The first part of this verse follows the same pattern found in verses 1 and 3.

Behold: see 1.7 for ways to translate this word. In the context of this verse, however, Good News Translation‘s rendering “and there” is a good one. Another possible rendering is “and there appeared.”

A black horse: this is the symbol of famine, that is, death caused by famine.

A balance: a pair of scales, on which the scarce food is weighed; see the expression “eat bread by weight” in Ezek 4.16 (see also Lev 26.26). This was probably a weighing device consisting of two round metal plates hanging by strings or ropes to a short wooden or metal pole held in the rider’s hand. Translators should keep this picture in mind and not use words describing modern weighing systems. It is possible, then, to translate this sentence as follows: “a pair of scales was hanging from the rider’s hand,” or in other languages “a scale was hanging….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .