Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
A black horse (ippov melav). Lust of conquest brings bloodshed, but also famine and hunger. "The colour of mourning and famine. See Jeremiah 4:28; Jeremiah 8:21; Malachi 3:14, where mournfully is, literally, in black" (Vincent).
Had (exwn) as in verse Revelation 6:2.
A balance (zugon). Literally, a yoke (old word from zeugnumi, to join), of slavery (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1), of teaching (Matthew 11:29), of weight or measure like a pair of scales evenly balancing as here (Ezekiel 5:1; Ezekiel 45:10). The rider of this black horse, like the spectral figure of hunger, carries in his hand a pair of scales. This is also one of the fruits of war.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Revelation 6:5:
2 John 1:12
Revelation 5:1
Revelation 6:1
Revelation 6:2
Revelation 12:3
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