Revelation 6:1

Come and see.
Ἐρχου καὶ ἴδε [Erchou kai ide] (MT) or Ἐρχου καὶ ἴδου [Erchou kai idou] (TR). This phrase occurs in the TR and MT texts in conjunction with the loosing of each of the first four seals (Rev. Rev. 6:1+, Rev. 6:3+, Rev. 6:5+, Rev. 6:7+). These translations understand the living creature to be speaking to John. The NU text omits καὶ ἴδε [kai ide] , and see, understanding come as a command issued by the living creature to the rider of the horse bringing him forth in judgment. This would accord well with the emphasis found on the judgments being subject to divine control.

The cry itself is very brief—Ἐρχου [Erchou] ! It may be equally rendered Go, or Come! Our translators give it about as often one way as the other. It does not alter the sense here whichever way we take it. It is not an address to John, as many have regarded it, and as the questionable addition to the text—“and see”—would seem to require. John was already on the spot, beholding all that was transpiring, and did not need to be called any nearer, or to remove any further off. And if his nearer approach or further departure had been needed in the case of the first horseman, it could not have been needed for the succeeding ones. But we find the same command repeated in each successive instance. Neither can we explain why it should be such a voice of thundering power, if it was simply to call to the seer.⁹

Notes

¹ Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), Rev. 6:1.

² Ibid.

³ Alva J. McClain, The Greatness Of The Kingdom (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1959), 56.

⁴ Keith H. Essex, “The Rapture and the Book of Revelation,” in Richard L. Mayhue, ed., The Master’s Seminary Journal, vol. 13 no. 1 (Sun Valley, CA: The Master’s Seminary, Spring 2002), 230.

⁵ John MacArthur, Revelation 1-11 : The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), Rev. 6:1.

⁶ Albrecht Durer (1471 - 1528). Image courtesy of the Connecticut College Wetmore Print Collection.

⁷ “Both passages involve similar descriptions to the approaching end.”—Renald E. Showers, The Pre-Wrath Rapture View (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2001), 11. “The beginning of birth pangs and the first four seals are the same and . . . take place during the first half of the 70th week.”—Renald E. Showers, Maranatha, Our Lord Come (Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1995), 16. Mat. 24:5-7 with the first four seals of Revelation Rev. 6:1-8+ indicates that the beginning of birth pangs and the first four seals are the same thing.”—Ibid., 25.

⁸ Showers, Maranatha, Our Lord Come, 63.

⁹ J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), 125.