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1 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. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 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. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, 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. 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8 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. 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
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[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:1-2
"And when the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, I saw, and heard one of the four living creatures saying, Come and see. And, lo, a white horse, and He who sate upon him had a bow." The first seal being opened, he says that he saw a white horse, and a crowned horseman having a bow. For this was at first done by Himself. For after the Lord ascended into heaven and opened all things, He sent the Holy Spirit, whose words the preachers sent forth as arrows reaching to the human heart, that they might overcome unbelief. And the crown on the head is promised to the preachers by the Holy Spirit. The other three horses very plainly signify the wars, famines, and pestilences announced by our Lord in the Gospel. And thus he says that one of the four living creatures said (because all four are one), "Come and see." "Come" is said to him that is invited to faith; "see" is said to him who saw not. Therefore the white horse is the word of preaching with the Holy Spirit sent into the world. For the Lord says, "This Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the end."

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 6:1
He said, “I heard one of the four animals say, ‘Come and see.’ ” This one animal is the whole church preaching with a great voice and inviting the church to greater faith, “Come and see!” “If anyone thirsts, let him come and drink.” “Approach him and you will be illuminated.” “Arise, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will illuminate you.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:1
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:1
Indeed, here is indicated the good order of those in heaven, which descends from the first ranks to the second. And therefore from one figure of the four-formed living creatures, namely, from the lion, he heard the first voice that gave the command, “Come!” to the angel who mystically symbolizes the vision. The first living creature, the lion, seems to me to signify the royal intention of the apostles against the demons. Concerning them it is said, “Behold, the kings of the earth have gathered together.” And again: “You will establish them as rulers over all the earth.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:1
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:1
And I saw when the Lamb had opened one of the seals. Since the signs are first loosened and then the book is opened, He wisely reversed the usual order. For the Lord, by suffering and rising again, taught that He is the end of the law. And ascending into heaven, sending the Holy Spirit, He strengthened the Church with the gift of a more secret mystery. Therefore, He opened the book then, and now He loosens its seals. In the first seal, the glory of the primitive Church; in the following three, the threefold war against her; in the fifth, the glory of those who triumphed in this war; in the sixth, those things that will come in the time of the Antichrist, with a brief recapitulation of the previous ones; in the seventh, he sees the beginning of eternal rest.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:1
And I heard one of the four living creatures saying: Come and see. We too are admonished with great voices of the Gospel to behold the glory of the Church.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 6:1-4
That the scroll was shut and sealed indicates that the people who were written in it were unable to speak, and that their mouths were stopped from all pleading in their defense before God, according to what was said earlier. The successive removal of the seals, then, symbolizes the resumption little by little of the openness and intimacy towards God that the Only-begotten by his incarnation made possible for us, making amends for our faults by his own acts of reparation. We must understand that the undoing of each seal denotes one of the works of the Lord effected for our salvation, and of his acts against our spiritual enemies. For the Lord’s providence for us entails the destruction of their sovereignty.

No one should be surprised that before the Only-begotten became incarnate—for his works and deeds before his visit to us are shown in the vision to the blessed evangelist—yet the lamb is seen in the Revelation as slain. For the visions of the prophets were regularly a prediction of what was to take place in future. Thus a man was wrestling with Jacob, who was the type of Christ. Thus Isaiah saw the prophetess who conceived and bore a son, whose name, too, was called “plunder quickly, despoil sharply.” Thus Daniel saw as “a son of man” the pre-incarnate God, the Word, coming to the “Ancient of days.”

Therefore, the first benefit of our savior Christ to our race, which loosed the first seal of the scroll and has begun our restoration to the place from which we were banished as a result of Adam’s transgression, and the recovery of the intimacy with God which we lost, and the change of our inability to speak into frank confidence, was established by the physical birth of the Lord. This hallowed our birth, so that we may no longer begin life in lawlessness and be conceived in sin by our mothers, but that we may have a hallowed birth, since Christ through his own birth has blessed our human birth. The divine apostle is a witness to this great honor shown to human beings when he writes, “Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.”

So when the first seal had been opened, he says, I saw someone approaching on a white horse from those spiritual holy creatures, with a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering so that he should conquer. The white horse is a symbol of the gospel, as the benefit due to be conferred on human beings. The crown symbolizes might and victory. And he came out carrying the crown for Christ, as for one who had begun to conquer the Devil, who had enslaved our race. He says he went out so that the conqueror might conquer: Christ was the conqueror, so that he might make a complete conquest, and [the rider] carried the crown for him as a symbol of victory.

This, then, is the first benefit. The second benefit of Christ towards us, which opened the second seal of the scroll and went on both to expunge our disgrace and to restore to us the vision of God, was for the Lord to be tempted to conquer the tempter, so that he might know not only that he was himself the conqueror, but also that the wretch had been defeated; instead of “biting the horseman’s heel” and “tripping us up on our steps” to God, he was “falling back” and was being sent off like a slave. It was with a man that he wrestled, even though God was in him: he heard the words “Begone, Satan!” and in disgrace he went away and for the first time came to know his own weakness—he who boasts of “putting his throne above the clouds,” and who imagines that he will be “like the Most High,” as Isaiah portrayed him.

After this a bright red horse came out, urged on by one of the holy living creatures, and the rider of the horse, he says, was given authority to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword. The red horse is the symbol of blood; that is why a sword was given to its rider, so that he might destroy and cut to pieces the propensity for evil found among the inhabitants of the earth. They all planned to turn to idolatry. And, he says, so that men should slay one another, that is, that they might destroy each other’s eagerness to commit evil. For the Lord “did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword, and to raise up a son against his father and a bride against her mother-in-law,” and their new and God-fearing behavior against that which is old and condemned.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 202] Irenaeus on Revelation 6:2
For to this end was the Lord born, the type of whose birth he set forth beforehand, of whom also John says in the Apocalypse: "He went forth conquering, that He should conquer."

Source: Against Heresies Book IV
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:2
Be you, too, faithful unto death, and fight you, too, the good fight, whose crown the apostle feels so justly confident has been laid up for him. The angel also, as he goes forth on a white horse, conquering and to conquer, receives a crown of victory; and another is adorned with an encircling rainbow (as it were in its fair colours)-a celestial meadow.

