The First Seal of Revelation

Revelation 6:1-2

1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

 

When Jesus opened the first seal, John saw a man riding a white horse armed with a bow and wearing a crown. This rider is the first of the famous “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” John wrote that this horseman “went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

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In 95 AD, the Roman Empire was still on the rise. The first seal applies to the expanding empire as its armies “went forth conquering,” an agreeable interpretation based on the imagery of the second verse. The word John used for crown—στεφανος, or stefanos—translates as a royal diadem of triumph.[i] White horses were used by conquering generals as they paraded through the streets of Rome in triumphs.[ii] The empire did not reach its greatest territorial extent until the end of Trajan’s reign, which lasted from 98 to 117 AD and began only about three years after John wrote Revelation.[iii] Trajan’s military campaigns, which started in 101 AD, represent the fulfillment of the first seal.

 

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Roman conquests and annexations under Trajan, 101-117 AD.

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[i] Thayer, Joseph Henry. 1889. “στεφανος.” In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Joseph Henry Thayer, 587-588. New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company.

[ii] Carpenter, W. Boyd. n.d. “Revelation VI.” In A Bible Commentary for English Readers, Vol. VIII, by Ellicott, Charles John (ed.), 559. London: Cassell and Company.

[iii] National Geographic Society. 2022. Trajan. September 28. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/trajan/.