Revelation 6
The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.
Revelation 6 WEB
- 1 I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!"
- 2 Then a white horse appeared, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
- 3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come!"
- 4 Another came out, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.
- 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come and see!" And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.
- 6 I heard a voice in the middle of the four living creatures saying, "A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don't damage the oil and the wine!"
- 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see!"
- 8 And behold, a pale horse, and the name of he who sat on it was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.
- 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.
- 10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
- 11 A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.
- 12 I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.
- 13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind.
- 14 The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
- 15 The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
- 16 They told the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
- 17 for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Revelation 6
What is happening
Revelation 5 ended with the Lamb — the crucified and risen Christ, identified in that chapter as worthy because he was slain — taking a sealed scroll from the hand of the one on the throne. Chapter 6 is the scroll being opened, seal by seal. Four living creatures stand around the throne (introduced earlier in the vision), and each summons a horse and rider as its seal breaks. This is not a separate prophecy tacked onto the letter to the seven churches; it is the same John, still in the vision he received "on the Lord's Day," watching the consequences of Christ's authority over history unfold. The chapter moves in tight, repeated units — "when he opened... I heard... and behold" — through six of the seven seals; the seventh is delayed to chapter 8.
The passage, walked through
The first four seals produce four horses, traditionally called the Four Horsemen. The pattern is deliberately formulaic: "Come and see!" (Ἔρχου, 6:1,3,5,7), then a horse, then what is "given" (ἐδόθη) to its rider — a passive verb repeated at 6:2, 6:4, 6:8, signaling that these figures act under permission, not their own sovereign will.
The white horse's rider "had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer" (6:2). The red horse's rider is given power "to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another" — a great sword (6:4). The black horse's rider holds "a balance in his hand" (6:5), and the voice from among the creatures cries famine prices: "A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius!" — a denarius was roughly a day's wage, so this is famine-level scarcity, yet the voice adds, "Don't damage the oil and the wine!" (6:6) — luxury goods still available while staple grain is rationed, the picture of an economy stratified by war. The fourth, pale-green horse (χλωρός, 6:8), is ridden by one named "Death," with "Hades" following after, and together they are given "authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth."
The fifth seal breaks the pattern: no horse. John sees "underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb" (6:9). They cry, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (6:10) — a cry of lament, not vengeance-lust; it addresses God by his character, "holy and true," and asks him to act consistently with it. The answer is not silence but deferral: each is given "a long white robe" and told "to rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers... should complete their course" (6:11). Martyrdom here is not random; it runs to a set number.
The sixth seal is cosmic collapse: earthquake, sun "black as sackcloth," moon "as blood," stars falling "like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs" (6:12–13), sky rolled up "like a scroll," mountains and islands displaced (6:14). Every rank of human power — "kings... princes... commanding officers... rich... strong... every slave and free person" — hides in caves, begging the rocks: "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (6:16). The chapter ends on the unanswered question: "for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (6:17).
Where readers have disagreed
The identity of the first rider is the chapter's sharpest crux. Some read the white-horse rider as Christ himself, on the strength of the crown and conquest language and the color white elsewhere in Revelation. Others read all four riders as a single set of judgments — conquest, war, famine, death — none of them Christ, since this rider carries a bow rather than the sword associated later with Christ's own judgment, and receives his crown by grant rather than possessing it inherently. The chapter itself does not name him; the case rests on comparison with material outside it, which this exposition cannot adjudicate without appeal to passages not given here.
A second dispute concerns timing: whether these seals describe events already unfolding in the church's ongoing history (the historicist and idealist readings), or a future, concentrated tribulation still to come (futurist reading). The text gives no date; it gives a sequence and an urgency.
What it asks of a reader
The chapter refuses two easy exits. It will not let the reader treat war, famine, and death as accidents outside God's rule — everything the riders do is something "given" to them, bounded and permitted, not seized. And it will not let the reader treat the martyrs' cry as premature or improper — "How long" stands in the text unanswered but not rebuked, met with patience and a robe, not a hush. The chapter's last line is a question, not a statement, and it is put to every reader regardless of century: when what stands is finally what cannot be hidden from, who is able to stand? Watchman Nee's comment on Christ's death and resurrection — "our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection" (The Normal Christian Life, ch. 3) — names the ground on which chapter 5's Lamb becomes chapter 6's Lamb whose wrath the kings of the earth flee: the one worthy to open the scroll is worthy only because he was first the slain one.
The verses this turns on
I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!"discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Καὶ εἶδον ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὸ Ἀρνίον μίαν ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ σφραγίδων, καὶ ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων λέγοντος ὡς φωνῇ βροντῆς Ἔρχου.
- Καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- εἶδον ὁράω verb · aorist active indicative, 1st person singular G3708
- ὅτε ὅτε adverb G3753
- ἤνοιξεν ἀνοίγω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G455
- τὸ ὁ article · nominative singular neuter G3588
- Ἀρνίον ἀρνίον noun · nominative singular neuter G721
- μίαν εἷς adjective · accusative singular feminine G1520
- ἐκ ἐκ preposition G1537
- τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural feminine G3588
- ἑπτὰ ἑπτά numeral (indeclinable) G2033
- σφραγίδων, σφραγίς noun · genitive plural feminine G4973
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Revelation 6:5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come and see!" And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.
- Revelation 5:1 I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals.
- Revelation 6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see!"
- Revelation 4:5 Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
- Revelation 5:5 One of the elders said to me, "Don't weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals."
Then a white horse appeared, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος λευκός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἔχων τόξον, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ στέφανος, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν νικῶν καὶ ἵνα νικήσῃ.
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- εἶδον, ὁράω verb · aorist active indicative, 1st person singular G3708
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἰδοὺ ὁράω verb · aorist middle imperative, 2nd person singular G3708
- ἵππος ἵππος noun · nominative singular masculine G2462
- λευκός, λευκός adjective · nominative singular masculine G3022
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- καθήμενος κάθημαι verb · present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine G2521
- ἐπ’ ἐπί preposition G1909
- αὐτὸν αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative singular masculine G846
- ἔχων ἔχω verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G2192
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Zechariah 6:3 In the third chariot were white horses. In the fourth chariot were dappled horses, all of them powerful.
- Zechariah 1:8 "I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
- Revelation 3:21 He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
- Psalm 45:3 Strap your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and your majesty.
- Revelation 19:11 I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war.
Another came out, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἄλλος ἵππος πυρρός, καὶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐδόθη αὐτῷ λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἵνα ἀλλήλους σφάξουσιν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ μάχαιρα μεγάλη.
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἐξῆλθεν ἐξέρχομαι verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G1831
- ἄλλος ἄλλος adjective · nominative singular masculine G243
- ἵππος ἵππος noun · nominative singular masculine G2462
- πυρρός, πυρρός adjective · nominative singular masculine G4450
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
- καθημένῳ κάθημαι verb · present middle or passive deponent participle, dative singular masculine G2521
- ἐπ’ ἐπί preposition G1909
- αὐτὸν αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative singular masculine G846
- ἐδόθη δίδωμι verb · aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular G1325
- αὐτῷ αὐτός personal pronoun · dative singular masculine G846
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Zechariah 6:2 In the first chariot were red horses. In the second chariot were black horses.
- Matthew 10:34 "Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword.
- Revelation 13:10 If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
- Revelation 17:6 I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
- Zechariah 1:8 "I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come and see!" And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τρίτην, ἤκουσα τοῦ τρίτου ζῴου λέγοντος Ἔρχου. καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος μέλας, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἔχων ζυγὸν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ.
- Καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὅτε ὅτε adverb G3753
- ἤνοιξεν ἀνοίγω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G455
- τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
- σφραγῖδα σφραγίς noun · accusative singular feminine G4973
- τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
- τρίτην, τρίτος adjective · accusative singular feminine G5154
- ἤκουσα ἀκούω verb · aorist active indicative, 1st person singular G191
- τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular neuter G3588
- τρίτου τρίτος adjective · genitive singular neuter G5154
- ζῴου ζῷον noun · genitive singular neuter G2226
- λέγοντος λέγω verb · present active participle, genitive singular neuter G3004
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Zechariah 6:2 In the first chariot were red horses. In the second chariot were black horses.
- Ezekiel 4:16 Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay;
- Zechariah 6:6 The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went out toward the south country."
- Revelation 6:1 I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!"
- Revelation 5:5 One of the elders said to me, "Don't weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals."