Source: De Corona
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 6:2
The white horse is the church, and its rider is Christ. This horse of the Lord with the bow made ready for war was promised beforehand by Zechariah. “The Lord God will visit his flock, the house of Israel, and he will arrange him as a formidable horse in war, and from him he looked, and from him he arranged [the battle order], and from him came the bow in anger, and from him will come out every oppressor.” And so we interpret the white horse to be the prophets and the apostles. In the rider who is crowned and has a bow we recognize not only Christ but also the Holy Spirit. For after Christ ascended into heaven, he opened all mysteries and sent the Holy Spirit. Through preachers the word of the Spirit, as though they were arrows, went out to the hearts of people and conquered their unbelief. The crown upon the head are the promises made through the Holy Spirit.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:2, HOMILY 5
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 6:2
This white horse can be understood as the church of truth, represented in the persons of the apostles and preachers, which was made whiter than snow by grace. The rider upon the horse is Christ. Therefore, it was said to him through the prophet, “For you mounted your horses and your army is salvation.” For the same reason he is said to hold an arrow. An arrow is aptly compared with the preaching of the Word of God, for when the hearts of people are pierced, they are able to bear the fruit of faith. And so we read, “Your sharp arrows are very powerful; people fall before you.” The crown indicates the reward rightly given to preachers.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:2
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:2
We understand the loosing of the first seal to signify the generation of the apostles. For, as though it were a bow, they stretch forth the gospel message against the demons and led to Christ those wounded by the arrows of salvation. And because they conquered the leader of deceit through the truth, they received a crown, and in hope they await a second victory, namely, the confession of the name of the Master unto a violent death. Therefore, it is written, “he went out conquering and to conquer.” For, the first victory is the conversion of the nations; the second is the willing departure from the body in persecution for the sake of that conversion.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:2
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:2
The top of that ark is doubtless properly ordered to be encircled with a golden crown, because when he appeared in the flesh and came to redeem the human race, the Son of God was anticipating a certain time and hour when he would overcome the death he had borne for us (along with the author of death himself) and ascend victorious to the Father in heaven. Of this crown the apostle says, “But we see Jesus, who was indeed made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.” Of this crown John in the Apocalypse says, “And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And the one who was sitting upon it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering that he might conquer.” Surely the white horse is the church. The rider who was commanding it is the Lord. He had a bow because he was coming to make war against the powers of the air; and a crown of victory was given to him because by dying he overthrew the reign of death.

Source: On the Tabernacle 1.25.11
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:2
And behold a white horse, etc. The Lord presides over the Church, which by grace is whitened beyond snow, and bearing the arms of spiritual doctrine against the wicked, receives the victor’s crown among His own. Of whom it is said: He received gifts among men (Ps. 68). In which, even presiding in heaven, He was persecuted by Saul.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:3-4
"And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red, and to him that sate upon him was given a great sword." The red horse, and he that sate upon him, having a sword, signify the coming wars, as we read in the Gospel: "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be great earthquakes in divers places." This is the ruddy horse.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 6:3
The same words of exhortation to “come and see” are repeated, but for a different reason. The white horse is portrayed as good, but the red horse is portrayed as evil. Just as in regard to the good, joy is promised for the church’s victory, so here there is a warning against evil from a foreknowledge of the future.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:3
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:3
I suppose that the second living creature is the bull to depict the sacred sacrifices of the holy martyrs, since the first [creature] signified the apostolic authority.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:3
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:3
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature, etc. We are also commanded to diligently observe the opposing cavalry, so that just as joy is taken from the Church's successes, caution is taken from foreknowledge of adversities.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:4
For, in coming to the High Priest of the Father-Christ-all impediments must first be taken away, in the space of a week, that the house which remains, the flesh and the soul, may be clean; and when the Word of God has entered it, and has found "stains of red and green," forthwith must the deadly and sanguinary passions "be extracted" and "cast away" out of doors-for the Apocalypse withal has set "death" upon a "green horse," but a "warrior" upon a "red" -and in their stead must be under-strewn stones polished and apt for conjunction, and firm,-such as are made (by God) into (sons) of Abraham, -that thus the man may be fit for God.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:4
This red horse, gory not with its own blood but with the blood of others, is said to fight against the victorious church when it is sent in to take that peace from the earth that passes all understanding. For [the church] is taught both from deed and from the sword.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:4
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 6:4
The red horse comes out against the victorious and conquering church. That is, there comes an evil and wicked people, made bloody from its rider, the devil. This is just as we read in Zechariah concerning the red horse of the Lord, except that there it is red from his own blood, while here it is red from the blood of others. “And to him a great sword was given, to take peace from the earth.” This refers to the peace of the earth, for the church possesses an eternal peace that Christ left behind for himself. As we noted above, the white horse is the church and its rider is Christ or the Holy Spirit in whose hand is a bow that sends forth his commandments, as though they were powerful, sharp arrows, throughout the whole world both to kill sins and to enliven the hearts of the faithful. The crown upon his head is the promise of eternal life. Here, … the red horse is an evil people whose rider is the devil. It is said to be red because it has been made red with the blood of multitudes. And a sharp sword was given to it to take peace from the earth. This means that with the devil’s connivance and influence evil people join together and do not cease to incite among themselves strife and dissension, even unto death.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:4, HOMILY 5
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:4
We suggest that this second seal is to be interpreted as the succession of the apostles that is fulfilled through martyrs and teachers. During this succession, as the proclamation is extended abroad, the peace of the world is taken away, creation being divided against itself, as was spoken by the Lord: “I have not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword.” And by this [sword] the sacrifices of the martyrs are offered on the heavenly altar. The “red horse” is symbolic either of the shedding of blood or of the red-hot disposition of those who suffer for Christ. The words “it was permitted to its rider to take peace” show the all-wise permission of God that tests his faithful servants through temptations.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:4
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:4
And another horse went out, fiery red. Against the victorious and conquering Church went out a fiery red horse, that is, a perverse people, bloodthirsty from their rider, the devil. Although we have read in Zechariah of the red horse of the Lord; but that one is red with His own blood, this one with another’s.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:4
And the one sitting on it was given power to take peace from the earth. Namely, his own peace. But the Church received the eternal peace which Christ left to it.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:4
And a great sword was given to him. Either against those who become apostates of the faith, or against those whom he makes martyrs. About this, it is said to blessed Job: He who made him applied his sword (Job 40), meaning either that he should not tempt the saints as much as the wicked one wishes, or that vengeance for his fury should return upon himself.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:5
"And when He had opened the third seal. I heard the third living creature saying, Come and see. And, lo, a black horse; and he who sate upon it had a balance in his hand." The black horse signifies famine, for the Lord says, "There shall be famines in divers places; "but the word is specially extended to the times of Antichrist, when there shall be a great famine, and when all shall be injured. Moreover, the balance in the hand is the examining scales, wherein He might show forth the merits of every individual.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 6:5
In the black horse we recognize an evil people which works in concert with the devil. “He had a balance in his hand,” which indicates that while evil persons feign to have the scales of justice, they deceive many.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:5, HOMILY 5
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:5
I believe that the third living creature here is the man and that [this passage] shows the fall of men and for this reason his punishment because of his inclination toward sin by the power of free will.… We think that the “black horse” depicts the sorrow that comes upon those who have fallen away from faith in Christ on account of the abundance of torments. The “balance” is he who tests those who either by inconstancy of mind or by vainglory have fallen from the faith through weakness of the body.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:5-6
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:5
And behold, a black horse, etc. The black horse represents a crowd of false brothers, who have the balance of right profession, but harm their companions through works of darkness. For when it is said, in the midst of the creatures, Do not harm, it is shown that there is someone there who harms. About this advancing horse, the Apostle says: Fightings without, fears within.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 6:5-8
The third mercy of Christ to us broke the third seal, and brought us from condemnation back to God the Father. This mercy is his saving teaching and the benefits effected through his divine miracles. For these contributed to the destruction of the Devil. For through them we came to know who was naturally and truly God, “so that we might not be children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine,” and might not worship what our hands had made, exchanging the destructive demons for the glory of God. For the divine teaching of the Lord drew to itself, as leaven draws flour, those who were being taught by the Lord’s voice, and were receiving the benefit of his miracles, which healed their souls more than their bodies.

After this, a black horse came out, and its rider had a balance in his hand: the black horse represents sorrow and grief, now that the destruction of the Devil had been achieved by the divine instructions. On this account the Devil was grieving for his release, which was being deferred for so many ages. The balance is the symbol of equity and righteousness. For “the judge of righteousness had taken his seat on the throne. He rebuked the tribes” of demons, and the impious one, their leader, was destroyed.

