The Seals
6 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given the power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds [Or about 1 kilogram] of wheat for a day’s wages,[Greek a denarius ] and six pounds [Or about 3 kilograms ] of barley for a day’s wages,[ Greek a denarius] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[ The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 12:10; 19:10. ] were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us [ See Hosea 10:8. ] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their [Some manuscripts his ] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
NOTES:
6:1–16:21 A series of seven disasters now begins as each
seal is broken (Rev 6:1–8:1), followed by a similar series as seven trumpets
sound (Rev 8:2–11:19) and as seven angels pour bowls on the earth causing
plagues (Rev 15:1–16:21). These gloomy sequences are interrupted by longer or
shorter scenes suggesting the triumph of God and his witnesses (e.g., Rev 7;
10; 11; 12; 13; 14).
6:1–17 This chapter provides a symbolic description of the
contents of the sealed scroll. The breaking of the first four seals reveals
four riders. The first rider (of a white horse) is a conquering power (Rev
6:1–2), the second (red horse) a symbol of bloody war (Rev 6:3–4), the third
(black horse) a symbol of famine (Rev 6:5–6), the fourth (pale green horse) a
symbol of Death himself, accompanied by Hades (the netherworld) as his page
(Rev 6:7–8). Rev 6:8b summarizes the role of all four riders. The breaking of
the fifth seal reveals Christian martyrs in an attitude of sacrifice as blood
poured out at the foot of an altar begging God for vindication, which will come
only when their quota is filled; but they are given a white robe symbolic of
victory (Rev 6:9–11). The breaking of the sixth seal reveals typical
apocalyptic signs in the sky and the sheer terror of all people at the imminent
divine judgment (Rev 6:12–17).
6:1–8 The imagery is adapted from Zec 1:8–10; 6:1–8.
6:2 White horse…bow: this may perhaps allude specifically to
the Parthians on the eastern border of the Roman empire. Expert in the use of
the bow, they constantly harassed the Romans and won a major victory in A.D.
62; see note on Rev 9:13–21. But the Old Testament imagery typifies the history
of oppression of God’s people at all times.
6:4 Huge sword: this is a symbol of war and violence; cf. Ez
21:14–17.
6:5 Black horse: this is a symbol of famine, the usual
accompaniment of war in antiquity; cf. Lv 26:26; Ez 4:12–13. The scale is a
symbol of shortage of food with a corresponding rise in price.
6:6 A day’s pay: literally, “a denarius,” a Roman silver
coin that constitutes a day’s wage in Mt 20:2. Because of the famine, food was
rationed and sold at an exorbitant price. A liter of flour was considered a
day’s ration in the Greek historians Herodotus and Diogenes Laertius. Barley:
food of the poor (Jn 6:9, 13; cf. 2 Kgs 7:1, 16, 18); it was also used to feed
animals; cf. 1 Kgs 5:8. Do not damage: the olive and the vine are to be used
more sparingly in time of famine.
6:8 Pale green: symbol of death and decay; cf. Ez 14:21.
6:9 The altar: this altar corresponds to the altar of
holocausts in the temple in Jerusalem; see also Rev 11:1. Because of the
witness…word of God: literally, “because of the word of God and the witness
they had borne.”
6:10 Holy and true master: Old Testament usage as well as
the context indicates that this is addressed to God rather than to Christ.
6:12–14 Symbolic rather than literal description of the
cosmic upheavals attending the day of the Lord when the martyrs’ prayer for
vindication (Rev 6:10) would be answered; cf. Am 8:8–9; Is 34:4; 50:3; Jl 2:10;
3:3–4; Mt 24:4–36; Mk 13:5–37; Lk 21:8–36.
6:12 Dark sackcloth: for mourning, sackcloth was made from
the skin of a black goat.
6:13 Unripe figs: literally, “summer (or winter) fruit.”
6:14 Was divided: literally, “was split,” like a broken
papyrus roll torn in two, each half then curling up to form a roll on either
side.
6:15 Nobles: literally, “courtiers,” “grandees.” Military
officers: literally, “commanders of 1,000 men,” used in Josephus and other
Greek authors as the equivalent of the Roman tribunus militum. The listing of
various ranks of society represents the universality of terror at the impending
doom.
6:17 Their: this reading is attested in the best
manuscripts, but the vast majority read “his” in reference to the wrath of the
Lamb in the preceding verse.
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