Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are mentioned in the Bible in chapter six of the Book of Revelation, which predicts that they will ride during the Apocalypse. The four horsemen are traditionally named War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. However, this is slightly at odds with the conventional interpretation of the Bible, which actually only names one: Death.

Interpretations

White Horse

Opinions differ on whether the first horseman, riding the white horse, represents Christ, the Antichrist, or the False Prophet, but the general consensus of conservative biblical scholars is that he is the Antichrist. One argument against this horseman representing Christ is that each horseman is released due to the opening of a seal, and the seals represent God's curses upon the world, it is unlikely that the author would consider Christ's return as a curse. (However, it could be conceived as a curse by those who oppose Christ.) Moreover, interpreting this seal judgment as Christ's return is at variance with the unambiguous description of his return in Revelation 19:11-16.

Related Topics:
Christ - Antichrist - False Prophet

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Mainline Christian scholarship does not interpret this figure as either Christ or Antichrist. M. Eugene Boring's commentary on Revelation suggests that the image is drawn from the current events of the first century which the Christians in the Roman Emipre would have recognized. In 62 AD the Parthians has beaten a Roman army in the Tigris valley and people throughout the empire viewed them with the same unrealistic dread as westerners in modern times had for the yellow peril. The Parthians were the only mounted archers of the 1st century and white horses were their mount of choice. The passage can thus be interpreted as 'conquest from without' without assigning any specific identity to the rider.

Related Topics:
62 AD - Parthian - Tigris - Yellow peril - 1st century

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Red Horse

The second horseman, riding the red horse, is generally held to represent War. The red color of the second horse could mean bloody war, and the sword held by the rider could symbolize war and violence.

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Black Horse

The third horseman, riding the black horse, is Famine. The black color of the third horse could be a symbol of death and famine. Its rider was holding a scale, which means scarcity of food, higher prices, and famine.

Related Topics:
Black - Scale

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Pale Horse

The fourth horseman (on the pale, or sickly horse, which may be the source of the notion of "pestilence" as a separate horseman) is explicitly named Death. The pale greenish color of the fourth horse means fear, sickness, decay, and death. The imagery of the horses and riders is similar to a passage in Zechariah.

Related Topics:
Green - Zechariah

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Alternative interpretations

An alternate interpretation, likely based on differing translations, holds the first Horseman to represent War and/or the Antichrist, the second to represent Pestilence (sometimes called Plague), while the third and fourth riders remain Famine and Death, respectively. Yet another interpretation is that the Four Horsemen are the Four Beasts mentioned in the visions of The Book of Daniel, representing four kings (or kingdoms), the last of which devours the world. The more conventional integration of this portion of Daniel with Revelation, however, is that the eleventh king (arising in the fourth kingdom) is the Antichrist.

Related Topics:
War - Antichrist - Pestilence - Plague - Famine - Death - Book of Daniel

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Mainline Christian scholars tend not to interpret Revelation as prophecy of future events so much as a revealing of God's presence in the current events of the first century. While Rome appears to be all powerful and in control, the images of the horsemen are a grim reminder that even the powerful persecutor is helpless before the power of God.

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In this light the white horseman is a symbol for a conquoring force from without. This is symbolized using the image of the feared Parthian mounted archer on his white horse and given the crown of a conquorer. The red rider who takes peace from the earth is the civil strife that ende the pax romana. The black rider is the famine that follows anytime there is foreign invasion or civil war. The final rider is the death that accompanies conflict and famine and the pestilence that springs up in the aftermath of these other tragedies.

Related Topics:
Parthian - Pax romana

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While these images, and especially the Parthians, are specific to the Roman Empire of the early Christian era, there is a universality about them. Each new century, Christian interpreters see ways in which the horsemen, and Revelation in general, speaks to contemporary events.

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