Revelation 6
6
The First Six Seals. 1#The imagery is adapted from Zec 1:8–10; 6:1–8. Then I watched while the Lamb broke open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures cry out in a voice like thunder, “Come forward.” 2I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow.#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. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories.#Zec 1:8–10; 6:1–3.
3When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature cry out, “Come forward.” 4#Huge sword: this is a symbol of war and violence; cf. Ez 21:14–17. #Ez 21:14–16. Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And he was given a huge sword.
5When he broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature cry out, “Come forward.” I looked, and there was a black horse,#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. and its rider held a scale in his hand. 6I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures. It said, “A ration of wheat costs a day’s pay,#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. and three rations of barley cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil or the wine.”#Lv 26:26; Ez 4:16–17.
7When he broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature cry out, “Come forward.” 8I looked, and there was a pale green#Pale green: symbol of death and decay; cf. Ez 14:21. horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades accompanied him. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth.#Ez 14:21.
9When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar#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.” the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. 10They cried out in a loud voice, “How long will it be, holy and true master,#Holy and true master: Old Testament usage as well as the context indicates that this is addressed to God rather than to Christ. before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” 11Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been.
12#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. Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth#Dark sackcloth: for mourning, sackcloth was made from the skin of a black goat. and the whole moon became like blood.#Jl 3:4; Mt 24:29. 13The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs#Unripe figs: literally, “summer (or winter) fruit.” shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind. 14Then the sky was divided#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. like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.#Is 34:4 / Rev 16:20. 15The kings of the earth, the nobles,#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. the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. 16They cried out 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 wrath of the Lamb,#Is 2:19; Hos 10:8; Lk 23:30. 17because the great day of their#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. wrath has come and who can withstand it?”
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Ḥazon (Revelation) 6
6
1And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, like a sound of thunder, “Come and see.”
2And I looked and saw a white horse,#See Zech. 6:3 and he who sat on it holding a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to overcome.
3And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.”
4And another horse, fiery red,#See Zech. 1:8; Zech. 6:2 went out. And it was given to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another. And a great sword was given to him.
5And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” And I looked and saw a black horse,#See Zech. 6:2 and he who sat on it holding a pair of scales in his hand.#See Ezek. 4:16
6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A measure of wheat for a denarius,#Roman monetary unit - a day’s wage. and three measures of barley for a denarius.#Roman monetary unit - a day’s wage. And do not harm the oil and the wine.”
7And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.”
8And I looked and saw a green horse.#See Zech. 6:3. Traditionally rendered as pale; Gk. chloros. And he who sat on it had the name Death,#See Hosea 13:14 and She’ol#See Hosea 13:14 followed with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.#See Ezek. 5:12; Ezek. 5:17; Ezek. 14:13-19
9And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the slaughter-place the beings of those having been slain for the Word of Elohim and for the witness which they held,
10and they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Master, set-apart and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11And there was given to each one a white robe, and they were told that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brothers, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
12And I looked when He opened the sixth seal and saw a great earthquake came to be. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.
13And the stars of the heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs, being shaken by a strong wind.
14And heaven departed like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
15And the sovereigns of the earth, and the great ones, and the rich ones, and the commanders, and the mighty, and every slave and every free one, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
16and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us#Hosea 10:8 from the face of Him sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
17because the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
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