Revelation 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 and see."

1And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

NoteA scroll was a long strip of papyrus rolled up; a closed document was fastened with blobs of wax or clay stamped with a seal, and only the one with the right to open it could break them. This scroll, introduced in the previous chapter, is fastened with seven. The KJV's "four beasts" is not a word for animals: the Greek means living ones, the four winged creatures around the throne described in chapter 4. Manuscripts differ here, some read simply "Come," a summons to the rider; others read "Come and see," addressed to John.

2I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror, going out to conquer.

2And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

NoteThe Greek word behind "crown" is stephanos, the wreath awarded to the winner of a race or a battle, not the jeweled diadem of a king. The bow marks the rider as a mounted archer; to readers in the Roman east the obvious picture was the Parthian cavalry beyond the empire's eastern frontier, famous for fighting with the bow from horseback and the one enemy Rome had never subdued.

3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come and see."

3And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4Then another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would kill one another. He was given a large sword.

4And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Note"Power was given" renders a Greek word meaning authority or permission, and the phrasing is passive: this is something granted to the rider, not something he takes. The same construction governs the riders in verses 2 and 8. The "great sword" is a machaira, the short heavy blade worn at the side and used for butchering and for killing at close quarters, rather than the long sword of the battle line.

5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a set of scales in his hand.

5And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

Note"A pair of balances" is a set of scales: a beam with a pan hanging from each end. Grain was normally sold by the scoop and bought in bulk. Weighing it out carefully on a balance was what sellers did when it was scarce and had to be doled out in exact portions.

6And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures. It said, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And do not harm the olive oil and the wine."

6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

NoteThe "measure" is a choinix, roughly a quart, the standard single day's grain ration for one working man. The "penny" is a denarius, the standard day's wage for a common laborer. So a full day's pay buys exactly one day's bread for one person, with nothing left over for a family or for anything else; ordinary prices were something like eight to twelve times cheaper. Barley was the coarser, cheaper grain, eaten by the poor and fed to animals, which is why three quarts of it cost the same as one of wheat. Olive oil and wine were everyday staples in that diet, not luxuries.

7When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come and see."

7And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8I looked, and there was a pale horse. Its rider's name was Death, and Hades came along right behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with deadly disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

8And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Note"Pale" translates chloros, the yellow green of growing plants and also the color of a corpse. "Hell" in the KJV here is Hades, the Greek name for the place of the dead in general, where everyone who dies goes, not the place of final punishment; the KJV uses the one English word for both ideas. In the list of killers, "death" is the same Greek word used in the Greek Old Testament for plague or pestilence, which is the sense here, since otherwise the item would repeat the whole sentence.

9When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of the people who had been killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they held on to.

9And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

NoteIn Israelite sacrifice the blood of the animal was poured out at the base of the altar, so the life of a sacrifice was understood to be under the altar. That is the picture behind where John sees these people. "Souls" translates psyche, which covers the life, the breath, the self, and so simply means the people themselves, now dead.

10They cried out with a loud voice, "How long, Lord, holy and true, before you judge the people who live on the earth and pay them back for our blood?"

10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Note"Avenge our blood" is courtroom language rather than a call for private revenge: the Greek asks for the legal verdict and sentence owed to murderers. Under Israelite law blood that had been shed had a claim on justice that could not simply be dropped. "How long, O Lord" is the standard opening line of a lament in the Psalms, a fixed form of complaint rather than an ordinary question.

11Each one of them was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little while longer, until the full number was reached of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were going to be killed, just as they had been.

11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Note"A little season" means a short period of time; "season" in 1611 English meant simply a while, with no reference to summer or winter. "Should be fulfilled" means filled up or completed, that is, until their number is full.

12I watched as the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black, like rough cloth woven from goat hair, and the whole moon turned red like blood.

12And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

NoteSackcloth was a coarse dark cloth woven from goat hair, used for grain sacks and worn next to the skin as a sign of mourning; it is a dull blackish brown, which is why a darkened sun looks like it. A sun turned black and a moon turned the color of blood are stock phrases from the older prophets for the day when God acts in judgment (Joel 2:31, Isaiah 13:10).

13The stars of the sky fell to the earth, the way a fig tree drops its unripe figs when a strong wind shakes it.

13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Note"Untimely figs" means figs out of season: the small hard green fruit that forms on a fig tree in winter and drops before it ever ripens. A strong wind brings the whole crop of them down at once.

14The sky was pulled back like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

NoteA scroll held open is under tension, and when the reader lets go, both ends snap back toward the middle and it is shut in an instant. That speed is the point of the comparison. The image comes from Isaiah 34:4.

15Then the kings of the earth, the important men, the rich men, the army commanders, the strong men, and every slave and every free person hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

NoteThe six groups run from the top of society to the bottom. "Great men" are the magnates and nobles; "chief captains" translates chiliarchos, a Roman officer commanding a thousand soldiers, a senior rank roughly like a colonel; "mighty men" are the strong and powerful; a "bondman" is a slave, someone owned by another, as opposed to a free man.

16They said to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb.

16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

NoteThis quotes Hosea 10:8, where people facing invasion beg the hills to bury them, preferring to be crushed than to be found. "Wrath" is simply anger.

17For the great day of his anger has come, and who is able to stand?"

17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

NoteThe manuscripts differ between "his wrath" and "their wrath," the latter taking the one on the throne and the Lamb together as the source, and the reading cannot be settled with certainty. "Stand" means to keep one's footing and survive, the picture of someone left standing when a verdict is handed down or when a battle line breaks.