What seemed to be a voice: as in 4.6a, “as it were,” here what seemed to be is said in order to indicate that it was a sound like that produced by a human voice, “what sounded like a (human) voice.”
In the midst of the four living creatures: this implies quite specifically that the speaker was not one of the four living creatures but was in their midst—possibly on the throne itself.
A quart of wheat: the Greek dry measure translated quart is equivalent to about a quart in the English system, and a little over a liter in the metric system. Where flour is measured by weight, the translation can be “two pounds” or “one kilogram” (to be precise, a liter of wheat flour weighs 570 grams). However, translators may use a suitable local equivalent, if that is considered natural and is less anachronistic than pounds or kilograms. Both wheat and barley in this verse refer to flour, not to the grain itself. Barley was cheaper than wheat and was eaten not only by the poor but also by domestic work animals.
A denarius: as the RSV footnote and the TEV text indicate, the denarius was the standard daily wage for a rural worker (see Matt 20.2). This was a very high price for a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley, perhaps as much as ten times the normal price, and indicates a severe shortage as a result of war. This can be indicated by translating “A whole day’s wages for only a quart (or, two pounds) of wheat” or “It takes the wages of a hard day’s work to buy only a quart of wheat.”
Do not harm oil and wine: the command is addressed to the horseman, and its effect is to limit the severity of the famine. Although some commentators suggest that oil and wine were really luxury items, it seems more probable to take them as staples, needed for a normal diet at that time (see Deut 7.13; 11.14). It is not easy to determine the precise meaning of the verb “(not) to harm,” which is also used of plants in 7.3; 9.4. The problem here is to determine whether oil and wine are the products themselves, in which case something like “do not diminish the supply of oil and wine” is meant, or else it may mean “do not adulterate the oil and wine” (that is, lower their quality by adding water to them). But oil and wine may refer to olive trees and grapevines (Good News Translation), in which case the meaning is “spare the olive trees and the grapevines.” Swete comments: “The oliveyards and vineyards are not to suffer to such an extent as seriously to interfere with the supply.” The first possibility is preferred by Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, “do not cause a scarcity of oil and wine”; also New Jerusalem Bible “do not tamper with the oil or the wine”; the second possibility is the choice of Revised English Bible, “do not damage the olive and the vine” (also Barclay). No one can be dogmatic, but perhaps the second possibility is the better one.
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 .