The balance therefore is the symbol of the righteous judgment of the Lord on our behalf, so that we may also say boldly to him, “You effected judgment and justice for me,” so that we gentiles may know that we are human beings, and that we may not be like beasts dragged along “with bit and bridle” and led astray by the destructive tyrants.

And, he says, I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine.” The gospel and the teaching is described allegorically by Holy Scripture as seed, for it is written in Matthew, “The sower went out to sow,” and again the better-disposed of the slaves said to their lord, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?” Some of the seed is wheat, signifying the proclamation of the gospel as being the proper food for mature people, who “have their senses trained to discriminate between good and evil.” What is the barley? It is the teaching according to the law of Moses, as being ripe fodder, more fitting than wheat, for nourishing the infant Israel.

Therefore, the speaker, God, in the midst of the four living creatures says, “A quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius.” These words symbolize that there was a famine and scarcity among people of that time of the teaching both of the gospel of the Lord and of the law, as Scripture says, “I will give them not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.”

Even if those who despise all teaching and attention had especially to suffer this and that, he says, “do not harm the oil and the wine, forgive them and do not bring any punishment on them; I shall still have mercy on them,” says God, “since they have hope of being spiritually gladdened by the divine proclamations of my only Son.” For these are “the wine that” spiritually “makes glad a man’s heart.”

So he who was going to set out against the former disobedience would harm the mercy which was to be shown to them by God and the spiritual gladness which would come with faith. And why do I say only “spiritual”? For the teachings of the Lord also afforded discernible grace. And the prophet is witness when he said to the Lord, “grace has been poured upon your lips.” Josephus the Jew also, constrained by the truth, wrote the following about him in his eighteenth book of The Antiquities:

“There was about this time a wise man, Jesus, if indeed one ought to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of people who gladly speak the truth. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, on the indictment of men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had first come to love him did not cease loving him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the holy prophets had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still not now disappeared.”

The breaking of the fourth seal and of the rest marks the beginning of release from sin resulting from Adam’s transgression. For release from this clearly brings affinity with God. For if “our sins separate us from God,” as Isaiah says, their destruction clearly restores our intimacy with him. What effected this release?

“The blows” struck on Christ, by which we have been set free. For since by the pleasure of tasting we were condemned, we were healed by the opposite. Blows are the opposite of pleasure, with the pain which is felt from them. Christ paid on our behalf everything on account of which we had been brought down to the corruption of death, and he made payment through opposites: by “obedience” he paid for our “disobedience,” by painful submission he paid for the pleasure [of sin], by his hands stretched out boldly on the cross he paid for the hands which rashly grasped the forbidden tree.

After this, he says, by the summons of the fourth of the holy living creatures there came a greenish horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades follows him, and authority was given them over a fourth of the earth. The greenish horse is the symbol of wrath, for bile, as doctors call it, is greenish.

Death and Hades were sent for the spiritual overthrow of the sinful demons and to exact retribution from them for the destruction of humankind. But since the saving passion of Christ, by which he paid for all our sins, had not yet been described in the vision, the complete destruction of the demons had not yet come about, but only the fourth part.

This destruction he calls metaphorically slaughter and a famine of those who were formerly worshiping them and death, so laying bare the end of their tyranny by death, and their destruction by the wild beasts of the earth; he calls the demons’ passions of arrogance and vanity wild beasts of the earth. These passions consume and devour them as they are being ousted from their dominion over human beings. Even though they are naturally incorporeal, the demons are earthly in that they exult in their earthly wrigglings.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:6
"Hurt not the wine and the oil." That is, strike not the spiritual man with thy inflictions. This is the black horse.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:6
He is speaking of the church in the figures of the wheat and barley. He speaks either of those who are great and who are least in the church or of those who are leaders and the people. However, one two-pound weight is no less than three two-pound weights, for the same perfection subsists both in the unity and in the trinity. Thus, the Lord said that the leaven was hidden in the three measures of meal, showing the teaching of wisdom that from something small the whole people are consecrated by the mystical number of the undivided Trinity. But this teaches also that there is one price for both the wheat and the barley, that is, that although one person may exceed another in merit, both have nevertheless been redeemed by one price.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:6
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 6:6
The wine is to be interpreted as the blood of Christ, and the oil as the unction of chrismation.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:6
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 6:6
I think that the different numbers of one and three are mentioned on account of the diversity of personal habitations. In the one denarius is indicated eternal life that is common to all even though [they live] among many mansions. And if one is there regarded as more sublime than another according to merits or is given a greater reward, yet no one is thought to be preeminent in comparison with another. For where there is a single immortality to each, there a common eternity exists for all. So also in the wine and oil he prohibits the dishonoring of the power of the sacraments, since that is the chrismation and the precious blood. Therefore we read, “What does he have which is good and beautiful, unless it be the fruit of the elect and producing virgins as wine.” And in the psalm: “Wine gladdens the heart of man, and his face is made cheerful in oil.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:6, HOMILY 5
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:6
The phrase “a quart of wheat for a denarius” figuratively indicates those who have struggled lawfully and have carefully preserved the divine image given to them. The phrase “three quarts of barley for a denarius” speaks of those who like cattle have through cowardice bowed the neck to persecutors but have later repented and have washed their defiled image with tears. The command “do not harm wine and oil” indicates that the healing of Christ through repentance, which healed him who fell among the thieves, ought not be rejected, nor that those be allowed to be seized prematurely by death who through patience would be retrieved from defeat. Therefore, that we also might possess God as our beneficent physician for the suffering of our souls, let us be zealous to be such to our brothers who have fallen, bringing to them the wine of consolation mixed with the oil of compassion, “so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed,” as the apostle says. And so becoming fellow workers with God, we may eternally enjoy his blessings by the grace and good will of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:5-6
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:6
A measure of wheat for a denarius, etc. He says, Beware lest you scandalize your brother by a very bad example, for whom Christ died and who bears the marks of the sacred blood and chrism. For whether by the merits of the perfect, or even of the least, anyone in the Church imbued with faith in the Holy Trinity is redeemed at the same perfect price of the Lord's blood. And not without reason is the perfection of faith or work expressed by a double measure and not a single one, which both consist in the root of twin charity.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:7-8
"And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. And, lo, a pale horse; and he who sate upon him was named Death." For the pale horse and he who sate upon him bore the name of Death. These same things also the Lord had promised among the rest of the coming destructions-great pestilences and deaths; since, moreover, he says:-

