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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 6:9 and Sifre Numbers 139

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

Revelation describes the souls of the martyrs stored under the heavenly altar. This image is also found in Rabbinic tradition, such as Sifre Numbers, where the souls of the faithful are kept in a heavenly treasury in God’s presence.

Passages

Revelation 6:9

New Testament
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?”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

Sifre Numbers 139

Rabbinic · Halakhic Midrash
(Bamidbar 27:16) "Let the L-rd, the G-d of the spirits of all flesh, etc.": Scripture hereby apprises us that all the spirits issue only from Him. R. Eliezer the son of R. Yossi Haglili says: Let this "sign" always be in your hand: that so long as a man is alive his soul is reposited in the hand of its Owner, as it is written (Iyyov 12:10) "… that in His hand is the spirit of all living things. When he dies, it is reposited in the otzar ("the treasury,") as it is written (I Samuel 25:29) "and may the soul of my master be bound up in the bond of life." I might think, (the soul of) both the righteous and the wicked; it is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "and may He sling out the soul of your foes (as) in the hollow of a sling." "a man over the congregation": This is Joshua, as it is written (Psalms 78:25) "the bread of the mighty (i.e., manna) did a man eat." And why did Scripture not specify (that it was Joshua)? So as not to stir up controversy (over the appointment of Joshua) among his sons and the sons of his brother (Aaron, i.e., Elazar and Ithamar.)"
200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sifre Numbers

References

"... In the Hebrew Bible the soul or spirit (nefesh, ruah) of a person, denoting both ‘breath’ and, more generally, ‘life-force’, is understood to be in God’s hands: ‘Into Your hand I entrust my spirit [ruhi]’ (Ps. 31:6); ‘In His hand is every living soul [nefesh kol hai], and the breath [ruah] of all mankind’ (Job 12:10). In later Jewish thought, in concert with belief in the continued existence of the soul after death, individual souls were often said to reside in a ‘treasury’ or ‘store-room’ (otsar) which is in proximity to, or ‘with’, God, as in the following midrashic comment on the phrase elohei haruhhot lekhol basar in Numbers 27:16 ..."
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), 49–72.

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 6:9 and Sifre Numbers 139

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