And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Ver. 5. A black horse] Famine discolours and denigrates, Lamentations 4:7,8. It accompanies war for the most part, and in sieges is very extreme, as at Samaria, where an ass's head was worth four pounds; at Rome, where this proclamation was made in the market, Pone pretium humanae carni; Place a reward on the flesh of a man, at Scodra, where horses were dainty meat, yea, they were glad to eat dogs, cats, rats, &c. At Antioch in Syria, where many Christians (in the holy war, as they called it) were glad to eat the dead bodies of their late slain enemies. (Turk. Hist.)
Had a pair of balances] Gr. ζυγον, the beam of scales. To show that bread should be delivered out by measure, as is threatened, Ezekiel 4:16; Deuteronomy 28:59,68, and men should be stinted and pittanced.