"And hell followed him." That is, it was waiting for the devouring of many unrighteous souls. This is the pale horse.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:7
The soaring flight and the swiftness upon its prey of the fourth living creature, namely, the eagle, suggests those plagues that come from above, from the divine wrath for the vindication of the pious and for the punishment of the impious, unless these should turn from their sins through improvement.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:7
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:8
There are two parts in the world, that which belongs to God and that of the devil. That which belongs to the devil is further divided into three parts, which are both within and outside [the church]. These are the Gentiles, false brothers and those separated by open error or schism. And these three parts are those that war against the one. This one is said to consist of three fourths, either because it believes in the threefold unity or because it is distinguished into orders by the goodly variation of three vocations, that of the virgins, of the widows and of the married. He says that now power is given in these three fourths. He speaks of the church which is one, and because the threefold vocation relates to one head, it consists from the three fourths in the stability of a square. As it says, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone.” He foretells that the church will be placed into stress by the attacks of evil people, from the Gentiles, from false brothers and by heretical depravity. And this is also to be recognized in the number of the messengers, that the very same good would oppose three evil enemies—the red horse with the sword, the second, black horse with the balance, and the third, pale horse with the sign of death, for the sword signifies war, the black horse famine and the pale horse death. And since he mentions the plagues one by one, he foretells all the future outbreaks of plagues by enumerating them in or through the third, the names of the beasts being added. We may remain undecided whether the speech is literal or figurative. For a visible sword is commonly used against the body, while a spiritual sword is used against the soul. Similarly concerning famine, it can mean here either a famine of the Word of God or a famine that affects the body. And likewise concerning death, it can here mean either eternal death that affects souls or that temporal death that concerns bodies. Nonetheless, it is clear that the fourth good part, which is opposed by the three evils, is made to struggle in time by all of these visible persecutions. For those who are called according to the purpose of the will of God shall remain in the perfect number of the elect, especially those whom he wills to be preserved by the inviolate sacraments of the wine and oil. For when he said, “Do not harm the wine and oil,” he was indicating the price of redemption in the wine and the anointing of baptism in the oil. Indeed, the Lord clearly said in the Gospel, “Father, those whom you have given to me, I have guarded, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:8
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 6:8
In the pale horse we perceive evil people who never cease to incite persecutions. And these three horses are one, who came out after the white horse and against it. And they have as their rider the devil, who is death. And so, the three horses are interpreted to be war, famine, and pestilence. For in the Gospel, the Lord foretold of these things, and they have already occurred, and as the day of judgment draws nearer will occur even more.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:8, HOMILY 5
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:8
This sequence of events has happened before and reflects also contemporary occurrences. For as Eusebius says in the eighth chapter of the ninth book of his Ecclesiastical History, at the height of the persecution, when Maximinus was Roman emperor, both famine and pestilence along with other things fell upon them, so that such an innumerable multitude perished that they could not be buried. At that time indeed the Christians zealously undertook the task of burying the dead and by their love of humanity led those who had been deceived to the recognition of the truth. Moreover, the Armenians resisted the Romans, he says, so that many were killed with the sword and the bodies of the dead were eaten by dogs. Finally, those left alive began to kill the dogs, fearing that they themselves might die and that the living would become their tombs. For it was not impossible that even wild animals shared the same meal with dogs on account of the abundance of food. We know that even in our own times similar things have happened.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:8
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:8
And behold, a pale horse, etc. Heretics who mask themselves as Catholics, worthy of the inhabiting death, drag after them a host of the lost. For the devil and his ministers are metaphorically called death and hell, as they are the cause of death and hell for many. It can also be simply understood that here the spiritually dead, there eternal punishment follows.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:8
And power was given to him over a fourth of the earth. Behold, the madness of Arius, born in Alexandria, reached as far as the Gallic Ocean, not only persecuting the pious bestially with famine of the word of God but also with physical sword. Another version translates it as a fourth part, because the three evil horses, relying on the devil as their leader, ride against the fourth cavalry of the Church.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Revelation 6:9
It says also, "I saw the souls of those that had witnessed, beneath the altar, and there was given to each a white robe."

Source: Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book II
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
How is it that the region of paradise, which was revealed in the spirit through John as being “under the altar,” contains no other souls but those of the martyrs? How is it that Perpetua, that bravest martyr of Christ, on the day of her death saw only the souls of the martyrs in paradise, unless it be that the sword that guarded the entrance allowed none to pass save those that had died in Christ and not in Adam? Those who die this new death for God, and violently as Christ did, are welcomed into a special abode. Here, then, is the difference between pagan and Christian in death: If you lay down your life for God as the Paraclete recommends, then it will not be of some gentle fever in a soft bed but in the torture of martyrdom. You must take up your cross and follow him, according to the precept of Christ. The only key that unlocks the gates of paradise is your own blood.

Source: ON THE SOUL 55.4-5
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
The fact that the soul is invisible flows from the nature of its corporeal substance and is determined by its own nature. Besides, of its very nature it is destined to be invisible to certain things.… And so, an object may be invisible to one being and quite clearly seen by another without any prejudice to the corporeality of the object itself that is seen by one and not by the other. The sun is a bodily substance, being made of fire. The eagle gazes at it steadily, but it is invisible to the owl, but the owl does not deny the object seen by the eagle. In such fashion, the bodily substance of the soul may generally be invisible to the eye of flesh, but it is clearly perceived by the spirit. Thus John “in the spirit” saw “the souls of them that were slain for the word of God.”

Source: ON THE SOUL 8.4-5
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
Thus John, being "in the Spirit" of God, beheld plainly the souls of the martyrs.

Source: A Treatise on the Soul
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
How is it, then, that the region of Paradise, which as revealed to John in the Spirit lay under the altar, displays no other souls as in it besides the souls of the martyrs? How is it that the most heroic martyr Perpetua on the day of her passion saw only her fellow-martyrs there, in the revelation which she received of Paradise, if it were not that the sword which guarded the entrance permitted none to go in thereat, except those who had died in Christ and not in Adam? A new death for God, even the extraordinary one for Christ, is admitted into the reception-room of mortality, specially altered and adapted to receive the new-comer.

Source: A Treatise on the Soul
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
In the Revelation of John, again, the order of these times is spread out to view, which "the souls of the martyrs" are taught to wait for beneath the altar, whilst they earnestly pray to be avenged and judged: (taught, I say, to wait), in order that the world may first drink to the dregs the plagues that await it out of the vials of the angels, and that the city of fornication may receive from the ten kings its deserved doom, and that the beast Antichrist with his false prophet may wage war on the Church of God; and that, after the casting of the devil into the bottomless pit for a while, the blessed prerogative of the first resurrection may be ordained from the thrones; and then again, after the consignment of him to the fire, that the judgment of the final and universal resurrection may be determined out of the books.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
For unquestionably he, who has exhibited to our sight the martyrs' hitherto disembodied souls resting under the altar, was quite able to display them before our eyes rising without a body of flesh.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:9
Who, pray, are these so blessed conquerors, but martyrs in the strict sense of the word? For indeed theirs are the victories whose also are the fights; theirs, however, are the fights whose also is the blood. But the souls of the martyrs both peacefully rest in the meantime under the altar, and support their patience by the assured hope of revenge; and, clothed in their robes, wear the dazzling halo of brightness, until others also may fully share in their glory.

Source: Scorpiace
[AD 258] Cyprian on Revelation 6:9
But since I know, beloved brethren, that very many are eager, either on account of the burden or the pain of smarting wrongs, to be quickly avenged of those who act harshly and rage against them, we must not withhold the fact in the furthest particular, that placed as we are in the midst of these storms of a jarring world, and, moreover, the persecutions both of Jews or Gentiles, and heretics, we may patiently wait for the day of (God's) vengeance, and not hurry to revenge our suffering with a querulous haste, since it is written, "Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, in the day of my rising up for a testimony; for my judgment is to the congregations of the nations, that I may take hold on the kings, and pour out upon them my fury." The Lord commands us to wait, and to bear with brave patience the day of future vengeance; and He also speaks in the Apocalypse, saying, "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for now the time is at hand for them that persevere in injuring to injure, and for him that is filthy to be filthy still; but for him that is righteous to do things still more righteous, and likewise for him that is holy to do things still more holy. Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his deeds." Whence also the martyrs, crying out and hastening with grief breaking forth to their revenge, are bidden still to wait, and to give patience for the times to be fulfilled and the martyrs to be completed. "And when He had opened," says he, "the fifth seal, I saw under the altar of God the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for their testimony; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And there were given to them each white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, until the number of their fellow-servants and brethren is fulfilled, who afterwards shall be slain after their example."