I heard a voice in the middle of the four living creatures saying, "A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don't damage the oil and the wine!"discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων λέγουσαν Χοῖνιξ σίτου δηναρίου, καὶ τρεῖς χοίνικες κριθῶν δηναρίου· καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον καὶ τὸν οἶνον μὴ ἀδικήσῃς.
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἤκουσα ἀκούω verb · aorist active indicative, 1st person singular G191
- ὡς ὡς adverb G5613
- φωνὴν φωνή noun · accusative singular feminine G5456
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- μέσῳ μέσος adjective · dative singular neuter G3319
- τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural neuter G3588
- τεσσάρων τέσσαρες adjective · genitive plural neuter G5064
- ζῴων ζῷον noun · genitive plural neuter G2226
- λέγουσαν λέγω verb · present active participle, accusative singular feminine G3004
- Χοῖνιξ χοῖνιξ noun · nominative singular feminine G5518
- σίτου σῖτος noun · genitive singular masculine G4621
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 2
- Revelation 9:4 They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads.
- Revelation 4:6 Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.
And behold, a pale horse, and the name of he who sat on it was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος χλωρός, καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ὁ Θάνατος, καὶ ὁ Ἅιδης ἠκολούθει μετ’ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐξουσία ἐπὶ τὸ τέταρτον τῆς γῆς, ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς.
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- εἶδον, ὁράω verb · aorist active indicative, 1st person singular G3708
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἰδοὺ ὁράω verb · aorist middle imperative, 2nd person singular G3708
- ἵππος ἵππος noun · nominative singular masculine G2462
- χλωρός, χλωρός adjective · nominative singular masculine G5515
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- καθήμενος κάθημαι verb · present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine G2521
- ἐπάνω ἐπάνω adverb G1883
- αὐτοῦ, αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ὄνομα ὄνομα noun · nominative singular neuter G3686
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? "Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
- Revelation 1:18 and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Jeremiah 15:2 It will happen when they ask you, 'Where shall we go out?' then you shall tell them, 'Yahweh says: "Such as are for death, to death; such as are for the sword, to the sword; such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity."'
- Zechariah 6:3 In the third chariot were white horses. In the fourth chariot were dappled horses, all of them powerful.
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third part of you will die with the pestilence, and they will be consumed with famine within you. A third part will fall by the sword around you. A third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν πέμπτην σφραγῖδα, εἶδον ὑποκάτω τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἐσφαγμένων διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἣν εἶχον.
- Καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ὅτε ὅτε adverb G3753
- ἤνοιξεν ἀνοίγω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G455
- τὴν ὁ article · accusative singular feminine G3588
- πέμπτην πέμπτος adjective · accusative singular feminine G3991
- σφραγῖδα, σφραγίς noun · accusative singular feminine G4973
- εἶδον ὁράω verb · aorist active indicative, 1st person singular G3708
- ὑποκάτω ὑποκάτω adverb G5270
- τοῦ ὁ article · genitive singular neuter G3588
- θυσιαστηρίου θυσιαστήριον noun · genitive singular neuter G2379
- τὰς ὁ article · accusative plural feminine G3588
- ψυχὰς ψυχή noun · accusative plural feminine G5590
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Revelation 20:4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
- John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
- Revelation 1:9 I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 12:11 They overcame him because of the Lamb's blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn't love their life, even to death.
- Revelation 11:3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."
They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ ἔκραξαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγοντες Ἕως πότε, ὁ Δεσπότης ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ἀληθινός, οὐ κρίνεις καὶ ἐκδικεῖς τὸ αἷμα ἡμῶν ἐκ τῶν κατοικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς;
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἔκραξαν κράζω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G2896
- φωνῇ φωνή noun · dative singular feminine G5456
- μεγάλῃ μέγας adjective · dative singular feminine G3173
- λέγοντες λέγω verb · present active participle, nominative plural masculine G3004
- Ἕως ἕως adverb G2193
- πότε, πότε particle G4219
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- Δεσπότης δεσπότης noun · nominative singular masculine G1203
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- ἅγιος ἅγιος adjective · nominative singular masculine G40
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Revelation 19:2 for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."
- Revelation 11:18 The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints and those who fear your name, to the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."
- Psalm 9:12 For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn't forget the cry of the afflicted.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6 For it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
- Romans 12:19 Don't seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God's wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord."
From the interpretive tradition
Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.