the darkening of the land through the plague of locusts (Joel 2:3–10): The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

But the locusts of our vision are armed with the power of scorpions, to sting and to torture (Revelation 9:5): the scorpions are called scorpions of the earth. Some have thought that this expression is equivalent to land-scorpions, in contrast to so-called sea-scorpions. This hardly seems likely or necessary. Their power to torment men is the prominent idea.

The locusts are not literal locusts: this scorpion-like power given to them is enough to convince us of this, even if the next verse did not clearly show it. The scorpion-like power seems to depict a malicious energy, as the locusts depict a devastating multitude.