Revelation 6:9

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Ver. 9. Under the altar ] i.e. Under Christ, Hebrews 13:10 , under his custody and safeguard; or, under the altar, that is, lying at the bottom of the altar, as beasts newly slain for sacrifice. See Philippians 2:17 ; 2 Timothy 4:6 . The ten persecutions and (after them) the invasions of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, and Herula, heaped on massacres of martyrs.

Which they had ] Gr. ειχον , which they had, and would not be drawn by any terrors or tortures to part with. They may take away my life, said one, but not my faith; my head, but not my crown.