Teks -- Revelation 6:5 (NET)

6:5 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.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Robertson: Rev 6:5 - A black horse

A black horse ( hippos melas ).

Lust of conquest brings bloodshed, but also famine and hunger. "The colour of mourning and famine. See Jer 4:28; Jer 8:21; Mal 3:14, where mournfully is, literally, in black"(Vincent).

Robertson: Rev 6:5 - Had

Had ( echōn )

as in Rev 6:2.

Robertson: Rev 6:5 - A balance

A balance ( zugon ).

Literally, a yoke (old word from zeugnumi , to join), of slavery (Act 15:10; Gal 5:1), of teaching (Mat 11:29), of weight or measure like a pair of scales evenly balancing as here (Eze 5:1; Eze 45:10). The rider of this black horse, like the spectral figure of hunger, carries in his hand a pair of scales. This is also one of the fruits of war.

Vincent: Rev 6:5 - Come and see

Come and see

Omit and see .

Vincent: Rev 6:5 - Black

Black

The color of mourning and famine. See Jer 4:28; Jer 8:21; Mal 3:14, where mournfully is, literally, in black .

Vincent: Rev 6:5 - Pair of balances

Pair of balances ( ζυγὸν )

Rev., a balance . Properly, anything which joins two bodies; hence a yoke (Mat 11:29; Act 15:10). The cross-beam of the loom, to which the warp was fixed; the thwarts joining the opposite sides of a ship; the beam of the balance, and hence the balance itself. The judgment of this seal is scarcity , of which the balance is a symbol, representing the time when food is doled out by weight. See Lev 26:26; Eze 4:16.

Wesley: Rev 6:5 - And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature

Toward the south. Saying, Come.

Wesley: Rev 6:5 - And behold a black horse

A fit emblem of mourning and distress; particularly of black famine, as the ancient poets term it.

Wesley: Rev 6:5 - And he that sat on him had a pair of scales in his hand

When there is great plenty, men scarce think it worth their while to weigh and measure everything, Gen 41:49. But when there is scarcity, they are obliged to deliver them out by measure and weight, Eze 4:16. Accordingly, these scales signify scarcity. They serve also for a token, that all the fruits of the earth, and consequently the whole heavens, with their courses and influences; that all the seasons of the year, with whatsoever they produce, in nature or states, are subject to Christ. Accordingly his hand is wonderful, not only in wars and victories, but likewise in the whole course of nature.

JFB: Rev 6:5 - Come and see

The two oldest manuscripts, A, C, and Vulgate omit "and see." B retains the words.

JFB: Rev 6:5 - black

Implying sadness and want.

JFB: Rev 6:5 - had

Greek, "having."

JFB: Rev 6:5 - a pair of balances

The symbol of scarcity of provisions, the bread being doled out by weight.

Clarke: Rev 6:5 - The third beast

The third beast - That which had the face of a man

Clarke: Rev 6:5 - A black horse

A black horse - The emblem of famine. Some think that which took place under Claudius. See Mat 24:7; the same which was predicted by Agabus, Act 11:28

Clarke: Rev 6:5 - A pair of balances

A pair of balances - To show that the scarcity would be such, that every person must be put under an allowance.

Defender: Rev 6:5 - balances in his hand

The black horse speaks of worldwide famine. This will be the period of the two witnesses (Rev 11:3-6), who will proclaim on the earth that these plagues are being sent by God from heaven. In particular, they will proclaim a worldwide drought for the 3 1/2 years of their testimony, and this will soon lead to worldwide famine, more severe than any famine in history."

TSK: Rev 6:5 - he had // a black // had

he had : Rev 6:1, Rev 4:6, Rev 4:7, Rev 5:5, Rev 5:9

a black : Zec 6:2, Zec 6:6

had : Lev 26:26; Lam 5:10; Eze 4:10,Eze 4:16

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Rev 6:5 - The third beast // the third seal // a black horse // a pair of balances // He that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand

The third beast was he who had the face of a man, who also inviteth John to come and see what came forth upon his opening

the third seal He seeth

a black horse and a rider upon him, with

a pair of balances There is a difference amongst interpreters what should be signified by this black horse; some by it understand famine, because a scarcity of victuals bringeth men to a black and swarthy colour; some understand by it justice, because the rider is said to have a pair of balances in his hand; others understand by it heresies, and great sufferings of the church by heretics and others.

