1As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living beings say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.
3When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!” 4Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.
5When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”
7When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, “Come!” 8I looked up and saw a horse whose colour was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.
Revelation 6:1-8
I told you in the previous Gem that I was surprised to find a variation between the versions related to whether the direction of movement in the opening of the seals is “come” or “go”. I must confess to have not seen that difference between the translations before. In my defence this is the first time I am delving into the detail of the text of Revelation in the way I do when writing the Gems. Secondly, you will have seen by what I gave you in the previous Gem, the majority of translations have “come” and not “go”. I looked at a total of 37 versions in English and all but three have “come” as the option they chose for the text. I didn’t include the Indonesian versions in the previous Gem but I have added them now for the sake of my Indonesian readers. All three I have loaded in E-Sword [BIS, IMB, ITB] chose a variation of mari “come here” but the IMB has added the words “marilah dan lihatlah” ‘Come and see’ (Imperative / Emphatic).
Our first obvious question to ask is what is the sense in the original Greek text? Is it “come” or “go”. [ἔρχου] ‘erchou’ from the root [erchomai] actually does not distinguish the difference between the movement of ‘coming toward’ or ‘going away’, which is not made in this verb. Rather [erchomai] is a general verb of motion and can be used for either “come” or “go”, which is partially the cause of the dilemma we have with translation between two languages. The nuances present in one language are not necessarily present in the other language. On occasions a choice in a subtlety of meaning must be made clear if it is not present in the receptor language. Therefore to avoid leaving implicit information unstated, the translator has to make a choice which may not be clear in the original text. That indeed is the case here in Revelation 6.
But there is also another problem and that is a variation between the Greek manuscripts. There are two words that have been added in the Majority Text versions in Greek. Those words are:
Ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε
Come and see
To investigate further I began looking at the textual commentary to determine the manuscript evidence related to these verses in Revelation. (See Gem 932 where I dealt more thoroughly with textual issues.) [There is also a tag I created to highlight gems dealing with textual issues.] To do this I used Bruce M. Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. But the details and complexities are too much and numerous to list for you. Suffice to say there are a number of different readings added by later scribes or translators all meaning something similar but using different Greek verbs meaning ‘to look’ or ‘to see’. [kai ide], [kai eidon], [kai blepe] with a small number of supporting miniscules and the odd uncial text (major capital GREEK LETTER text). It is a complicated and confusing array of variations which doesn’t warrant me sharing the detail with you. The detail is available because the textual changes to the text of the New Testament are recorded in minute detail.
However, I received an email from Michael Martens warning me:
There are some complicated textual problems with the wording of what God says to the 4 horsemen. Most modern versions have him saying “Come!” to all four. Some scholars, following some Byzantine manuscripts, have:
- “Come and see” for horseman 1, 3, 4
- “Come” for horseman 2.
- But other scholars who also follow the Byzantine text have “Come” for all four.
The reading “Come” sounds like God is commanding the horsemen to “come.” The Greek verb, erchomai, can mean “come” or “go”.
Michael Martens
Michael also adds some interesting questions:
- John sees the horsemen take off. Did he see them appear from somewhere in heaven?
- Or did he see them appear and go charging across the earth? Their affect was clearly on the earth.
Michael’s last point is the reason why I wrote in Gem 2248 that the action clearly takes place on the earth, while the vision and the instructions are given in heaven. One person queried why I put that in the present tense when John wrote it so long ago. Simply because Revelation is past, present and future all at the same time. I could say more but I won’t at this point.
Commentators get hung up on whether
- these words were addressed to John?
- these words were addressed to each of the four riders?
- these words were addressed to Christ? [according to Henry Alford and Henry Barclay Swete]
There are some commentators who think the rider on the white horse is Christ Himself. Swete thinks this verb is used solely for the comings of God and Christ. He draws a contrast between [ἔρχου] used for Christ and [δεῦρο] used for John in Rev 17:1 and 21:9. (Something for me to check out when I have time.)
It makes more sense to assume the words “Come” are either addressed to John to come closer to hear and/or see clearly. One commentator even wondered if John was close enough to the action to read what was written on the scroll. That seems to be taking it too far. If indeed, the four riders are the ones being addressed, then the words are likely to carry the sense of “Go” or “Go forth”.
It certainly does appear that the added words [καὶ ἴδε and variations] appear in later manuscripts that have been edited to indicate the one addressed is John. The matter is made complicated by the fact that [ἔρχου] could carry both meanings – “come” or “go”, as Michael added confirmation above. Thus the added words have been inserted to clarify that John is being addressed, where in fact it could be either John or the four riders.
Switching from “come’ [JB] to “go” [CJB] suggests the translators in that case felt the four riders were being addressed rather than John and so changed the reading. The strange variation in the case of Murdock, [WEB and WEBA] between the readings for the horsemen is likely to result from omissions and additions in other existent manuscripts which make the textual situation yet more complicated. Trust me, you don’t want to know more of the detail. I conclude it is a minor point and I am sure John would be surprised it has been discussed for so long by so many experts.
I will heretofore lay this matter to rest. I am content to know “it’s all to do with some complicated textual problems”. A couple of questions have come to me but only two. I think you are getting weary of the readers’ questions.
Confused? Ask the Creator of the Universe for help. He delights to give you perspective – His.
Ian
Hardcore thinkers are more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths.
Criss Jami
I think therefore I am … Confused.
Ian
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
George Carlin
The rider on the white horse can’t be Christ: 1. if he is, then he is in bad company as the others are war, famine, and plague and 2. Christ comes bearing a sword and this fellow has a bow.
I agree.