Revelation 6:5-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Revelation 6:3-8

The next three seals give us a sad prospect of great and desolating judgments with which God punishes those who either refuse or abuse the everlasting gospel. Though some understand them of the persecutions that befel the church of Christ, and others of the destruction of the Jews, they rather seem more generally to represent God's terrible judgments, by which he avenges the quarrel of his covenant upon those who make light of it. I. Upon opening the second seal, to which John was called to... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Revelation 6:1-8

As one by one the seals of the roll are opened, history unfolds itself before John's eyes. As we study this section, we must remember one general fact which is basic to its understanding. In this series of visions John is seeing in advance the end of terror and judgment which could bring in the golden age of God. Before we study the section in detail, we note one general point. In the first section of the visions, Revelation 6:1-8 , the King James Version consistently follows a form of... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Revelation 6:1-8

6:1-8 And I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a loud voice like the sound of thunder, "Come!" And I saw, and, behold, a white horse, and he who was seated on it had a bow, and a conqueror's crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And, when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" And there came forth another horse blood-red in colour, and to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 6:5

And when he had opened the third seal ,.... Of the sealed book: I heard the third beast say, come and see ; this living creature was that which was like a man, who was on the south side of the throne, as the standard of Reuben, which had the figure of a man, was on the south side of the camp of Israel; this was not the Apostle Paul, as Grotius thinks, to whom was made a prophecy of a famine in the days of Claudius Caesar; nor Tertullian, who made an apology for the Christians in the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 6:6

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say ,.... Not the voice of Agabus to the Apostle Paul, Acts 11:28 ; but rather of Christ, who was in the midst of them, Revelation 5:6 ; the Ethiopic version adds, "as the voice of an eagle": a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; "Choenix", the measure here used, signifies as much as was sufficient for a man for one day, as a penny was the usual hire of a labourer for a day, Matthew 20:2 ; so a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 6:5

The 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 more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 6:6

A measure of wheat for a penny - The chaenix here mentioned was a measure of dry things; and although the capacity is not exactly known, yet it is generally agreed that it contained as much as one man could consume in a day; and a penny, the Roman denarius, was the ordinary pay of a laborer. So it appears that in this scarcity each might be able to obtain a bare subsistence by his daily labor; but a man could not, in such cases, provide for a family. Three measures of barley - This seems... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 6:1-17

Six seals opened. The ground thought of this book is "The Lord is coming." Concerning this Professor Godet remarks, "L'histoire du monde dans son essence se resume dans ces trois roots: Il vient; il est venu; il revient. C'est sur cette idee que repose le plan du drame apocalyptique." £ Even the prophecies of the Old Testament, which dealt so largely with the first coming, shot far ahead and reached even to the second, e.g. Joel. Our Lord himself is very clear on this topic ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 6:1-17

The opening of the seals. The Book of Revelation may be said to consist—with the exception of Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22 —of a vast picture gallery. And this not so much because of the number of the pictures, as their sublimity and extent. Revelation 1:1-20 . is the portraiture of "the Son of man." Then there is a vast canvas, stretching from Revelation 4:1-11 to 11, and representing the judgment and fall of Jerusalem. Then from Revelation 12:1-17 to 19 another... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 6:1-17

The seven seals; or, the development of good and evil in human history. "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see," etc. In this chapter we have the breaking open of six of the seals of that mystic roll containing the Divine plan of the government of the world, and as held in the bands of Christ who is the great Expounder. The opening of these seals suggests to our notice and presses on... read more

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