Source: Treatise IX. On the Advantage of Patience.
[AD 258] Cyprian on Revelation 6:9
Of the benefits of martyrdom. In the Proverbs of Solomon: "The faithful martyr delivers his soul from evils." Also in the same place: "Then shall the righteous stand in great boldness against them who have afflicted them, and who took away their labours. When they see them, they shall be disturbed with a horrible fear; and they shall wonder at the suddenness of their unhoped-for salvation, saying among themselves, repenting and groaning with distress of spirit, These are they whom some time we had in derision, and in the likeness of a proverb; we fools counted their life madness, and their end without honour. How are they reckoned among the children of God, and their lot among the saints! Therefore we have wandered from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness has not shined upon us, and the sun has not risen upon us. We have been wearied in the way of iniquity and of perdition, and we have walked through difficult solitudes; but we have not known the way of the Lord. What hath pride profited us? or what hath the boasting of riches brought to us? All these things have passed away as a shadow." Of this same thing in the cxvth Psalm: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Also in the cxxvth Psalm: "They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Walking they walked, and wept as they cast their seeds; but coming they shall come in joy, raising up their laps." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to John: "He who loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall find it to life eternal." Also in the same place: "But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought what ye shall speak; for it is not ye who speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Also in the same place: "The hour shall come, that every one that killeth you shall think he doeth service to God l but they shall do this also because they have not known the Father nor me." Of this same matter, according to Matthew: "Blessed are they which shall suffer persecution for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Also in the same place: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to kill the soul and body in Gehenna." Also in the same place: "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him also will I confess before my Father which is in heaven; but he who shall deny me before men, him also will I deny before my Father which is in heaven. And he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." Of this same thing, according to Luke: "Blessed shall ye be when men shall hate you, and shall separate you (from their company), and shall drive you out, and shall speak evil of your name, as wicked, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice in that day, and exult; for, lo, your reward is great in heaven." Also in the same place: "Verily I say unto you, There is no man that leaveth house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, and does not receive seven times as much in this present time, but in the world to come life everlasting." Of this same thing in the Apocalypse: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar of God the souls of them that were slain on account of the word of God and His testimony. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And unto every one of them were given white robes; and it was said to them, that they should rest still for a short time, until the number of their fellow-servants, and of their brethren, should be fulfilled, and they who shall afterwards be slain, after their example." Also in the same place: "After these things I saw a great crowd, which no one among them could number, from every nation, and from every tribe, and from every people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb; and they were clothed with white robes, and palms were in their hands. And they said with a loud voice, Salvation to our God, that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And one of the elders answered and said to me, What are these which are clothed with white robes? who are they, and whence have they come? And I said unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. They shall neither hunger nor thirst ever; and neither shall the sun fall upon them, nor shall they suffer any heat: for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall protect them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the waters of life; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." Also in the same place: "He who shall overcome I will give him to eat of the tree of life, which as in the paradise of my God." Also in the same place: "Be thou faithful even unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Also in the same place: "Blessed shall they be who shall watch, and shall keep their garments, lest they walk naked, and they see their shame." Of this same thing, Paul in the second Epistle to Timothy: "I am now offered up, and the time of my assumption is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. There now remains for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me in that day; and not only to me, but to all also who love His appearing." Of this same thing to the Romans: "We are the sons of God: but if sons and heirs of God, we are also joint-heirs with Christ; if we suffer together, that we may also be magnified together." Of this same thing in the cxviiith Psalm: "Blessed are they who are undefiled in the way, and walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who search into His testimonies."

Source: Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews
[AD 258] Cyprian on Revelation 6:9
Therefore, beloved brethren, although this is altogether of the Lord's promise and gift, and although it is given from on high, and is not received except by His will, and moreover, can neither be expressed in words nor described by speech, nor can be satisfied by any kind of powers of eloquence, still such will be your benevolence, such will be your charity and love, as to be mindful of me when the Lord shall begin to glorify martyrdom in your experience. That holy altar encloses you within itself, that great dwelling-place of the venerable Name encloses you within itself, as if in the folds of a heart's embrace: the powers of the everlasting age sustain you, and that by which you shall ever reign and shall ever conquer. O blessed ones! and such as truly have your sins remitted, if, however, you who are Christ's peers ever have sinned! O blessed ones! whom the blood of the Lord has dyed from the beginning of the world, and whom such a brightness of snowy clothing has deservedly invested, and the whiteness of the enfolding robe has adorned! Finally, I myself seem to myself to behold already, and, as far as is possible to the mind of man, that divine and illustrious thing occurs to my eyes and view. I seem, I say to myself, already to behold, that that truly noble army accompanies the glory and the path of their Christ. The blessed band of victors will go before His face; and as the crowds become denser, the whole army, illuminated as it were by the rising of the sun, will ascribe to Him the power. And would that it might be the lot of such a poor creature as myself to see that sight! But the Lord can do what He is believed not to deny to your petitions.

Source: Pseudo-Cyprian On the Glory of Martyrdom
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:9-11
"And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain." He relates that he saw under the altar of God, that is, under the earth, the souls of them that were slain. For both heaven and earth are called God's altar, as saith the law, commanding in the symbolical form of the truth two altars to be made,-a golden one within, and a brazen one without. But we perceive that the golden altar is thus called heaven, by the testimony that our Lord bears to it; for He says, "When thou bringest thy gift to the altar" (assuredly our gifts are the prayers which we offer), "and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar." Assuredly prayers ascend to heaven. Therefore heaven is understood to be the golden altar which was within; for the priests also were accustomed to enter once in the year-as they who had the anointing-to the golden altar, the Holy Spirit signifying that Christ should do this once for all. As the golden altar is acknowledged to be heaven, so also by the brazen altar is understood the earth, under which is the Hades,-a region withdrawn from punishments and fires, and a place of repose for the saints, wherein indeed the righteous are seen and heard by the wicked, but they cannot be carried across to them. He who sees all things would have us to know that these saints, therefore-that is, the souls of the slain-are asking for vengeance for their blood, that is, of their body, from those that dwell upon the earth; but because in the last time, moreover, the reward of the saints will be perpetual, and the condemnation of the wicked shall come, it was told them to wait. And for a solace to their body, there were given unto each of them white robes. They received, says he, white robes, that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:9
And when he had opened the fifth seal, etc. Because he had said that the Church is greatly afflicted in the present, he also speaks of the glory of souls after the punishment of bodies. I saw, he says, them under the altar, that is, in the sanctuary of eternal praise. For the golden altar, placed inside and near the ark of the Lord's body, does not offer flesh and blood, but only the incense of praise to the Lord. And those who now present their bodies as a living sacrifice will then, with the bonds of the flesh broken, sacrifice the sacrifice of praise to Him (Ps. 116). It can also be through a hyperbaton, that he saw not under the altar but those killed under the altar, that is, under the testimony of Christ's name, as it is said of the Maccabees: They fell under the covenant of God (2 Macc. 7).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 6:9-11
So the fifth salvation of the Lord given to the human race, the one which broke the fifth seal of the Lord and effected the removal of our sins and the restoration of our intimacy with God, was found in the bonds and wounds with which the Lord was held when he was brought before Pilate, and which he suffered at the hands of Pilate himself who showed a halfhearted reverence. Isaiah spoke about these wounds and said that when the Lord was asked by the divine messengers, “What are these wounds in the middle of your hands?” he said, “Those with which I was struck in the house by my beloved friend.” For these wounds healed our wounds, with which we were struck as we were going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when we fell among robbers, who stripped and wounded us, leaving us halfdead, according to Luke’s parable.

