At the blowing of the fourth trumpet, the sun, the moon, and the stars lost a third of their light. This suggests the plague of darkness in Egypt (Exo 10.21-23; see also Isa 13.10; Joel 2.31; Amos 8.9). The text seems to say that they shone only at two thirds of their normal intensity; but as the conclusion of the verse makes clear, it means that they shone only two thirds of the time. One third of the daytime was completely dark, for the sun stopped shining; likewise for one third of the night the moon and the stars stopped shining.

Was struck: only here in the New Testament is this verb used; it suggests some force that hit the sun, moon, and stars and made them stop shining for one third of the time. In certain languages that do not use the passive, this phrase may be rendered as “suffered hit (or, strike),” but in others one must say, for example, “Something struck….”

And likewise a third of the night: the Greek text says simply “and the night likewise”; as the context makes clear, this means that during the night, as during the day, there was complete darkness for one third of the time. For the translation of a third, see Rev. 8.7 of this chapter.

Something like the following can serve as a model for this verse:

• Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet. The sun, the moon, and the stars were all damaged (or, struck), so that they did not shine for one third of the time. There was no sunlight during one third of the daytime, and during one third of the night the moon and the stars did not shine.

Or:

• And something struck and damaged one-third of the sun, the moon and the stars. The sun did not shine (or, give light) for one third of the daytime, and the moon and the stars did not shine for one third of the night.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .