independentrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The four horsemen — the first four seals 6:1–8
vv. 1–2 — the first seal: the white horse
1
Καὶ εἶδονindependent — the seer’s formula — the seal-cycle opens (cf. 5:1)
ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὸ ἀρνίον μίαν ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ σφραγίδων,conditional — ὅτε-temporal inside the εἶδον frame — the Lamb, alone worthy (ch. 5), breaks the first seal
καὶ ἤκουσα ἑνὸς ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων λέγοντος ὡς φωνῇ βροντῆς·independent — the cherub’s thunder-voice (4:6–8)
Ἔρχου.content — the summons — one word, to the rider, not the seer (the Byzantine ‘come and see’ declined)
2
καὶ εἶδον,independent — the tableau formula
καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος λευκός,independent — verbless ἰδού-tableau — white: conquest (the coloured horses of Zech 1:8; 6:3)
καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἔχων τόξον,independent — verbless — the rider drawn by the bare participle ἔχων; the bow
καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ στέφανος,independent — divine passive — the crown granted, not seized
καὶ ἐξῆλθεν νικῶνindependent — the mission — νικῶν, already conquering as he rides
καὶ ἵνα νικήσῃ.purpose — the ἵνα coordinated with the participle νικῶν — conquest as present act and appointed end
vv. 3–4 — the second seal: the red horse
3
Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν δευτέραν,conditional — ὅτε-temporal — leans forward on ἤκουσα below (so no anchor)
ἤκουσα τοῦ δευτέρου ζῴου λέγοντος·independent — the formula compressed — no thunder-voice this time
Ἔρχου.content — the summons, as at v. 1
4
καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἄλλος ἵππος πυρρός,independent — πυρρός — fire-red: slaughter; the tableau formula varied (ἐξῆλθεν for ἰδού)
καὶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐδόθη αὐτῷindependent — divine passive again — the fronted dative resumed by pleonastic αὐτῷ (Semitism)
λαβεῖν τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκ τῆς γῆςcontent — complement infinitive — peace stripped from the earth
καὶ ἵνα ἀλλήλους σφάξουσιν,purpose — ἵνα + future indicative (σφάξουσιν) — Revelation’s idiom; coordinate with λαβεῖν under ἐδόθη
καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ μάχαιρα μεγάλη.independent — the μάχαιρα μεγάλη — the great slaughter-knife
vv. 5–6 — the third seal: the black horse
5
Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τρίτην,conditional — ὅτε-temporal — leans forward on ἤκουσα below
ἤκουσα τοῦ τρίτου ζῴου λέγοντος·independent — the formula as at v. 3
Ἔρχου.content — the summons
καὶ εἶδον,independent — the tableau formula resumes
καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος μέλας,independent — verbless ἰδού-tableau — black: famine
καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἔχων ζυγὸν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ.independent — verbless, on the pattern of v. 2 — the ζυγόν: the merchant’s balance, bread by weight (Ezek 4:16)
6
καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων λέγουσαν·independent — ὡς φωνήν — a voice from among the four ζῷα, its speaker unnamed
Χοῖνιξ σίτου δηναρίου,content — the price-oracle — verbless; a χοῖνιξ (one day’s ration) for a δηνάριον (one day’s wage, Matt 20:2): famine prices
καὶ τρεῖς χοίνικες κριθῶν δηναρίου·content — the poor man’s grain at triple ration — the whole wage still devoured by bread
καὶ τὸ ἔλαιον καὶ τὸν οἶνον μὴ ἀδικήσῃς.content — prohibitive subjunctive — the oil and the wine spared: the famine bounded
vv. 7–8 — the fourth seal: the pale horse
7
Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τετάρτην,conditional — ὅτε-temporal — leans forward on ἤκουσα below
ἤκουσα φωνὴν τοῦ τετάρτου ζῴου λέγοντος·independent — the formula, with φωνήν now expressed
Ἔρχου.content — the summons — the fourth and last
8
καὶ εἶδον,independent — the tableau formula
καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος χλωρός,independent — verbless ἰδού-tableau — χλωρός: corpse-green, the pallor of the dead
καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ὁ Θάνατος,independent — suspended — the rider named, not described: ὄνομα αὐτῷ ὁ Θάνατος, the Hebraic naming formula; anacoluthon
καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἠκολούθει μετ’ αὐτοῦ,independent — imperfect — Hades trailing Death, gathering what he kills (cf. 1:18; 20:13–14)
καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐξουσία ἐπὶ τὸ τέταρτον τῆς γῆςindependent — divine passive — αὐτοῖς, the pair; the plague quartered, not total
ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς.content — epexegetic infinitive — the fourfold covenant-curse: sword, famine, pestilence (θάνατος), beasts (Ezek 14:21; Lev 26:22–26)
The fifth seal — the souls under the altar 6:9–11
vv. 9–10 — the slain souls, and the cry: how long?
9
Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν πέμπτην σφραγῖδα,conditional — ὅτε-temporal — leans forward on εἶδον below; the formula shifts: no horse, no summons
εἶδον ὑποκάτω τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἐσφαγμένωνindependent — the martyrs’ souls beneath the altar — as blood poured at its base (Lev 4:7); ἐσφαγμένων, slain like the Lamb (5:6)
διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦcause — διά + accusative ground — slain for the word
καὶ διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίανcause — the pair’s second limb — the μαρτυρία (cf. 1:9)
ἣν εἶχον.relative — the witness they kept holding — εἶχον, imperfect
10
καὶ ἔκραξαν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγοντες·independent — the martyrs’ one loud cry
Ἕως πότε,content — the psalmists’ cry — Ἕως πότε (Ps 79:5, 10; Zech 1:12); suspended over its verb below
ὁ δεσπότης ὁ ἅγιος καὶ ἀληθινός,phrase modifier — nominative for vocative — ὁ δεσπότης: the slain slaves address their Master, holy and true
οὐ κρίνεις καὶ ἐκδικεῖς τὸ αἷμα ἡμῶν ἐκ τῶν κατοικούντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς;content — the question resumed — judgment as vindication: blood required from the earth-dwellers (Gen 4:10; Deut 32:43)
v. 11 — the white robe, and the answer: rest a little longer
11
καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἑκάστῳ στολὴ λευκή,independent — divine passive — vindication in advance, each martyr robed in white (3:5; 7:9)
καὶ ἐρρέθη αὐτοῖςindependent — impersonal passive — the answer to ‘how long?’
ἵνα ἀναπαύσονται ἔτι χρόνον μικρόν,content — ἵνα + future indicative (ἀναπαύσονται) — the content of the word spoken, not purpose
ἕως πληρωθῶσινconditional — ἕως-temporal — the term of the delay; πληρωθῶσιν (passive) read over the variant πληρώσωσιν; ‘the number’ supplied in English
καὶ οἱ σύνδουλοι αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῶν οἱ μέλλοντες ἀποκτέννεσθαι ὡς καὶ αὐτοί.phrase modifier — the delayed compound subject of πληρωθῶσιν — the martyr-roll not yet full; ὡς καὶ αὐτοί, death like theirs
The sixth seal — the great day of wrath 6:12–17
vv. 12–14 — the cosmos dissolves
12
Καὶ εἶδονindependent — the formula of v. 1 returns — Καὶ εἶδον framing the last tableau of the chapter
ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν ἕκτην,conditional — ὅτε-temporal inside the εἶδον frame, as at v. 1
καὶ σεισμὸς μέγας ἐγένετο,independent — the paratactic catastrophe-chain begins — the day-of-the-LORD earthquake (Isa 13:13; Joel 2:10)
καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἐγένετο μέλας ὡς σάκκος τρίχινος,independent — the sun in mourning-black (Isa 50:3; Joel 2:31)
καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὅλη ἐγένετο ὡς αἷμα,independent — ὅλη — the moon entire as blood (Joel 2:31)
13
καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔπεσαν εἰς τὴν γῆν,independent — the stars fall (Isa 34:4; Mark 13:25)
ὡς συκῆ βάλλει τοὺς ὀλύνθους αὐτῆς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου μεγάλου σειομένη,comparative — finite ὡς-simile — untimely figs in a gale (Isa 34:4); σειομένη echoing the σεισμός
14
καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπεχωρίσθη ὡς βιβλίον ἑλισσόμενον,independent — the heavens recoil like a scroll snapping shut (Isa 34:4) — the ὡς-phrase kept in the line
καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ νῆσος ἐκ τῶν τόπων αὐτῶν ἐκινήθησαν.independent — compound subject, plural verb — nothing keeps its place (cf. 16:20)
vv. 15–17 — mankind hides: who can stand?
