Revelation 6:9

“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.…”

“The three last seals relate to the invisible, as the first four to the visible world; the fifth, to the martyrs who have died as believers; the sixth, to those who have died, or who shall be found at Christ's coming, unbelievers, namely, "the kings . . . great men . . . bondman . . . freeman"; the seventh, to the silence in heaven. The scene changes from earth to heaven; so that interpretations which make these three last consecutive to the first four seals, are very doubtful. I saw--in spirit. For souls are not naturally visible. under the altar--As the blood of sacrificial victims slain on the altar was poured at the bottom of the altar, so the souls of those sacrificed for Christ's…”

“And when he had opened the fifth seal - notes at Revelation 5:1; Revelation 6:1. I saw under the altar - The four living creatures are no longer heard as in the opening of the first four seals. No reason is given for the change in the manner of the representation; and none can be assigned, unless it be, that having represented each one of the four living creatures in their turn as calling attention to the remarkable events about to occur, there seemed to be no necessity or propriety in introducing them again. In itself considered, it cannot be supposed that they would be any less interested in the events about to be disclosed than they were in those which preceded. This seal pertains to…”

“And when he opened the fifth seal - As the four former seals, so the three latter, have a close connexion with each other. These all refer to the invisible world; the fifth, to the happy dead, particularly the martyrs; the sixth, to the unhappy; the seventh, to the angels, especially those to whom the trumpets are given. And I saw - Not only the church warring under Christ, and the world warring under Satan; but also the invisible hosts, both of heaven and hell, are described in this book. And it not only describes the actions of both these armies upon earth; but their respective removals from earth, into a more happy or more miserable state, succeeding each other at several times,…”

“6:9-11 In counterpoint to the world’s destructive ways (6:1-8), the fifth seal introduces Christian martyrs who ask how God intends to deal with evil. 6:9 Rather than follow the world’s destructive ways, the martyrs gave their lives for the word of God.”

“I saw: Rev 8:3, Rev 9:13, Rev 14:18; Lev 4:7; Joh 16:2 \*Gr: Phi 2:17; Ti2 4:6 the souls: Rev 20:4; Co2 5:8; Phi 1:23 slain: Rev 1:9, Rev 2:13, Rev 11:3-7, Rev 12:11-17, Rev 19:10; Ti2 1:8 Revelation 6:10”