Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse[1] are figures in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. They are not specifically identified there but subsequent commentary often identifies them as personifications of Death (Thanatos), Famine (Limos), War (Ares), and Conquest or Glory (Zelus).
This article is about the concept in the Christian Bible. For other uses, see Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (disambiguation).
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses, all of the horsemen save for Death are portrayed as being human in appearance.
In John's revelation the first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown as a figure of conquest,[2][3] perhaps invoking pestilence, or the Antichrist. The second carries a sword and rides a red horse as the creator of (civil) war, conflict, and strife.[4] The third, a food merchant, rides a black horse symbolizing famine and carries the scales.[5] The fourth and final horse is pale, upon it rides Death, accompanied by Hades.[6] "They were given authority over a quarter of the Earth, to kill with sword, famine and plague, and by means of the beasts of the Earth."[7]
Christianity interprets the Four Horsemen as a vision of harbingers of the Last Judgment, setting a divine end-time upon the world.[8][9]
Other Biblical references[edit]
Zechariah[edit]
The Book of Zechariah twice mentions colored horses; in the first passage there are three colors (red, speckled/brown, and white),[83] and in the second there are four teams of horses (red, black, white, and finally dappled/"grisled and bay") pulling chariots.[84] The second set of horses are referred to as "the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world."[84] They are described as patrolling the Earth and keeping it peaceful. It may be assumed by some Christian interpretations that when the tribulation begins, the peace is taken away, so their job is to terrify the places in which they patrol.[5]
Ezekiel[edit]
The four living creatures of Revelation 4:6–8 are written similarly to the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:5–12.[85] In Revelation, each of the living creatures summons a horseman, where in Ezekiel the living creatures follow wherever the spirit leads, without turning.
In Ezekiel 14:21, the Lord enumerates His "four disastrous acts of judgment" (ESV), sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, against the idolatrous elders of Israel. A symbolic interpretation of the Four Horsemen links the riders to these judgments, or the similar judgments in 6:11–12.