But he has also undone our bonds, the cords of sin with which we were fast bound. For the prophet says, “The cords of sinners have ensnared me.” The Devil, then, was not aware that his wicked action was directed against himself, and that in his drunken violence against the Lord he was thrusting the sword into himself, as he fell out of his evilly created domain.

After this, God’s people in the old covenant who had earlier on given their witness were as yet silent and recalled nothing as being of concern to them. All these things had not yet been done to Christ; for even though he had been spat upon and slapped and hit, these things were done in a corner in the illegitimate council of the high priests, where the only witnesses were the servants and those summoned to the council. But when they saw the Lord bound and publicly scourged by Pilate in the presence of all the people of the Jews, they rose up together and recalled the intolerable treatment of their master and of themselves.

For, he says, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the church which they had. He says, “I saw the souls of the martyrs in the highest place, for they were under the altar which is above the heavens.”

Then he says who these martyrs are—those who had been slain, he says, on behalf of the godly word of the old covenant and of the church, or synagogue, which they had. For martyrs do not die only for their own sakes, but they bring about a benefit for the whole community. For their courage becomes an encouragement for others, and the knowledge of God is built up by the blood of God’s people.

And they were crying out, he says, with a loud voice saying, “How long, Master, holy and true, how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon earth?” They made their prayer not against human beings, but against the demons who make their home with mortal beings. For it was not the loving purpose of God’s people to rise up against their own kind, but against those who were urging human beings on to their destruction.

After saying this they first receive white robes. This was the symbol of their cleansing by their own blood, and the removal of all pollution.

Next they hear, Rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been: for it was not right that those who had shown the same courage as they had should be thwarted and lose their crowns of martyrdom by the premature destruction of the demons who were drilling them.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:10
Our hope is that we may sooner reign and not be slaves any longer. Even if it were not prescribed to ask in prayer for the coming of his kingdom, we would, of our own accord, have expressed this desire in our eagerness to embrace the object of our hope. With indignation the souls of the martyrs beneath the altar cry aloud to the Lord, “How long, O Lord, will you refrain from avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” For at least from the end of the world vengeance for them is ordained. Indeed, as quickly as possible, O Lord, may your kingdom come! This is the prayer of Christians; this shall bring shame to the heathens; this shall bring joy to the angels; it is for the coming of this kingdom that we are harassed now, or rather, it is for this coming that we pray.

Source: ON PRAYER 5.1-4
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:10
The souls of the martyrs beneath the altar cry in jealousy unto the Lord "How long, Lord, dost Thou not avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth? " for, of course, their avenging is regulated by the end of the age.

Source: On Prayer
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 6:10
This ought not be understood in a carnal manner, as though they were inflamed by animosity and wished revenge. We know that we are to love our enemies through an abundance of love, but it is manifest that they prayed against the kingdom of sin and were praying out of a desire for that kind of kingdom for which we say, “Thy kingdom come!”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:10
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Revelation 6:10
[The psalmist begs] that the Lord avenge the blood of the faithful, who endured martyrdom for his name. Vengeance is the means by which force and injustice are repelled by just retribution. But there the prayer seems to be directed toward the conversion of the enemy. For when temporal vengeance is exacted from them in this world, they escape the destruction of eternal damnation; it is in this sense that we read in Revelation that the souls of martyrs under God’s altar demand to be avenged by divine decree. This vengeance is to be interpreted as we have defined it, for saintly people do not seek a cruel vengeance since they accept the precept “Pray for your enemies, do good to those that hate you,” and the like. Finally the Lord himself, who executes most powerfully his own commands, spoke these words on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 78:10
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:10
And they cried out with a loud voice, saying. The great cry of souls signifies their immense desire for what they know the Lord wishes to do. For it is not proper to believe they desire anything against God's will, as their desires depend on His will.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:10
How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You not judge and avenge, etc.? They do not pray out of hatred for their enemies, for whom they interceded in this world, but out of love for justice, which they, as near the Judge, harmoniously support. They pray for the day of judgment to come, when the kingdom of sin will be destroyed and the resurrection of extinguished bodies will arrive. For we too, although commanded to pray for our enemies, nonetheless say to the Lord in our prayers: Your kingdom come (Matt. 6).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 258] Cyprian on Revelation 6:11
But if anyone with precipitate haste rashly thinks that he can grant remission of sins to all or dares to rescind the precepts of the Lord, not only is this of no advantage to the lapsed but it is even a hindrance. Not to have observed the judgment of the Lord, and to think that his mercy is not first to be implored, but after condemning the Lord to presume on one’s own power, is to have provoked his wrath. Under the altar of God the souls of the slain martyrs cry out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord holy and true, do you refrain from judging and from avenging our blood on those who dwell on earth?” And they are ordered to be quiet and to continue to have patience. Does someone think that anyone can wish to become good by remitting and pardoning sins at random or that he can defend others before he himself is vindicated? The martyrs order something to be done. If just, if lawful, if not contrary to the Lord himself, they are to be done by the priest of God. Let the agreement be ready and easy on the part of the one obeying, if there has been religious moderation on the part of him asking. The martyrs order something to be done. If what they order is not written in the law of the Lord, we must first know, that they have obtained from the Lord what they ask, then do what they order. For what has been assured by man’s promise cannot be seen at once to have been granted by the divine majesty.

Source: Treatise III. On the Lapsed 18
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Revelation 6:11
The Word of God shows that when the time of vengeance comes, conversion will not then help the evil person evade punishment but avenging wrath will destroy him with due damnation. For that will be a time not of remission but of retribution, not of forgiveness but of revenge. This is put off by the divine patience so that the number of the saints can be filled up. The blessed John in the Apocalypse recalls that it is the saints who asked for this vengeance in these words, “How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” And to teach those who are joined to this company that the time for vengeance is being put off by the highest ordinance, he adds right away. “Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers.”

