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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.
Revelation 6:5 — KJV
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Revelation 6:5
King James Version (KJV)
“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody
Commentary
Commentary on Revelation 6:5
Theological / DevotionalThird beast. See on chs. 4:6; 6:3.
Come and see. See on v. 1.
A black horse. If the white horse implied victory, or its color purity (see on v. 2), so the black horse may be thought of as indicating defeat or its color further corruption of faith.
A pair of balances. Gr. zugos, “a yoke,” here used for the crossbar of a balance. This symbol may be thought of as characterizing the spiritual condition within the church after the legalization of Christianity in the 4th century, when church and state were united. Following this union much of the concern of the church was with secular matters, and in many instances a dearth of spirituality ensued. For a history of this period see pp. 18–25.
These balances may also be interpreted as a symbol of undue concern for the material necessities of life. No longer does warfare result in victory, as with the first horseman (see on v. 2), or represent largely bloodshed, as with the second (see on v. 4), but now an even more dreaded result has followed—famine.
By SdaBc