Bible Strands
Revelation 6:8
Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the vision at the moment the Lamb opens the fourth seal, immediately after the fourth living creature issues a command. The scene introduces the fourth of the four apocalyptic judgments.
The words — χλωρὸς (chlōros) literally means pale or green, describing the specific coloration of the horse.
The thread — The text states the rider and Hades are granted authority over a quarter of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts. This authority parallels the divinely appointed outcomes in Jeremiah 15:2 and the keys to Death and Hades held by Christ in Revelation 1:18.
Why it lands — The passage records a specific, limited scope of mortality under divine permission. It requires the reader to acknowledge that even catastrophic judgment operates within Christ’s sovereign boundaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Cross-references
- Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
- Jeremiah 15:2 If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’
- Revelation 1:18 the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Ezekiel 14:13 “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,
- Zechariah 6:3 the third white horses, and the fourth dappled horses—all of them strong.
- Jeremiah 16:4 “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.
- Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
- Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
- Ezekiel 5:15 So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.