15
καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ μεγιστᾶνες καὶ οἱ χιλίαρχοιindependent — the sevenfold catalogue of mankind begun — suspended over ἔκρυψαν below; thrones first
καὶ οἱ πλούσιοι καὶ οἱ ἰσχυροὶ καὶ πᾶς δοῦλος καὶ ἐλεύθεροςindependent — the list completed — down to every slave and free: the terror no respecter of rank (cf. 13:16; 19:18)
ἔκρυψαν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὰ σπήλαια καὶ εἰς τὰς πέτρας τῶν ὀρέων,independent — the landing — ἔκρυψαν ἑαυτούς: into the caves and rocks (Isa 2:10, 19, 21)
16
καὶ λέγουσιν τοῖς ὄρεσιν καὶ ταῖς πέτραις·independent — historic present — the plea made vivid
Πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶςcontent — Hos 10:8 (cf. Luke 23:30) — crushing preferred to the Face
καὶ κρύψατε ἡμᾶςcontent — the plea doubled — the hiders beg to be hidden
ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνουphrase modifier — the first ἀπό — the face of the Enthroned One (4:2)
καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ ἀρνίου,phrase modifier — the pair’s second limb — ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ ἀρνίου: the chapter’s sharpest paradox, wrath belonging to the Lamb
17
ὅτι ἦλθεν ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτῶν,cause — ὅτι — still inside the plea: the great day (Joel 2:11; Zeph 1:14–18); αὐτῶν, the Enthroned One and the Lamb together
καὶ τίς δύναται σταθῆναι;content — the speech’s closing question — τίς δύναται σταθῆναι; (Joel 2:11; Nah 1:6; Mal 3:2)
Analysis. Revelation 6 is liturgy, and the layout lets the repetition read as repetition. The first four seals run as four near-identical columns: the ὅτε-temporal of the opening (hanging under Καὶ εἶδον at v. 1, leaning forward — protasis-style, unanchored — over ἤκουσα at vv. 3, 5, 7), the ἤκουσα…λέγοντος line, and the one-word summons Ἔρχου hanging in blue beneath each — read as the cherub’s command to the rider, not to the seer (the Byzantine ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε declined). Beneath each summons the tableau: dashed verbless ἰδού-lines for horse and rider (λευκός, πυρρός via ἐξῆλθεν, μέλας, χλωρός), flush-left ἐδόθη divine passives for what each is given, and twice the ἵνα with a future indicative — σφάξουσιν (v. 4, purpose, coordinate with the infinitive λαβεῖν) and ἀναπαύσονται (v. 11, content of the command) — flagged as Revelation’s idiom. The black horse carries the verbless price-oracle as a three-line quoted column under λέγουσαν; the pale horse ends in the fourfold covenant-curse list under ἐξουσία (Ezek 14:21). The fifth seal sets the martyrs’ Ἕως πότε as a suspended fragment with the nominative-for-vocative address nested inside it, the question landing a line later; the answer chains ἐρρέθη → ἵνα → ἕως to depth 3, with πληρωθῶσιν read as passive (the number completed, not the martyrs completing it) and its long compound subject given its own delayed line. The sixth seal is pure parataxis — seven flush-left ἐγένετο/ἔπεσαν/ἀπεχωρίσθη lines, only the fig-tree simile indenting — then the sevenfold catalogue of mankind suspended over ἔκρυψαν ἑαυτούς, and the plea to the rocks (Hos 10:8) with its paired ἀπό-lines under κρύψατε. The layout takes v. 17 as still inside the quoted plea: the ὅτι grounds the sinners’ own words, αὐτῶν naming the Enthroned One and the Lamb together, and the final τίς δύναται σταθῆναι; is the hiders’ despairing question, not the narrator’s.