He that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand either to give men their bread by weight, (as is usual in times of great scarcity), or to measure out every one their due.

PBC: Rev 6:5

Re 6:5 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.

Titus had been left by his father, Vespasian to continue the siege on Jerusalem. During this period was the time of harvest. The wheat, grape vineyards, and olives seem to be what is meant here. This was in the spring of 70 A.D. On May 25 the outer wall was breached. The Roman army poured into this part of the city. The besieging army took great care taken so as not to destroy the harvest,[1] as it was the only means of survival of the troops which fought against the Jews. Also, for a time the Jews depended upon slipping past the guard, bringing food into the city for those who were shut up there. This was cut off, and Josephus wrote that the famine was so terrible that mothers began to kill their children and eat them. They reasoned that it would serve two purposes. (1) The children would be spared the agony of punishment at the hand of the Romans. (2) This also would provide food for those who were striving to hold the city from being taken.— Eld. Charles Taylor

[1] Food was a most precious necessity for the survival of both the Roman army and the Jews inside the city. The price was set as a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." Great care would be taken not to destroy the harvest.

Haydock: Rev 6:5 - The third seal....a black horse

The third seal....a black horse. This is also commonly expounded of wars and persecutions, and particularly of famine, by the scales in the rider's hand, and by two pounds of wheat being sold for a penny: a great price, considering the value of money at that time. (Witham) ---

The black horse represents the public miseries, famines, &c. which, particularly the latter, the Roman empire frequently experienced during the reign of the persecuting emperors. The balance, which the rider is said to hold in his hand, represents the strict manner in which people would measure out whatever they sold during the time of famine. (Andræas; Hamm; Bossuet)

Gill: Rev 6:5 - 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

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 times of this seal, as Brightman conjectures; but the ministers of the Gospel, whose voice was neither the voice of the lion nor of the ox, but of a man, which was still lower, but yet they retained their humanity, reasoning prudence, and wisdom; and these are represented as calling upon John to come and see, and take notice of the following hieroglyphic:

and I beheld, and lo a black horse; an emblem either of the afflicted state of the church, still answering to the Smyrnaean one, being black with persecutions, schisms, errors, and heresies, which were many; or particularly of the heresies and heretics of those times, who might be compared to a horse for their pride and ambition, speaking great swelling words of vanity, and to a black one, for their hidden things of dishonesty, and works of darkness, for the darkness in themselves, and which they spread over others; or rather of a famine, not in a spiritual sense, of hearing of the word, but in a literal sense; see Lam 4:7; not what was at the siege of Jerusalem, or in the times of Claudius Caesar, Act 11:28; but in the times of the Emperor Severus, and others, as the historians of those times ^a, and the writings of Tertullian show; when the Heathens ascribed the scarcity that was among them to the wickedness of the Christians ^b, whereas it was a judgment upon them for their persecution of them:

and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand; by whom is meant not some noted heretic, or heretics, who had balances of deceit in their hands to prove their tenets by, such as spurious writings, &c. or who made pretensions to the Scriptures, the balance of the sanctuary, to weigh doctrines in; nor Christ, whose name heretics shrouded themselves under, and professed, and who overruled and made use of their heresies for the good of his people, that they might be made manifest. Mr. Mede thinks that Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor, who came from Africa, from the south, on which side was the living creature that spoke to John, is intended, and in which country black horses were in great esteem; and he was the only African that ever was emperor of Rome before ^c: and the same author thinks, that his having a pair of balances in his hand expresses the strict justice that emperor was famous for; but rather it signifies famine, and such a scarcity as that bread is delivered out by weight to men; see Lev 26:26.