Source: ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 2.5.2-3
[AD 560] Primasius of Hadrumetum on Revelation 6:11
We believe that this was revealed to them by the knowledge of divine wisdom, that since the impious will inevitably be punished with eternal punishment and since the fountain of heavenly grace will flow forth unto the end of the world, many will until then be taken into the company of the holy martyrs. And when they received this response, they were filled with an inexpressible joy, which we believe is aptly symbolized by the white robes. Therefore, each one received a white robe, so that through the perfection of love that is poured out into the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit, they might be content with this consolation and prefer rather to wait for the completion of the number of other brothers.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:11
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:11
In this passage the saints are shown praying for the consummation of the world. Therefore, they are told to have patience until the completion of the brothers, so that “apart from them they would not be made perfect,” as the apostle says. The white robes reveal the brightness that appears on them because of their virtues, in which they are clothed, although they “had not yet received the promises.” And so, putting away every dullness, in the hope for these things, which they see in the spirit, they rightly rejoice, resting in the bosom of Abraham. For to many of the saints it is said that each receives a place worthy of the doer of virtue through which they are judged of their future glory.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:11
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:11
The spirits of the elect who dwell in that heavenly city can be understood as asking in the name of the Savior on their own behalf too, since they clearly desire the coming of the period of universal judgment and the resurrection of their bodies, in which they have striven for the Lord’s sake... Each soul now has a white robe, when each enjoys his bliss alone. They will then receive two, when the number of their brothers has been filled at the end, and they are gladdened by receiving their own immortal bodies.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 2.12
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:11
And each of them was given a white robe. Now, the souls of the saints have individual robes, rejoicing in their blessed immortality. But when their bodies rise again, according to Isaiah, they will possess double in their land.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:11
And it was told to them that they should rest for a little while longer, etc. The desire for resurrection is not denied, but it is deferred due to the increase of the brethren yet to be gathered. For even the joy of the souls can be symbolized by the white robes, when, with the Lord revealing to them, they learn both that the wicked are to be damned at the end and that many will be joined to their number through martyrdom until the end of the world. Filled with internal charity, they prefer their joy to be deferred until the number of their brethren is completed.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:12
"And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake." In the sixth seal, then, was a great earthquake: this is that very last persecution.

"And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair." The sun becomes as sackcloth; that is, the brightness of doctrine will be obscured by unbelievers.

"And the entire moon became as blood." By the moon of blood is set forth the Church of the saints as pouring out her blood for Christ.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:12
In the sixth seal we recognize the sixth age of the world. Toward the conclusion of this age the last persecution will come, and it says that the vehement shock of this persecution will shake the whole world like an earthquake. The sun and the moon are Christ and the church. The sun is said to become black, because many will be terrified at the last persecution and will deny them. It says, “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, for the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the brightness of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine.” And therefore it says, “so that even the elect, if possible, are led into error.” In this manner is the sun said to become black, when the power of Christ is hidden, or doctrine is obscured for a time, or defense is delayed when the impious are allowed to attack the saints. And therefore the prophet says, “Shall you leave this unnoticed, that the impious swallows the righteous?” And indeed of Christ himself we read, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and resurrection of many, and for a sign that is spoken against.” In him some make progress; others, turning away from him, incur ruin. “The moon turned to blood.” It is usually foretold that the church will shed more blood for Christ when the great outbreak of persecutions occurs. Therefore, this speaks of her own blood, not the blood of another as was the case with the red horse, which was described as red with another’s blood.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:12
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:12
We think that this passage presents a transition from the times of the persecutions to the time before the arrival of the false Christ. For it has been prophesied that at that time there would be such tribulations, such as we know have never happened before. Indeed, throughout the Scriptures “earthquake” often signifies the change of things. The phrase “once again I will shake” signifies “the removal of what is shaken,” as the apostle says. And in the Old Testament it is said concerning the crossing of the Israelites from Egypt, “the earth quaked, the heavens poured.” The blackness of the sun and the dark, bloody appearance of the moon signify the darkness that will come upon those overtaken by the wrath of God, as Cyril often remarked.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:12-13
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:12
And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, etc. With the opening of the sixth seal, the final persecution is announced, and just as the world was shaken with darkness and fear when the Lord was crucified on the sixth day, it will be so again.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:12
And the sun became black as sackcloth. As if the power of Christ were hidden, or His doctrine temporarily obscured, or as if He were veiled from defense, when the ministers of Antichrist are allowed to attack the servants of Christ.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:12
And the whole moon became like blood. The Church will shed blood for Christ more than usual. He said the whole moon, because the final commotion will be worldwide, whereas previously it was, as written, localized.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 6:12-17
The breaking of the sixth seal accomplished our complete salvation: it destroyed death: it restored life: it robbed the conqueror of human beings of his crown, openly triumphing over him, as Scripture says: the Only-begotten “ascended on high”; “he took captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men.”

What is the breaking of the sixth seal? The cross of the Lord and his death, which were followed by the resurrection and ascension in response to the prayers of all spiritual and sensible creation, “opening for us a new and living way,” the return from death to life through “the veil of his flesh.” All these benefits he effected not only for the living, but also for those who had gone before. For the Lord also “went” and “preached to those in Hades who had been disobedient,” according to the divine apostle Peter, and there, too, he saved believers, as Cyril also thinks.

After this, he says, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon was turned into blood, and the stars of the sky fell to earth like a fig tree shedding its fruit when shaken by a gale: the vision clearly describes for us the miracles which took place at the cross—the earthquake and the turbulence of the earth, the darkness of the sun, and the changing of the full moon into blood.

Quite accurately, he added the word full to the moon; for the moon was filled with light even though it was not quite a full moon on the day of crucifixion, and in its fullness it beheld the passion. This is what usually happens in the illuminated part during lunar eclipses. The prophet Joel, too, predicted that this would come about, saying, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and wonderful day of the Lord.”

The falling of the stars perhaps actually took place, but if not, the account symbolically means that the heavenly light ceased, and that it became completely dark.

The sky vanished like a rolled scroll. By the sky he means the heavenly powers of the angels, who themselves, too, were shaken, since they were unable to bear the insult done to their master, in heaven as here on earth. They rushed around like a scroll rolled up and shaken.

He says, And every mountain and island was removed from its place: he calls the regiments of the haughty demons mountains and islands, according to what Scripture says of them: “the mountains were being moved in the heart of the seas.” Again he says of the islands that they are lifted high and raised up by the vain folly of their attitude in the unstable and bitter distractions of this life.

And the kings of the earth, he says, and the potentates and the generals and the rich and the strong, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Again he calls the guilty demons kings and potentates and generals and the rich and the strong, since they have ruled over those upon earth through deceit and guile. The slaves and the free refer to those of the demons who are in power and those who are subject.

That they hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains and even cried, Fall on us and hide us, is figurative. It symbolizes their attempts to escape the punishment being brought upon them by Christ. For if some unseen punishment and retribution was not being brought against them, what is the meaning of the saying in the prophet Isaiah spoken in the person of Christ, “I have trodden the wine-press alone, and from the nations no man was with me; I trod them underfoot in my anger and crushed them in my wrath, and I brought down their blood on to the earth”? And what is the meaning of the words of the abominable demons in Matthew, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come to torment us?”

One could also suppose that these things recounted in the Revelation were the sufferings not only of demons but also of the lawless Jews who erected the cross for the Lord, when they were oppressed by the war against the Romans and became fugitives in the mountains and caves and holes of the earth, and on every side were afflicted by hardship and stress.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:13
"And the stars too shall fall from heaven, even as a fig-tree casteth her green figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind." "The mountains shall melt like wax at the presence of the Lord; " that is, "when He riseth to shake terribly the earth.

Source: Against Hermogenes
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:13
"And the stars fell to the earth." The falling of the stars are the faithful who are troubled for Christ's sake.

