Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse WHITE HORSE. 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! 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. — Revelation 6:1-2 Based on the above passage, the most common translation into English, the white rider is generally referred to as Conquest.[1] The name could also be construed as Victory, per the translation found in the Jerusalem Bible He carries a bow, and wears a victors crown. The rider has also been called Pestilence. RED HORSE When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see! Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. — Revelation 6:3-4 The rider of the second horse is often taken to represent War[2] (he is often pictured holding a sword upwards as like ready for battle [18]) or mass slaughter.[1][4][19] His horses color is red In some translations, the color is specifically a fiery red. This color, as well as the riders possession of a great sword, suggests blood that is to be spilled.[3] The second horseman may represent civil war as opposed to the war of conquest that the first horseman is sometimes said to bring. BLACK HORSE When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see! I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a days wages, and three quarts of barley for a days wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine! — Revelation 6:5-6 The third horseman rides a black horse and is popularly understood as Famine as the horseman carries a pair of balances or weighing scales, indicating the way that bread would have been weighed during a famine.[3][20] Other authors interpret the third horseman as the Lord as a Law-Giver holding Scales of Justice.[21] In the passage is read that the indicated price of grain is about ten times normal (thus the famine interpretation popularity), with an entire days wages (a denarius) buying enough wheat for only one person, or enough of the less nutritious barley for three, so that workers would struggle to feed their families.[3] Of the four horsemen, the black horse and its rider are the only ones whose appearance is accompanied by a vocal pronunciation. John hears a voice, unidentified but coming from among the four living creatures, that speaks of the prices of wheat and barley, also saying and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. This suggests that the black horses famine is to drive up the price of grain but leave oil and wine supplies unaffected (though out of reach of the ordinary worker). One explanation for this is that grain crops would have been more naturally susceptible to famine years or locust plagues than olive trees and grapevines, which root more deeply.[3][20] The statement might also suggest a continuing abundance of luxuries for the wealthy while staples such as bread are scarce, though not totally depleted;[20] such selective scarcity may result from injustice and the deliberate production of luxury crops for the wealthy over grain, as would have happened during the time Revelation was written.[2][5] Alternatively, the preservation of oil and wine could symbolize the preservation of the Christian faithful, who used oil and wine in their sacraments.[22] Another possible interpretation of the third horseman is to interpret them as symbolic of the wealthy and the destructive power of a class gap on a society. This can be supported by the color of their horse, black, which was seen as the sign of the wealthy as they were the only ones able to afford black dye. Also, the luxury goods issue supports this perspective as does the grain (symbolic of the staples of the working class) price increase. Such price increases would only be possible if the wealthy landowners and merchants wanted to keep the poor oppressed and starving. PALE HORSE When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see! I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. — Revelation 6:7-8 The fourth and final horseman is named Death. Known as the pale rider, of all the riders, he is the only one to whom the text itself explicitly gives a name. Unlike the other three, he is not described carrying a weapon or other object, instead he is followed by Hades (the resting place of the dead). However, illustrations commonly depict him carrying a scythe (like the Grim Reaper), sword,[23] or other implement. Death on the Pale Horse The color of Deaths horse is written as khlōros in the original Koine Greek,[24] which can mean either green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid.[25] The color is often translated as pale, though ashen, pale green, and yellowish green[20] are other possible interpretations (the Greek word is the root of chlorophyll and chlorine). Based on uses of the word in ancient Greek medical literature, several scholars suggest that the color reflects the sickly pallor of a corpse.[3][26] In some modern artistic depictions, the horse is distinctly green.[27] The verse beginning they were given power over a fourth of the earth is generally taken as referring to Death and Hades,[20][28] although some commentators see it as applying to all four horsemen.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 06:22:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015