SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 6:4

6:4a

another horse went forth. It was bright red: It is implied that the rider (6:4b) is on the horse. But John just described the horse at this point.

In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply that the horse went forth without a rider. If that is true in your language, you may want to include the implied information here. For example:

another horse ⌊with a rider⌋ came out. This horse was a fiery red one
-or-
another horse ⌊and rider⌋ came out. The horse was a fiery red one

another horse went forth: In some languages the phrase went forth requires saying the place that the horse went from. If that is true in your language, refer generally to something or imply coming out with a different verb. For example:

another horse came out ⌊of something/nothing
-or-
another horse appeared (New Living Translation (2004))

It was bright red: The second horse was bright red. It was similar in color to the bright red coals of a fire.

6:4b

its rider was granted permission: This clause is passive. Translate it in a similar way to the passive clause in 6:2b. For example:

Power was given to its rider
-or-

Someone⌋ gave power to the rider on this horse
-or-

God⌋ gave power to the rider
-or-
Its rider received power

rider: See how you translated this word in 6:2.

permission to take away: The Berean Standard Bible adds the word permission. These verses imply something like permission or “authority.” For example:

the authority to take (New Living Translation (2004))

take away peace from the earth: This phrase indicates that the rider will cause people to argue and fight against each other. They will no longer be at peace with each other. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

remove harmony from among the people on the earth
-or-
cause conflict between everyone on earth

the earth: Here the word earth refers to the people living on the earth. In some languages you may need to make this explicit. For example:

people of⌋ the earth
-or-
human beings

6:4c

men: The word men refers to both men and women here. For example:

people (Good News Translation)

slay: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as slay here refers to killing people during a war. Other ways to translate this word are:

kill (Good News Translation)
-or-
slaughter

6:4d

And he was given a great sword: The clause is passive. Translate this clause similarly to the passive clause in 6:4b. For example:

a great sword was given to him (New American Standard Bible)
-or-

Someone⌋ gave a large sword to him
-or-
He received a large sword

sword: A sword is a hand-held weapon that cuts or stabs. The swords of that time were 60–120 centimeters (2–4 feet) long and made of metal.

In some languages people are not familiar with swords. If that is true in your language, you may want to describe it. For example:

long knife
-or-
cutting/sharp weapon
-or-
war machete/bush-knife

See how you translated this word in 1:16 or 2:12.

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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