TRV
Bede
Late Patristic · AD 500–800
6,271 passages across 45 books of the Bible · Who was this?
On Revelation
20 of 640-
Revelation 6:1
And I saw when the Lamb had opened one of the seals. Since the signs are first loosened and then the book is opened, He wisely reversed the usual order. For the Lord, by suffering and rising again, taught that He is the end of the law. And ascending into heaven, sending the Holy Spirit, He strengthened the Church with the gift of a more secret mystery. Therefore, He opened the book then, and now He loosens its seals. In the first seal, the glory of the primitive Church; in the following three, the threefold war against her; in the fifth, the glory of those who triumphed in this war; in the sixth, those things that will come in the time of the Antichrist, with a brief recapitulation of the previous ones; in the seventh, he sees the beginning of eternal rest.
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Revelation 6:2
The top of that ark is doubtless properly ordered to be encircled with a golden crown, because when he appeared in the flesh and came to redeem the human race, the Son of God was anticipating a certain time and hour when he would overcome the death he had borne for us (along with the author of death himself) and ascend victorious to the Father in heaven. Of this crown the apostle says, “But we see Jesus, who was indeed made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.” Of this crown John in the Apocalypse says, “And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And the one who was sitting upon it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering that he might conquer.” Surely the white horse is the church. The rider who was commanding it is the Lord. He had a bow because he was coming to make war against the powers of the air; and a crown of victory was given to him because by dying he overthrew the reign of death.
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Revelation 6:2
And behold a white horse, etc. The Lord presides over the Church, which by grace is whitened beyond snow, and bearing the arms of spiritual doctrine against the wicked, receives the victor’s crown among His own. Of whom it is said: He received gifts among men (Ps. 68). In which, even presiding in heaven, He was persecuted by Saul.
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Revelation 6:3
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature, etc. We are also commanded to diligently observe the opposing cavalry, so that just as joy is taken from the Church's successes, caution is taken from foreknowledge of adversities.
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Revelation 6:4
And another horse went out, fiery red. Against the victorious and conquering Church went out a fiery red horse, that is, a perverse people, bloodthirsty from their rider, the devil. Although we have read in Zechariah of the red horse of the Lord; but that one is red with His own blood, this one with another’s.
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Revelation 6:4
And the one sitting on it was given power to take peace from the earth. Namely, his own peace. But the Church received the eternal peace which Christ left to it.
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Revelation 6:4
And a great sword was given to him. Either against those who become apostates of the faith, or against those whom he makes martyrs. About this, it is said to blessed Job: He who made him applied his sword (Job 40), meaning either that he should not tempt the saints as much as the wicked one wishes, or that vengeance for his fury should return upon himself.
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Revelation 6:5
And behold, a black horse, etc. The black horse represents a crowd of false brothers, who have the balance of right profession, but harm their companions through works of darkness. For when it is said, in the midst of the creatures, Do not harm, it is shown that there is someone there who harms. About this advancing horse, the Apostle says: Fightings without, fears within.
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Revelation 6:6
A measure of wheat for a denarius, etc. He says, Beware lest you scandalize your brother by a very bad example, for whom Christ died and who bears the marks of the sacred blood and chrism. For whether by the merits of the perfect, or even of the least, anyone in the Church imbued with faith in the Holy Trinity is redeemed at the same perfect price of the Lord's blood. And not without reason is the perfection of faith or work expressed by a double measure and not a single one, which both consist in the root of twin charity.
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Revelation 6:8
And behold, a pale horse, etc. Heretics who mask themselves as Catholics, worthy of the inhabiting death, drag after them a host of the lost. For the devil and his ministers are metaphorically called death and hell, as they are the cause of death and hell for many. It can also be simply understood that here the spiritually dead, there eternal punishment follows.
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Revelation 6:8
And power was given to him over a fourth of the earth. Behold, the madness of Arius, born in Alexandria, reached as far as the Gallic Ocean, not only persecuting the pious bestially with famine of the word of God but also with physical sword. Another version translates it as a fourth part, because the three evil horses, relying on the devil as their leader, ride against the fourth cavalry of the Church.
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Revelation 6:9
And when he had opened the fifth seal, etc. Because he had said that the Church is greatly afflicted in the present, he also speaks of the glory of souls after the punishment of bodies. I saw, he says, them under the altar, that is, in the sanctuary of eternal praise. For the golden altar, placed inside and near the ark of the Lord's body, does not offer flesh and blood, but only the incense of praise to the Lord. And those who now present their bodies as a living sacrifice will then, with the bonds of the flesh broken, sacrifice the sacrifice of praise to Him (Ps. 116). It can also be through a hyperbaton, that he saw not under the altar but those killed under the altar, that is, under the testimony of Christ's name, as it is said of the Maccabees: They fell under the covenant of God (2 Macc. 7).
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Revelation 6:10
How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You not judge and avenge, etc.? They do not pray out of hatred for their enemies, for whom they interceded in this world, but out of love for justice, which they, as near the Judge, harmoniously support. They pray for the day of judgment to come, when the kingdom of sin will be destroyed and the resurrection of extinguished bodies will arrive. For we too, although commanded to pray for our enemies, nonetheless say to the Lord in our prayers: Your kingdom come (Matt. 6).
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Revelation 6:10
And they cried out with a loud voice, saying. The great cry of souls signifies their immense desire for what they know the Lord wishes to do. For it is not proper to believe they desire anything against God's will, as their desires depend on His will.
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Revelation 6:11
And it was told to them that they should rest for a little while longer, etc. The desire for resurrection is not denied, but it is deferred due to the increase of the brethren yet to be gathered. For even the joy of the souls can be symbolized by the white robes, when, with the Lord revealing to them, they learn both that the wicked are to be damned at the end and that many will be joined to their number through martyrdom until the end of the world. Filled with internal charity, they prefer their joy to be deferred until the number of their brethren is completed.
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Revelation 6:11
The spirits of the elect who dwell in that heavenly city can be understood as asking in the name of the Savior on their own behalf too, since they clearly desire the coming of the period of universal judgment and the resurrection of their bodies, in which they have striven for the Lord’s sake... Each soul now has a white robe, when each enjoys his bliss alone. They will then receive two, when the number of their brothers has been filled at the end, and they are gladdened by receiving their own immortal bodies.
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Revelation 6:11
And each of them was given a white robe. Now, the souls of the saints have individual robes, rejoicing in their blessed immortality. But when their bodies rise again, according to Isaiah, they will possess double in their land.
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Revelation 6:12
And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, etc. With the opening of the sixth seal, the final persecution is announced, and just as the world was shaken with darkness and fear when the Lord was crucified on the sixth day, it will be so again.
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Revelation 6:12
And the sun became black as sackcloth. As if the power of Christ were hidden, or His doctrine temporarily obscured, or as if He were veiled from defense, when the ministers of Antichrist are allowed to attack the servants of Christ.
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Revelation 6:12
And the whole moon became like blood. The Church will shed blood for Christ more than usual. He said the whole moon, because the final commotion will be worldwide, whereas previously it was, as written, localized.