Revelation 6:8
What does Revelation 6:8 mean?
A plain-English look at Revelation 6:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Revelation 6:8 means
The pale horse appears, its rider named Death, with Hades following. Authority is given over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, death (likely pestilence), and wild beasts. This rider does not merely symbolize one calamity but the sum of many. Hades trailing him shows the grave claiming its due. Yet even here, limits remain: one-fourth, not all. Death’s reign is real but bounded. The instruments echo the earlier seals—war, hunger—and add disease and nature’s threats. The verse exposes our frailty and proclaims that the Lord sets the leash length even for Death itself, preserving both justice and hope in the midst of judgment.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And I saw a grey horse, and the name of him who was seated on it was Death; and Hell came after him. And there was given to them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to put to destruction by the sword, and by taking away their food, and by death, and by the beasts of the earth.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and I saw, and lo, a pale horse, and he who is sitting upon him--his name is Death, and Hades doth follow with him, and there was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part of the land,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And behold a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death. And hell followed him. And power was given to him over the four parts of the earth, to kill with sword, with famine and with death and with the beasts of the earth.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And I saw: and behold, a pale horse, and he that sat upon it, his name [was] Death, and hades followed with him; and authority was given to him over the fourth of the earth to slay with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
Context
This completes the sequence of the four horsemen, gathering their effects into a single, devastating outcome. After conquest, war, and scarcity, mass mortality follows. With the fourth seal, the focus will shift in the fifth from earth to heaven, from the suffering of the living to the state of those who have died for their faith. That change of scene will answer the question of how God regards His people amid these judgments.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Matthew 11:23
And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.
- Revelation 9:18
By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths.
- Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
- Jeremiah 15:2
And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
- Proverbs 5:5
Her feet go down to death; Her steps take hold on Sheol;
- 1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
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