Revelation 6:5

Revelation 6:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And 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.
• New International Version (NIV)When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
• English Standard Version (ESV)When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
• New King James Version (NKJV)When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

Context of Revelation 6:5

3And when it opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come [and see]. 4And another, a red horse, went forth; and to him that sat upon it, to him it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another; and there was given to him a great sword. And when it opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come [and see]. And I saw: and behold, a black horse, and he that sat upon it having a balance in his hand. 6And I heard as a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenixes of barley for a denarius: and do not injure the oil and the wine. 7And when it opened the fourth seal, I heard [the voice of] the fourth living creature saying, Come [and see].

Revelation 6:5 word by word

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.Read the interlinear

• whenὅτεhote ho te hē te tō te · whenG3753
• openedἀνοίγωanoigō · to openG455
• thirdτρίτοςtritos · thirdG5154
• sealσφραγίςsphragis · sealG4973
• heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• livingζῷονzōon · living thingG2226
• sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• Comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• seeὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• beholdἰδούidou · look!G2400
• blackμέλαςmelas · blackG3189
• horseἵπποςhippos · horseG2462
• satκάθημαιkathēmai · to sitG2521
• handχείρcheir · handG5495

Cross-references for Revelation 6:5

• Revelation 6:1And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as a voice of thunder, Come [and see].
• Revelation 4:6and before the throne, as a glass sea, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, four living creatures, full of eyes, before and behind;
• Revelation 5:5And one of the elders says to me, Do not weep. Behold, the lion which [is] of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has overcome [so as] to open the book, and its seven seals.
• Zechariah 6:2In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;
• Leviticus 26:26When I break the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and shall deliver you the bread again by weight; and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
• Lamentations 5:10Our skin gloweth like an oven, because of the burning heat of the famine.
• Ezekiel 4:10And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.

Commentaries on Revelation 6:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5The third beast - That which had the face of a man. A black horse - The emblem of famine. Some think that which took place under Claudius. See Matthew 24:7; the same which was predicted by Agabus, Acts 11:28. A pair of balances - To show that the scarcity would be such, that every person must be put under an allowance.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5And when he had opened the third seal - Unfolding another portion of the volume. See the notes on Revelation 5:1. I heard the third beast say, Come and see - See the notes on Revelation 4:7. It is not apparent why the third beast is represented as taking a particular interest in the opening of this seal (compare the notes on Revelation 6:3), nor is it necessary to show why it was so. The general design seems to have been, to represent each one of the four…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6The black horse represents economic and social trouble. The rider carries scales, which were used in ancient commerce, to show this problem. The vision shows extreme inflation. A worker would have to spend a full day’s wages to buy one loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley. But the prices of luxury items, such as oil and wine, would stay the same. This is a picture of severe social and economic imbalance.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Come and see--The two oldest manuscripts, A, C, and Vulgate omit "and see." B retains the words. black--implying sadness and want. had--Greek, "having." a pair of balances--the symbol of scarcity of provisions, the bread being doled out by weight.Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 6:5

• Animals
• Famine
• Horse
• Vision

In the dictionaries

• Balance
• Colour
• Conquer
• Hurt
• Mighty
• Shake
• Color; Colors
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Ethics
• Horse, Black

Commentaries on Revelation 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings