vovat | Four Horsemen for the Price of One

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as mentioned in the Biblical Book of Revelation, are commonly referenced in popular culture. Interestingly, however, the four who show up in cultural references don't totally match the four actually described in the Bible. In Revelation 6, the bizarre mutant lamb who symbolizes Jesus breaks open seven seals, the first four of which reveal men on horseback. The first is a conqueror on a white horse, the second a man on a red horse who has the power to "take peace from the earth," the third a creator of famine on a black horse, and the fourth and last Death on a pale horse. The popular identities of the Horsemen, however, are Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence. The second and third can easily be interpreted as War and Famine, although these aren't given as their proper names. But where in blazes does Pestilence come from? The Wikipedia article mentions the change without really making an attempt to explain it. But I think one possible explanation can be drawn from Revelation 6:8, in which it is said that Death and his companion Hades (more on him later in the post) have the power "to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." The New Revised Standard Version (generally acknowledged by English speakers outside the King James Only Movement to be a more accurate translation of the original Greek) gives this part of the passage as "to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth." Since "sword" and "famine/hunger" also refer to the previous two horsemen, maybe someone reading this passage assumed that this meant Pestilence was the man on the white horse, even though it doesn't match his description. Some denominations, however, view the conqueror as the Antichrist.

I must say that I find the reference to Hades following behind Death to be rather confusing. The word "Hades" is used several times in the New Testament, as essentially the Greek equivalent of Sheol, the traditional Jewish world of the dead. With Revelation being as esoteric as it is, perhaps it literally is supposed to be the world of the dead itself following Death, or at least all of its inhabitants. The context, however, kind of suggests that Hades should be viewed as another personification. Could this be the ruler of the underworld from Greek mythology? Even if this wasn't intended by John of Patmos, it seems that later authors might have run with this idea. In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, we see a conversation between Satan and Hades, the latter of whom is more practical. In Revelation 20, both Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire, symbolizing the figurative death of death itself.

Incidentally, while there's no real description of Death in Revelation, Chapter 14 has a few angels with sickles reaping the Earth. Could this have been instrumental in the portrayal of Death as the Grim Reaper? I think it's quite possible, although I'm sure this was not the first metaphorical reference to people being harvested.