For verse 7 see verses 1, 3, 5.

And I saw, and behold: see Rev. 6.2.

A pale horse: the Greek word can be taken to mean “green” or “yellowish green”; New Revised Standard Version translates “pale green”; New Jerusalem Bible “deathly pale”; Revised English Bible “sickly pale.” At least one language translates this as “a light dusty color.”

Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him: this is the only horse whose rider is given a name. It is not certain whether the verb followed means that Hades also was riding a horse; it does not mean that Hades was on the same horse that Death rode. So translators need to use a very general word for followed. For Death and Hades see 1.18.

And they were given power over a fourth of the earth: the passive they were given means that God gave them this power. Since the focus of this clause is really not on the agent, in many languages one may say “they received power over one quarter…” and thus avoid a passive construction. In 2.26 the word for power (or, authority) meant to “rule over”; here in this verse it means “to have the power to hurt (or, kill) people.” So in languages where one must state the domain of the authority, this clause may be rendered “they received the authority to hurt (or, kill) one quarter of the people in the world.” The phrase a fourth of the earth is not used in a spatial sense, that is, one fourth of the surface of the globe, but in a numerical sense, one fourth of the world’s population.

To kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence: here sword (translating the Greek word used in 1.16; 2.12, 16) translates a different Greek word from the one used in verse 4; in translation, however, the same word may be used. Sword stands for battle; death by famine is starvation caused by shortage of food; andpestilence translates the Greek word “death” (as the same Greek word translates the Hebrew word for “pestilence” in the Septuagint of Lev 26.25; Jer 14.12; 24.10; and elsewhere), meaning “disease” or “epidemic.”

And by wild beasts of the earth: here the Greek preposition hupo is used, indicating subordinate agency (living creatures as agents); in the case of sword, famine, and pestilence, the preposition en is used, indicating means (as with tools). The phrase of the earth indicates these are wild land animals. Many languages will express agency and means in exactly the same manner.

Alternative translation models for verse 8 are:

• I looked and saw there a pale-colored horse. Its rider had the name Death, and another being named World of the Dead was following close behind the first one. They received the power to kill one quarter of the people on earth by means of war, lack of food (or, starvation), sickness of all kinds, and wild animals.

Or:

• … God gave them the power to use war, famine, epidemics, and wild animals to kill one quarter of the people on the earth.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .