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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 6

1 I looked on when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a thunderous voice, “Come!” 2 So I looked, and here came a white horse!⁠ The one who rode it had a bow, and he was given a crown, and as a conqueror he rode out to conquer. 3 Then when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4 And another horse, fiery red, came out, and the one who rode it was granted permission to take peace from the earth so that people would butcher one another, and he was given a huge sword. 5 Then when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So I looked, and here came a black horse! The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand. 6 Then I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!” 7 Then when the Lamb opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!” 8 So I looked and here came a pale green horse! The name of the one who rode it was Death, and Hades followed right behind.⁠ They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill its population with the sword, famine, and disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.⁠ 9 Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed⁠ because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given.⁠ 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”⁠ 11 Each of them was given a long white robe,⁠ and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.⁠ 12 Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red;⁠ 13 and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind.⁠ 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.⁠ 16 They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,⁠ 17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

Texts in conversation

Compare Revelation 6:10 and 3 Enoch 48A:3

New Testament · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Revelation, the souls of the martyrs in heaven cry out for God to judge and avenge their deaths. 3 Enoch echoes a similar tradition describing righteous souls in heaven praying to God three times daily.

Passages

Revelation 6:10

New Testament
9 Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Each of them was given a long white robe, and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

3 Enoch 48A:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
1 R. Ishmael said: Metatron said to me: Come, and I will show you the Right Hand of MAQOM, laid behind (Him) because of the destruction of the Holy Temple; from which all kinds of splendour and light shine forth and by which the 955 heavens were created; and whom not even the Seraphim and the 'Ophannim are permitted (to behold), until the day of salvation shall arrive. 2 And I went by his side and he took me by his hand and showed me (the Right Hand of MAQOM), with all manner of praise, rejoicing and song: and no mouth can tell its praise, and no eye can behold it, because of its greatness, dignity, majesty, glory and beauty. 3 And not only that, but all the souls of the righteous who are counted worthy to behold the joy of Jerusalem, they are standing by it, praising and praying before it three times every day, saying (Is. li. 9): "Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord" according as it is written (Is. lxiii. 12): "He caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses". 4 In that moment the Right Hand of MAQOM was weeping. And there went forth from its five fingers five rivers of tears and fell down into the great sea and shook the whole world, according as it is written (Is. xxiv. 19, 20): "The earth is utterly broken (1), the earth is clean dissolved (2), the earth is moved exceedingly (3), the earth shall stagger like a drunken man (4) and shall be moved to and fro like a hut (5)", five times corresponding to the fingers of his Great Right Hand.
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... In the above texts the repository of the souls of the dead is not mentioned as being in the proximity of the heavenly throne, although, as mentioned above, the image of God’s throne appears in that text. However, the author of Sefer haheikhalot (also known as 3 Enoch), a later Hebrew apocalyptic text written in post-talmudic times, does connect these motifs; it places the souls near God’s throne and describes their attempt to intercede before God. In this work the angel Metatron shows R. Ishmael the souls of the righteous, ‘which fly above the Throne of Glory before God’. Here the souls include not only those righteous who have died ‘and have returned [to their heavenly abode]’, but also unborn righteous souls.23 Another passage in 3 Enoch describes the ‘brilliant right hand of God’, which is ‘drawn back’ because of the destruction of the Temple, alluding to the text of Lamentations 2: 3: ‘He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy; He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, consuming all around.’ This image symbolizes God’s decision not to use his ‘outstretched arm’ to deliver his people during this period. The author of 3 Enoch relates further that ‘all the souls of the righteous, those who are worthy to see the joy of Jerusalem’, appear before this divine arm with praise, and ‘ask for mercy from before it [her]’ three times every day: ‘Awake, awake, clothe yourself with splendour, O arm of the Lord’ (Isa. 51: 9).24 Thus, in this later apocalyptic text the souls of the righteous serve an important intercessory function: they request mercy for Jerusalem during the period of God’s wrath. ...”
Paul Mandel, “The Sacrifice of the Souls of the Righteous upon the Heavenly Altar: Transformations of Apocalyptic Traditions in Medieval Ashkenaz,” in Regional Identities and Cultures of Medieval Jews, ed. Talya Fishman Javier Castaño and Ephraim Kanarfogel (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2018), 58.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Revelation 6:10 and 3 Enoch 48A:3

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