"Even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs." The fig-tree, when shaken, loses its untimely figs-when men are separated from the Church by persecution.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:13
The stars signify those in the church who for a time seem, according to human opinion, to stand out from the number of the elect, but who, when the fury of a sharp persecution comes near, are said to fall from their high status as though from heaven. The Lord foretold this in the Gospel, saying, “For then there will be tribulation such as has never been or shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.” The tree represents the church, and the sour fruit, which another translation calls “unripened,” represents people. The winds are the turbulent turmoil of persecution by which people are shaken and fall from the church. And it is proper that they are compared with the unripened fruit of the fig tree. For they are either unfaithful and, “twisted like a deceitful bow,” prefer this to the faith that they have abandoned, or because of the immaturity of the time the church suffers in them a tearful miscarriage, although it had sought for a happy birth at their conception.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:13
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:13
“The stars fell.” As has been already written of those deceived by Antiochus, this refers also to those who think themselves to be lights of the world but who will fall, being crushed by the events of that time, as the Lord said, “to lead astray, if it were possible, even the elect by the great tribulation.” This is perhaps the reason the fig tree is taken as a parable, for when the wind of the devil shakes it, it casts down its immature fruit that is not yet ripened by the heat of temptations or made sweet by grace. We know that this can be understood in either a good or in a bad sense, whether from the two baskets of good and evil figs that appear in Jeremiah or from the fig tree that Christ made to wither25 and that mentioned in the Song. But whether these things will occur in a visible manner when Christ comes in glory as judge, only he knows who has the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:12-13
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:13
And the stars fell to the earth, etc. Those who shine outwardly in the Church, driven by the wind of the final persecution, will be shown to have been earthly. Their deeds are rightly compared to the gross, immature, useless, and perishable fruits of the fig tree.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 220] Tertullian on Revelation 6:14
Besides, the belief that everything was made from nothing will be impressed upon us by that ultimate dispensation of God which will bring back all things to nothing. For "the very heaven shall be rolled together as a scroll; '" nay, it shall come to nothing along with the earth itself, with which it was made in the beginning.

Source: Against Hermogenes
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on Revelation 6:14
For at that time the trumpet shall sound, and awake those that sleep from the lowest parts of the earth, righteous and sinners alike. And every kindred, and tongue, and nation, and tribe shall be raised in the twinkling of an eye; and they shall stand upon the face of the earth, waiting for the coming of the righteous and terrible Judge, in fear and trembling unutterable. For the river of fire shall come forth in fury like an angry sea, and shall burn up mountains and hills, and shall make the sea vanish, and shall dissolve the atmosphere with its heat like wax. The stars of heaven shall fall, the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. The heaven shall be rolled together like a scroll: the whole earth shall be burnt up by reason of the deeds done in it, which men did corruptly, in fornications, in adulteries, and in lies and uncleanness, and in idolatries, and in murders, and in battles. For there shall be the new heaven and the new earth.

Source: Dubious Hippolytus Fragments
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on Revelation 6:14
"And the heaven withdrew as a scroll that is rolled up." For the heaven to be rolled away, that is, that the Church shall be taken away.

"And every mountain and the islands were moved from their places." Mountains and islands removed from their places intimate that in the last persecution all men departed from their places; that is, that the good will be removed, seeking to avoid the persecution.

Source: Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:14
Rightly does he suggest that the heaven, that is, the church, withdrew like a scroll rolled out rather than as a scroll rolled up. For whatever is rolled up cannot ever be known by anyone, while that which is rolled out is uncovered ever more. And so when these things have been made manifest, [the church] withdraws and prudently avoids persecution, so that concealed from those outside she might not be seen. But through the unity of the Spirit she is wholly known to herself—that is, to her own to whom it is given to believe. And [the church] is cautious towards those who are not known and toward the stranger, and she hides herself through a spirit of discretion, lest becoming known she be betrayed. Therefore, John wrote, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:14
[AD 390] Ticonius on Revelation 6:14
The church is also symbolized in the mountains and in the islands, for she is a “city set on a hill” on account of “the mountains round about.” And we read, “also among the islands of the sea [is] the name of the Lord God of Israel” which foretells that impelled by persecution she will be moved from her place. This is to be applied to both parts [of the church], among the good she is cautious and is moved by flight, among the evil she is moved by a perverse will and is turned into something worse, as it is said, “I shall move your candlestick from its place.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:14
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:14
That heaven is rolled out as a scroll symbolizes either that the second coming of Christ is unknown … or that even the heavenly powers grieve for those who have fallen from faith as though they experience a certain rolling out through sympathy and grief. However, this image symbolizes also that the substance of heaven does not disappear, but as though by a kind of unrolling changes into something better. As Irenaeus says, “For neither is the substance nor the essence of the creation annihilated—for faithful and true is he who has established it—but ‘the fashion of this world passes away,’ within which the transgression occurred, as the elders say.” … We think that the apostle is using the image of an old custom. For the Hebrews used scrolls rather than codices, which are common among us. To unroll a scroll did not cause anything to disappear but affected the appearance of that written within. So also the opening of the heavenly body shows the revelation of the blessing that lies in wait for the saints.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:14
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:14
Our Lord asked the disciples concerning the destruction of the temple and the consummation of the world, and as they were able to receive, he foretold of the coming events. To some extent these events have already happened to the Jews who killed Christ during the siege under Vespasian and Titus, as the Jew Josephus recounts it. But at the end, with a superabundance beyond everything, so to speak, these things will come upon the world at the coming of the antichrist. At that time, the great men, whether those who hold office in the church or those who possess worldly power—here figuratively called “mountains”—and the churches of the faithful—metaphorically called “islands”—which are being renewed to God, as Isaiah said, they will flee from their places, changing from place to place on account of the false christ.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:14-17
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:14
And the sky receded like a scroll being rolled up. Just as a rolled-up scroll contains mysteries within but nothing apparent outside, so will the Church, known only to its own, retreat discreetly to avoid persecution, hidden from outsiders.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:14
And every mountain and island was moved from its place. Mentioning various members of the Church according to their roles or strengths, he predicts that none will be exempt from this upheaval, but the movement will differ—good people will avoid by fleeing, while the wicked will be driven by following.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Revelation 6:15-17
This signifies that the whole world, among the good and the saints, is going to find refuge in the church, so that made firm under [the church’s] protection it is able to endure unto eternal life, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

Source: EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:15, HOMILY 5
[AD 614] Andreas of Caesarea on Revelation 6:15-17
“The kings of the earth,” that is, those who exert power over it and possess nothing in heaven, they too shall pray with all the great and rich and with the servants of the things below and those free of the service of Christ, that they be hidden by the caves and the rocks and the mountains. For they do not want to experience the divine wrath that with divine consent will pour down upon them either at the coming of the antichrist in the form of punishments from famine and other plagues or in endless torments which are expected after the resurrection. For then the divine anger will burn righteously as a furnace, consuming those who built upon the foundation of faith with wood and chaff and stubble, as though food for the fire.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 6:14-17
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:15
And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders. We understand kings as powerful people. He means to encompass every rank and condition. Besides, who but the persecutor will be kings then?

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:15
They hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains, etc. When the weaker ones seek to be strengthened by the examples of the high ones in the Church, to be fortified by their advice, and to be protected by their warnings and prayers, they figuratively ask these mountains to fall on them through their compassionate affection. For the high mountains are a refuge for the deer, and the rocks a shelter for the hedgehogs (Ps. 104:18).

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:16
And hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. So that He may find us not as reprobates, but stable in faith when He comes, with our sins covered by the intercession of the saints and the mercy of God.

Source: Commentary on Revelation
[AD 735] Bede on Revelation 6:17
And who will be able to stand? Certainly, the one who now strives to watch, to stand firm in faith, and to act manfully. If you interpret this earthquake literally as referring to the very day of judgment, it is not surprising that earthly kings and princes, fearful of the holy mountains, seek refuge, as we read has already happened in the case of the rich man clothed in purple and the poor Lazarus.

Source: Commentary on Revelation