Revelation 6 — Greek text and reception
Each card preserves the Greek reading and its textual and reception notes. This source provides a Greek study edition; Hebrew counterparts and Hebrew–Greek classifications are not supplied.
Chapter 6
The first four seals
Verse 6:1
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.”
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The summons is Come, without an added and see. The same short summons appears at the next three seals.
Reception: R031 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:1–2).
Verse 6:2
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And I saw, and look, a white horse, and the one sitting upon it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The rider is not named in this verse. The white horse and conquest are retained without identifying him with a later figure.
Reception: R031 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:1–2).
Verse 6:3
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.”
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The Lamb remains the opener, while the second living creature gives the summons. No added see is inserted after Come.
Reception: R032 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:3–4).
Verse 6:4
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And another horse went out, fiery red, and the one sitting upon it was given to take peace from the earth, so that they would slaughter one another; and a great sword was given to him.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Fiery red is the horse's color. Removal of peace results in reciprocal slaughter; a great sword is given to the rider rather than seized by him.
Reception: R032 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:3–4).
Verse 6:5
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” And I saw, and look, a black horse, and the one sitting upon it had a balance in his hand.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Balance renders zygos in the context of food prices; the same word can mean a yoke.
Reception: R033 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:5–6).
Verse 6:6
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenices of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Choenix and denarius retain the ancient grain measure and coin. No modern purchasing-power conversion is inserted.
Reception: R033 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:5–6).
Verse 6:7
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.”
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The fourth seal and fourth creature correspond. The source explicitly mentions the creature's voice, as the English retains.
Reception: R034 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:7–8).
Verse 6:8
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And I saw, and look, a pale green horse, and the one sitting upon it had the name Death, and Hades followed with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with death and by the beasts of the earth.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Pale green renders chlōros. Death and Hades are personified names here. With death retains thanatos in the killing list; pestilence is a possible contextual sense.
Reception: R034 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:7–8).
The witnesses beneath the altar
Verse 6:9
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw beneath the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony they held.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The souls are beneath the altar and have been slaughtered for God's word and their testimony. Their later location is not imported into this scene.
Reception: R035 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:9–11).
Verse 6:10
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Master, holy and true, before You judge and avenge our blood upon those dwelling on the earth?”
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Master renders despotēs, distinct from the usual kyrios title. The plea asks God for judgment and vindication of shed blood rather than authorizing private retaliation.
Reception: R035 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:9–11).
Verse 6:11
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest for a little time yet, until their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were about to be killed as they themselves had been, were also complete in number.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: In number is supplied to explain the completion of the fellow sufferers; the Greek directly says that the fellow slaves and brothers should be completed.
Reception: R035 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:9–11).
The sixth seal
Verse 6:12
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred, and the sun became black like a haircloth sack, and the whole moon became like blood,
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The whole moon becomes like blood; the sun is compared with dark haircloth. The comparisons are not converted into scientific descriptions.
Reception: R036 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:12–14).
Verse 6:13
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree throws off its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Unripe figs are shaken off by wind. The comparison explains the falling movement without naming an astronomical mechanism.
Reception: R036 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:12–14).
Verse 6:14
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And heaven withdrew like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their places.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Heaven withdraws like a rolled scroll, while mountains and islands move. These separate motions are not flattened into the destruction of every object.
Reception: R036 (Victorinus tradition; scope 6:12–14).
Verse 6:15
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And the kings of the earth and the great ones and the commanders of thousands and the rich and the strong and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Commanders of thousands renders chiliarchoi, retaining the title’s numeric form.
Reception: R082 (John Bunyan; scope 6:15–16,20:11–14).
Verse 6:16
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
And they say to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall upon us and hide us from the face of the One sitting upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: The speakers ask mountains and rocks for concealment from both the enthroned One and the Lamb's wrath; the command is part of their cry, not the narrator's advice.
Reception: R082 (John Bunyan; scope 6:15–16,20:11–14).
Verse 6:17
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
because the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Textual & Reception Notes
Textual [G]: Their wrath is plural in the accessed reading and refers back to the enthroned One and the Lamb.
Reception: No passage-specific reception verified in this review.