The First Seal on the Scroll
1 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, h “Come! ” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse. i Its rider held a bow; j a crown k was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.
The Second Seal
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come! ” 4 Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, l and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him. m
The Third Seal
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come! ” And I looked, and there was a black horse. n Its rider held a set of scales in his hand. o 6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, p but do not harm the oil and the wine.” q
The Fourth Seal
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come! ” 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him. r They were given authority s over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth. t
The Fifth Seal
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given. ,u 10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the one who is holy and true, v how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood? w ” 11 So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
The Sixth Seal
12 Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; x the sun turned black like sackcloth y made of hair; the entire moon became like blood; z 13 the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; a and every mountain and island was moved from its place. b
15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. c 16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us d from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand? ” e
6:1–2. The breaking of the first four seals (6:1–8) follows a set pattern: the Lamb opens a seal, the cherubim issue the command, “Come!” (6:1), and a demonic rider on a colored horse carries out the scroll’s contents. Revelation’s portrayal of riders on white, red, black, and pale green horses is taken from Zch 1:8–15 and 6:1–8. Zechariah describes four riders on similarly colored horses or chariots who patrol the four corners of the earth and report to God that the empires of the world feel falsely secure. The four horsemen of Revelation, however, take on a much more direct role in the judgment of falsely secure nations. The riders represent evil forces that God allows to have some limited influence on human history.
6:3–4. The second rider, on a fiery red horse, is a symbol of violence, war, and bloodshed. The great (Roman) sword that he carries and his charge to “take peace from the earth” (6:4) is a blistering critique of the pax Romana (Latin for “Roman peace”). The Roman peace was both policy and ideology. Augustus Caesar boasted that the Roman military machine had established a peaceful order to disparate lands and united the entire civilized world. But peace enforced by the sword is no true peace, and the civil unrest that ensued under Rome’s iron hand had been cataloged case after case by its own historians.
6:5–6. The third rider, on a black horse, is a symbol of economic crisis and injustice (6:5a). The measuring scale (6:5b) and the inflated prices for wheat and barley (eight and five times the expected cost, 6:6) signal a food shortage. A denarius, a day’s wages, for either a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley would hardly feed a small family, and there would be no money left to buy olive oil and (cheap) wine (which often replaced drinking water) despite their affordability. Even though through international trade the Roman economy made available all kinds of goods and services (see, e.g., the list of items in 18:11–14), access to them was disproportionate between the rich and the poor. The former had easy access to luxury items, while the latter were unable to purchase basic staple foods. Both NT writers and Roman historians record several famines that devastated local grain supplies throughout the empire (e.g., Ac 11:28), which could account for some economic woes of that day.
6:7–8. The fourth rider, on the pale green horse (6:8a), unlike his predecessors actually has a name, “Death,” and a sinister partner who comes right after him: “Hades” (the place of the dead). The last rider epitomizes the aftereffects of the first three cavaliers: wherever there is empire, violence, and economic crisis, death is sure to follow. The earthly beasts or wild animals (6:8b), which probably fed off the carrion of bodies left in the wake of previous riders, complete the picture of chaos and divine judgment (cf. Ezk 14:21; Jr 15:3).
6:9–11. The next two seals (6:9–17) represent two different human responses to suffering. When the Lamb breaks open the fifth seal, John is astonished to see the souls of slaughtered martyrs under the altar of the heavenly temple (6:9), as if their blood were mixed in, and a part of, the sacrificial offering (Lv 4:18; 8:15). These martyrs were killed because they proclaimed God’s word and bore witness to Jesus (Rv 1:9). From the cry of Abel’s blood spilled on the ground by Cain (Gn 4:10) to the cries of Christians crucified and burned alive in the gardens of Nero, God’s people have prayed, “How long . . . ?” (6:10). Why has God not acted? This scene reveals God’s answer to their prayers for justice (cf. Pss 6:3; 35:17; 80:4). First, the altar tells us that God considers their sacrifice an act of true worship (cf. Rm 12:1; Php 2:17). Moreover, their suffering has not been wasted but has a purpose; it is integral to a divine plan that will include even more joining their ranks until a certain number is reached (6:11). He has given them white robes of victory to reward their endurance and affirm their priestly roles (cf. Lv 16:32).
6:12–17. When the Lamb opens the sixth seal, the scene shifts from the perennial problems of human history to the cosmic events that signal the final consummation of God’s kingdom. A great earthquake, the sun turning dark as sackcloth, the moon becoming like blood, the stars falling from the sky, the sky splitting apart, and every mountain being thrown from its place (6:12–14) are examples of figurative language John borrows from apocalyptic traditions to describe creation under decay (Is 13:10–13; Jl 2:10, 30–31; Hab 3:6; cf. Rm 8:19–22). These “last days” began with the resurrection of Christ (Ac 2:17; Heb 1:2) and reach their conclusion at his imminent return (Mk 13:24–27). Even then, human beings can remain unrepentant. From every segment of society, from kings to lowly slaves, there are people who would rather pray to the mountains to fall down and cover them or hide in the caves than cry out to the Lord and be saved (6:15–16; cf. Jl 2:32).