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

3Then when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4And another horse, fiery red, came out, and the one who rode it was granted permission to take peace from the earth, so that people would butcher one another, and he was given a huge sword. Then when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So I looked, and here came a black horse! The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand. 6Then I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!” 7Then when the Lamb opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!”

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• whenὅτεhote ho te hē te tō te · whenG3753
• he had openedἀνοίγωanoigō · to openG455
• the thirdτρίτοςtritos · thirdG5154
• sealσφραγίςsphragis · sealG4973
• I heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• beastζῷονzōon · living thingG2226
• sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• Comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• seeβλέπωblepō · to seeG991
• I beheldὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• a blackμέλαςmelas · blackG3189
• horseἵπποςhippos · horseG2462
• heὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• that satκάθημαιkathēmai · to sitG2521
• onἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• hadἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• a pair of balancesζυγόςzugos · yoke/scalesG2218
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• handχείρcheir · handG5495

Cross-references for Revelation 6:5

• Revelation 6:1I looked on when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a thunderous voice, “Come!”
• Revelation 4:6and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. In the middle of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
• Revelation 5:5Then one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; thus he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
• Zechariah 6:2Harnessed to the first chariot were red horses, to the second black horses,
• Leviticus 26:26When I break off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, and you will eat and not be satisfied.
• Lamentations 5:10Our skin is hot as an oven due to a fever from hunger.
• Ezekiel 4:10The food you eat will be eight ounces a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.

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