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The meaning of the 4 HORSEMEN of the Apocalypse

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Meaning of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The meaning of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse is related to the color of the horse: white is conquest, red is war, black is famine and yellow is death. In a Teacher we tell you.

The Bible has many characters. that have gone down in history for their iconography or for their influence in the Western world. One of these characters are the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which are four knights that appear in the book of Apocalypse, and that have managed to have a great representation in the art of the Western world. For all this and to get to know them in depth, in this lesson from a Teacher we are going to talk about the meaning of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

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Index

  1. What are the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
  2. The white horse, one of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse
  3. the red horse
  4. Black Horse
  5. yellow horse

What are the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse are the 4 knights appearing in the first part of the sixth chapter of the Apocalypse, being one of the main elements of this part of the biblical texts.

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In the sixth chapter it speaks of a scroll in the left hand of God that is sealed with seven seals. It is Jesus who opens four of these seven seals, releasing four horses of white, red, black and yellow colors.

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse do not receive much information during the text, but the later interpretation has represented them with the powers of conquest, war, famine and death. Even so, the only attribution that appears in the original text is that of death, with the rest of the elements originating from later analyses.

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse have an apvery brief arition in the biblical texts, but its importance lies in the analyzes and representations that have been made of them later, being for this reason one of the best known elements of the Bible.

Meaning of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse - What are the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

The white horse, one of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Once we have discussed who the 4 horsemen are in a general way, we must talk specifically about each one of them to understand their role and attributions, in order to be able to differentiate them.

If you want to know the meaning of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, We'll start with the white horse. It is said that he is ridden by the rider of conquest, carrying a bow as a weapon, and a crown that according to the Bible makes him a winner. It is said that instead of conquest, Glory can also be attributed to him.

Some theologians have said that the white horse must represent the spread of the gospel, since it is thought that the true conquest will be ideological and religious. Other theologians even say that the rider may be Jesus, as the ultimate evangelizer.

Other elements that relate to the rider are:

  • The conquering power of the Church
  • The evangelization of distant towns such as those located in America, or the expansion of the Roman Empire.

In general I could say that any expansion of a region dominated by Christianity can be related to this horseman.

In a Teacher we discover you who wrote the apocalypse.

The red horse.

The red horse is the one that represents war, therefore having several similarities with the white horse of the conquest.

According to the representation of the Bible, the rider of the red horse carried a gigantic sword, and was given the ability to be able to take away the peace of the world so that people would kill each other.

There are two main theories about what this rider represents, the first being that it represents the persecution than Christians suffered during Roman times, and the second being a possible civil war that it would face an empire, and it is even thought that it could have been the division of the Roman Empire.

Some theologians consider that the white horse represents the war of conquest, and the red horse represents the civil war between people of the same town.

Meaning of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse - The Red Horse

Black Horse.

We continue to know the meaning of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse to focus now on the black Horse. It is said that he is ridden by the hunger rider, being represented as by a person who carry a scale in one of his hands, representing the way bread is weighed during famines. In the same fragment of the Bible it is said that the voice of this rider spoke about the price of food, alluding to the fact that it represented hunger.

Some theologians have indicated that this horseman may represent the oppression of the empire and the rich, since his words may indicate that while some people have a hard time being able to feed themselves, others get rich by raising the price of food. At the same time, the rider speaks of not harming the wine or the oil, serving as a symbol of the preservation of Christians.

yellow horse.

To conclude this lesson on the meaning of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse, we must talk about the last of these riders, being the one who rode the yellow horse, although some texts also refer to this animal as green.

The rider on the yellow horse is the one who represents death and it is said that he was given the power to end a quarter of the world with his sword. This horseman is the only one that receives a proper name, and therefore he is the only one that we are convinced represents death. For all this it is possibly the most represented horseman in art, since it is the only one to which a series of attributes can be attributed unequivocally.

There are many studies that try to explain what events this horseman represents, some of them being the Crisis of the 3rd century, the Black Death of the Middle Ages, or even the world wars. In general, this horseman seems to represent a great slaughter that will take place, and for this reason he is considered the most dangerous horseman of all, since his appearance would be the Apocalypse.

If you want to read more articles similar to Meaning of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

Bibliography

  • Ibanez, v. b. (2012). The four horsemen of the apocalypse (Vol. 252). Akal Editions.
  • Blasco Ibanez, V. (2020). The four horsemen of the apocalypse. The four horsemen of the apocalypse, 1-358.
  • TABLES, f. AND. THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE.
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