by Christine Miller | Nothing New Press
There are literally hundreds of endnotes for the Revelation 6 chapters. Rather than try to fit them all here, they are organized according to the same chapter divisions as the text.
Revelation 6:1-8 Endnotes
Revelation 6:9-11 Endnotes
Revelation 6:12-17 Endnotes
Historically the church understood that the first seal, the white horse of righteousness, with a rider exercising military might and ruling authority, who went out to conquer, and who did increase politically and territorially, was fulfilled from 96-180 ad by the five righteous emperors of Rome. (The First Four Seals: 96-300 AD, pg. 24.)
For the Scriptural interpretation of the colors and symbols of the first four seals, as traditionally understood by the church, there is no better source than Albert Barnes, who employs minute detail in his explanation of each symbol, in Notes on the New Testament … : Revelation, pp. 132-158.
“The wicked Domitian was succeeded by Nerva, a good, wise, and generous old man, who did all he could to repair the wrong which Domitian had done, and to induce the Romans to lead better lives.”
H. A. Guerber, The Story of the Romans, pg. 239.
“Such was the respect that the Romans felt for Trajan that during the next two hundred years the senators always addressed a new emperor by saying: ‘Reign fortunately as Augustus, virtuously as Trajan!’ Thus, you see, the memory of a man’s good deeds is very lasting; even now Trajan’s name is honored, and people still praise him for the good he did while he was emperor of Rome.”
H. A. Guerber, The Story of the Romans, pg. 242.
“Trajan was succeeded by his cousin Hadrian, a good and true man … and his next [act as emperor was] to pardon all who had ever injured him. Thus, we are told that on meeting an enemy he said: ‘My good friend, you have escaped, for I am made emperor.’
“Hadrian was very affable, and always ready to serve others. When asked why he, an emperor, troubled himself thus about others, he replied: ‘I have been made emperor for the benefit of mankind and not for my own good.'”
H. A. Guerber, The Story of the Romans, pg. 243.
“[Trajan] is the second of the Five Good Emperors, the first being Nerva.”
“Ancient Rome,” Wikipedia.
“Nevertheless, the ability and enlightened statesmanship of Marcus Aurelius are undoubted. Indeed, they were only equaled by the purity and beauty of his personal life. He regarded his exalted office as a sacred trust to which he must be true, in spite of the fact that he would have greatly preferred to devote himself to reading, study, and philosophy, which he deeply loved. … he found time to record his thoughts and leave to the world a little volume of meditations written in Greek. As the aspirations of a gentle and chivalrous heart toward pure and noble living, these meditations are among the most precious legacies of the past. Marcus Aurelius was the last of a noble succession, the finest spirit among all the Roman emperors, and there was never another like him on the imperial throne.”
James Breasted, Ancient Times: A History of the Early World, p. 665.
The Christian persecution for which John was in exile, began in 95 AD and Domitian was assassinated in 96 AD. (The First Four Seals: 96-300 AD, pg. 23).
See Persecutions under Domitian, from the Introduction Endnotes.
This period of righteous rule and the Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) lasted from 96 AD to 180 AD. (The First Four Seaks: 96-300 AD, pp. 23-24).
“If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four successive emperors, whose characters and authority commanded involuntary respect. The forms of the civil administration were carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with considering themselves as the accountable ministers of the laws. Such princes deserved the honor of restoring the republic, had the Romans of their days been capable of enjoying a rational freedom.”
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, Ch. 3, “The Constitution in the Age of the Antonines, Pt. II.”
The death of Domitian occurred in 96, and Commodus was the son and successor of Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius’ reign ended in 180 with his death, and Commodus’ begun immediately after. Gibbon curiously says the peace lasted through four successive emperors, and names the four as Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines. The Antonines, however, were two: Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius, which brings the total of the good emperors, to five.
See also The Five Good Emperors, from The First Four Seals Endnotes.
The Scripture itself interprets the meaning of the symbols. (The First Four Seals, 96-300 AD, pg. 23.)
For the Scriptural interpretation of the colors and symbols of the first four seals, as traditionally understood by the church, there is no better source than Albert Barnes, who employs minute detail in his explanation of each symbol, in Notes on the New Testament … : Revelation, pp. 132-158.
“I have also spoken unto the prophets,
and I have multiplied visions;
and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.”Hos 12:11 [Hos 12:10 in Christian Bibles], Jewish Publication Society Bible.
A similitude, according to Webster’s, is a
“counterpart, double; a visible likeness, image; an imaginative comparison, simile; correspondence in kind or quality, a point of comparison.”
A symbol, the term most modern Christian Bibles use in Hos 12:10, according to Webster’s, is
“something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance; especially : a visible sign of something invisible.”
Similitude : synonyms, related words : likeness, resemblance, similarity, semblance.
We must remember that the Roman Empire is the terrible fourth beast that Daniel saw, which the little stone (the Lamb who was slain) struck in its feet and toppled (Dan. 2:24-45 and Dan. 7). (The Sixth Seal: 313-325 AD, pg. 37).
Daniel’s interpretation and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a colossal statue is found in Dan 2.
Daniel’s vision of the four beasts is found in Dan 7:
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.Dan 7:7-8, Jewish Publication Society Bible, 1917.
“The world power in its totality appears as a colossal human form: Babylon the head of gold, Medo-Persia the breast and two arms of silver, Græco-Macedonia the belly and two thighs of brass, and Rome, with its Germano-Slavonic offshoots, the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, the fourth still existing.”
Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown’s Commentary on Daniel 2:31.
“Whereas the three former kingdoms were designated respectively, as a lion, bear, and leopard, no particular beast is specified as the image of the fourth; for Rome is so terrible as to be not describable by any one, but combines in itself all that we can imagine inexpressibly fierce in all beasts. Hence thrice (Da 7:7, 19, 23) it is repeated, that the fourth was ‘diverse from all’ the others.”
Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown’s Commentary on Daniel 7:7.