... are described in the Book of Revelation (Chapter 6, verses 1–8). The chapter tells of a book or scroll that God holds in his right hand, which is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God opens the first four seals, and this summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses.
The only horseman that is named in Revelation is the fourth: "and his name ... was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.""
The first rider is described as having a bow; "and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." This rider is traditionally seen as symbolising Conquest or Pestilence (and less frequently, the Christ or the Antichrist).
The second rider is traditionally seen to symbolise War: "power was given to him ... to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and there was given unto him a great sword."
The third rider has a pair of balances in his hand, and the narrator hears a voice say, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou not hurt the oil and the wine." This rider is seen to symbolise Famine.
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2019