SEV Biblia, Chapter 6:9
¶ Y cuando l hubo abierto el quinto sello, vi debajo del altar las almas de los que habían sido muertos por causa de la palabra de Dios y por el testimonio que ellos tenían.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 6:9
Verse 9. The fifth seal] There is no animal nor any other being to introduce this seal, nor does there appear to be any new event predicted; but the whole is intended to comfort the followers of God under their persecutions, and to encourage them to bear up under their distresses. I saw under the altar] A symbolical vision was exhibited, in which he saw an altar; and under it the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God - martyred for their attachment to Christianity, are represented as being newly slain as victims to idolatry and superstition. The altar is upon earth, not in heaven.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal , etc.] Of the seven seals of the sealed book; here is no beast speaking here, nor horse and rider presented to view; it was now a very dark time both with respect to the church of God and ministry of the word, and the Roman empire. This seal refers to the times of Dioclesian, and the persecution under him; and instead of the voice of one of the living creatures, John hears the voice of martyrs: I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain ; these include not only all the martyrs that were put to death in the persecution of Dioclesian, but all those that suffered in all the persecutions preceding; for this, being the last, involves them all. Souls, being immaterial and incorporeal, are invisible to the bodily eye; these therefore were either clothed with corporeal forms, as angels sometimes are, or rather John saw them in a visionary way, as he saw the angels: and these were the souls of such as were slain; their bodies were dead, but their souls were alive; which shows the immortality of souls, and that they die not with their bodies, and that they live after them in a separate state: ylwjqd ytmn , the souls of them that are slain, is a phrase used by Jewish writers f193 , and who have a notion that the souls of those that are slain are kept in certain palaces, under the care of one appointed by God f194 : and these were seen under the altar; either this is said in allusion to the blood of the sacrifices, which was poured out at the bottom of the altar, ( Leviticus 4:7 5:9), in which the life and soul of the creature is; or because that martyrdom is a sacrifice of men's lives, and an offering of them in the cause of God and truth, ( Philippians 2:17 2 Timothy 4:7); or with some reference to a common notion of the Jews, that the souls of the righteous are treasured up under the throne of glory they have also a saying, everyone that is buried in the land of Israel is as if he was buried under the altar f196 ; for they think that being buried there expiates their sins f197 ; to which they add, that whoever is buried under the altar, is as if he was buried under the throne of glory f198 ; yea, they talk of an altar above, upon which Michael the high priest causes the souls of the righteous to ascend f199 . Christ may be meant by the altar here, as he is in ( Hebrews 13:10), who is both altar, sacrifice, and priest, and is the altar that sanctifies the gift, and from off which every sacrifice of prayer and praise comes up with acceptance before God; and the souls of the martyrs being under this altar, denotes their being in the presence of Christ, and enjoying communion with him, and being in his hands, into whose hands they commit their souls at death, as Stephen did, and being under his care and protection until the resurrection morn, when they shall be reunited to their bodies which sleep in Jesus: and they were slain for the word of God ; both for the essential Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose faith they professed; and for the written word, they made the rule of their faith and practice, and which Dioclesian forbid the reading of, and sought utterly to destroy; and for the Gospel principally, which is contained in it: and for the testimony which they held ; the Syriac and Arabic versions read, for the testimony of the Lamb; and so the Complutensian edition; either for the Gospel, which is a testimony of the person, office, and grace of Christ, the Lamb, which they embraced, professed, and held fast; or for the witness they bore to him, and the profession which they made thereof, and in which they continued.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 9-11 - The sight the apostle beheld at the opening the fifth seal was very affecting. He saw the souls of the martyrs under the altar; at the foo of the altar in heaven, at the feet of Christ. Persecutors can onl kill the body; after that there is no more they can do; the soul lives God has provided a good place in the better world, for those who ar faithful unto death. It is not their own death, but the sacrifice of Christ, that gives them entrance into heaven. The cause in which the suffered, was for the word of God; the best any man can lay down his life for; faith in God's word, and the unshaken confession of tha faith. They commit their cause to Him to whom vengeance belongs. The Lord is the comforter of his afflicted servants, and precious is their blood in his sight. As the measure of the sin of persecutors is fillin up, so is the number of the persecuted, martyred servants of Christ When this is fulfilled, God will send tribulation to those who troubl them, and unbroken happiness and rest to those that are troubled.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 οτε 3753 ηνοιξεν 455 5656 την 3588 πεμπτην 3991 σφραγιδα 4973 ειδον 1492 5627 υποκατω 5270 του 3588 θυσιαστηριου 2379 τας 3588 ψυχας 5590 των 3588 εσφαγμενων 4969 5772 δια 1223 τον 3588 λογον 3056 του 3588 θεου 2316 και 2532 δια 1223 την 3588 μαρτυριαν 3141 ην 3739 ειχον 2192 5707
Vincent's NT Word Studies
9. Altar (qusiasthriou). See on Acts xvii. 23. The altar of sacrifice, as is indicated by slain; not the altar of incense. The imagery is from the tabernacle. Exod. xxxix. 39; xl. 29.
Souls (yucav). Or lives. See on 3 John 2. He saw only blood, but blood and life were equivalent terms to the Hebrew.
Slain (esfagmenwn). See on chapter v. 6. The law commanded that the blood of sacrificed animals should be poured out at the bottom of the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. iv. 7).
They held (eicon). Not held fast, but bore the testimony which was committed to them.
