Revelation 6:8
I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Hades is the Greek word for Sheol, the Old Testament abode of the dead. See entry for Matt. 16:18.
Revelation 6:9
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
(a) The Lamb of God is Jesus; see entry for Rev. 5:6.
(b) The word of God is Jesus; see entry for Rev. 19:13.
(c) The testimony which they had maintained. They did not recant their beliefs in the face of death.
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