2.1 Λευκός (9x)

Λευκός is the adjectival lexeme of the colour most frequently used in the NT. It appears in the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 5.36; 17.2; 28.3; Mark 9.3; 16.5; Luke 9.29), in John (4.35; 20.12) and in the Acts (1.10). It has two different but related meanings: shining (Hom. Il. 23.268; 14.185) and white. In fact, in Hebrew one word has both these meanings.Footnote ³

In relation to the colour λευκός, ‘white’, this is the natural colour of snow, milk (giving rise to frequent comparisons), flowers, fruit, the hair of elderly people, of animals, but not of cloth since, at least in Israel, weavers had to bleach the natural fabric to make it white. It even includes the broad chromatic scale of different shades of grey (λευκοὶ ἐγένοντο κονισάλῳ, Hom. Il. 5.503).

The adjective λευκός was used in worship. It was known to be the dominant colour of priestly vestments and was also used to cover the body of the deceased in burials. This colour is associated with luxury (Esther 1.6), joy (Eccles 9.8) or purity (Isa 1.18). In Greco-Roman culture, perhaps owing to its rarity, white denotes worship and the divinity. It also represents happiness, good fortune and victory in war.Footnote ⁴ In the gospels, λευκός appears in descriptions of clothing, fields and hair.

2.2 Mέλας (4x)

Since Homer the term μέλας has been used to refer to the colour black, although it is also used to allude to different darker shades of colour, such as the dark red colour of wine or blood (Od. 5.265; Il. 4.149), the dark blue of waves in the sea (Il. 23.693), dark grey, etc. It is the natural colour of hair in youth, of tanned skin, and of animal skins,Footnote ²⁰ and is described as such in LXX and in MT (Cant 1.5; 5.11; Lev 13.37; Zech 6.2, 6). It is also often used in a figurative sense with other connotations: dismal, sad or evil (Hom. Il. 2.834: 4.117; Plut. Mor. 1.12d).Footnote ²¹ Consequently, in ancient times μέλας is the colour associated with mourning, magic, superstition and sadness.Footnote ²²

It only appears once in the gospels, to describe hair colour (Matt 5.36) as mentioned above, although it is used three times in the letters (2 Cor 3.3; 2 John 1.12; 3 John 1.13):

Here, the substantivised neuter form is used, τὸ μέλαν, which since Plato (Phdr. 276c; cf. Demosth. 18, 258; Plut., Mor. 841E) has a specific meaning: ‘ink’.Footnote ²³ According to Pliny the Elder (Nat. 35), the ink most commonly used was black and was made with soot, resin, wine lees or cuttlefish ink, mixed with gum. This would explain how, through its metonymic use, μέλαν would lexicalise over time.Footnote ²⁴ One can, therefore, conclude that the substantive form of the adjective μέλαν in the letters no longer refers to the colour black but instead to a new reality: ink, composed of soot, vegetable gum and water.

2.3 Κόκκινος (2x) and πορφυροῦς (2x)

There are two shades of red that appear in the gospels: κόκκινος, ‘scarlet’, and πορφυροῦς, ‘purple’.

Κόκκινος, ‘scarlet’, refers to a deep red, or scarlet, obtained either from the insect Kermococcus vermilio or from its eggs. The process followed to produce this dye was complex: the insects were first dried, then dissolved in water to obtain the pigment. It was an expensive product, although cheaper than the purple dye, as 70,000 insects were required to make one pound of dye.Footnote ²⁵ In general the scarlet dye was associated with wealth and the upper classes, as shown by David's lament that the daughters of Israel will dress in scarlet no longer after the death of Saul (1 Sam 1.24),Footnote ²⁶ or in Pliny's story in which he describes how the colour of the paludamentum was κόκκινος (Nat. 22.2).Footnote ²⁷ Moreover, in the OT it was associated with worship, as it was one of the colours of the tapestries covering the tabernacle (Exod 26.31) and of the ephod (Exod 39.2). Its symbolic meaning is related to blood and also sin (Isa 1.18).Footnote ²⁸

Πορφυροῦς, ‘purple’, in the Hebrew and Hellenistic worlds denotes a broad chromatic scale, ranging from red to dark purple, including bluish purple and violet. The reason for this wide spectrum of colours lies in the fact that the pigment was obtained from different carnivorous mollusks from the Mediterranean: bluish-violet from Murex brandaris, scarlet from Murex trunculus and violet from Helix ianthina and Purpura lapillis.Footnote ²⁹ Also, the intensity of the colour could vary depending on the amount of sunlight that the pigment was exposed to, as the pigment first obtained from the mollusk was initially colourless. As mentioned above, the process was very costly, as 12,000 mollusks were needed to obtain 2 grams of pigment.Footnote ³⁰

The significance of purple and its use was similar to the colour scarlet. In Israel it was one of the liturgical colours par excellence. The curtain of the holy tent of the tabernacle was purple (Exod 26.31, 36); so were the vestments of the high priest (Exod 28.5, 6, 8, 15, 33) and other objects of worship (Num 4.14). Purple was also a symbol of wealth and royalty, not only in Israel but also in the ancient Near East. For example, the drapes that decorated the banquet of Ahasuerus were purple (Esther 1.6); Mordecai, after being made royal courtier, was given purple garments to wear (Esther 8.15); the kings of Midian also wore purple (Judg 8.26). The Hellenistic monarchs were known to follow the custom inherited from Persia and Macedonia to honour their advisors by dressing them in purple.Footnote ³¹ In Rome, too, purple was a clear indication of a person's high rank (Plin. Nat. 9.66). In fact, victorious generals wore a purple toga in the triumphal procession, toga picta, and the border around the toga praetexta of priests and important magistrates in public ceremonies was also purple.Footnote ³²

In the gospels, κόκκινος and πορφυροῦς appear in the passion episodes of Matthew and John, respectively. These terms were used to describe the colour of the tunic in which the soldiers dressed Jesus to mock his royal status:

Since κόκκινος applies to the colour scarlet, or maroon, and πορφυροῦς can also refer to the colour red, κόκκινος and πορφυροῦς appear to function as synonyms in these pericopes, as there are no more elements within the context of the Johannine story to establish the shade of purple that John was alluding to. The expressivity of the adjectives does not seem to reside in specifying the precise colour of the cloak, κόκκινος or πορφυροῦς, but rather appears to determine the type of clothing with which the soldiers covered Jesus.Footnote ³³ By referring to the ἱμάτιον πορφυροῦν, the author of the Fourth Gospel clearly explains to his listeners/readers that they dress Jesus as if he were an ancient Near Eastern king. However, the cloak with which Jesus was covered was not a royal mantle but probably a red robe belonging to one of the soldiers (as part of his uniform), or the faded one of a lictor.Footnote ³⁴ In this case, Matthew's description of the cloak as χλαμὺς κόκκινη would reflect the scorn with which Jesus was treated, as Ulrich Luz also maintains.Footnote ³⁵ Instead of royal insignias, he is given fake ones: instead of a golden sceptre, he receives a reed; instead of a golden laurel wreath as a crown, a crown of thorns; instead of the purple cloak, the scarlet soldier's robe.Footnote ³⁶ Undoubtedly, the terms κόκκινος and πορφυροῦς are both used because the shade of red they depict alludes to the type of clothing that was placed on Jesus: representing the royal cloak worn by the kings and Greek governors of the ancient Near East.

Once again, it can be seen that the colours in the gospels tend not to refer to the shade of colour in itself, but to provide other information of a different kind – in this case, to allude to the type of cloak in which they dressed Jesus, and the significance of this.

In relation to the use of κόκκινος in the Letter to the Hebrews, the adjectival lexeme is used again as an attribute of the clothing, in this case ἔριον, ‘wool’. However, in this case the context is completely different as it has connotations of worship and the celebration of a sacrifice:

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews recalls the sacrifice made when the covenant was established between God and Moses, between God and his people. He explains in detail how this took place: μετὰ ὕδατος καὶ ἐρίου κοκκίνου καὶ ὑσσώπου, ‘with water, scarlet wool and hyssop’. Although this list cannot be found in Exod 24.3–8, it is present in Leviticus in the description of the purification of the leper (Lev 14.4, 6), or the house where he lives (Lev 14.49–52), and in Numbers in the description of how to purify someone who has been in contact with a corpse (Num 19.6, 9, 18).Footnote ³⁷ Both Numbers and Leviticus also include the cedar. It is not known why these three elements were used, but this was possibly influenced by the purification rites of the ancient Near EastFootnote ³⁸ and their symbolism: the cedar symbolised completeness, hyssop was considered to be a purifying plant and the scarlet thread symbolised blood.Footnote ³⁹ One could, therefore, deduce that the author of Hebrews mentioned these three elements also for their symbolic value. Hence, the adjective κόκκινος in Heb 9.19 is not used to denote the colour, but instead to what this refers to: the sacrifice and the spilling of blood.

2.4 Χλωρός (1x)

Χλωρός is the colour of vegetation par excellence and would normally be translated as ‘green’. However, the term encompasses a broad spectrum of shades of colour ranging from blue to yellow. It usually denotes a yellowish green, a light green colour characteristic of plants or vegetation in general (Hom. Od. 16.47; Thuc. 4.6.1), and sometimes alludes more to the freshness of a plant rather than its colour (Hom. Od. 9.320; Hes. Op. 743), and even to the plant itself (Num 22.4). At other times, it denotes a predominantly yellow colour, such as when it is used to describe honey (Hom. Od. 10.234) or egg (Orib. 14.61.1).Footnote ⁴⁰ The context, therefore, determines the shade of colour alluded to, hence its meaning and translation.Footnote ⁴¹ Its symbolism is related to life, beauty and safety; it is the sign of God's blessing, and an absence of this colour signifies death.Footnote ⁴²

In the gospels, the adjective χλωρός appears only in Mark 6.39, just before the multiplication of the loaves:

Firstly, it is important to establish the shade of χλωρός to which Mark refers. The subject of the adjective χλωρός is the nominal lexeme, ‘grass’. This appears forty-eight times in LXX and thirteen in the NT. Χόρτος, ‘grass’, belongs to the Poaceae or Gramineae family and refers to the grass in the countryside, or to wild flowers in contrast to cultivated plants.Footnote ⁴³ It is difficult to know exactly which plants the biblical authors referred to when using the term χόρτος, since in the Holy Land up to 460 different species of Poaceae have been identified. However, χόρτος includes plants that dried up and died within a short time because of the intensity of the sun, as Luke indicates (Luke 12.28). Therefore, χόρτος is often used to refer to the shortness of life (1 Pet 1.24).Footnote ⁴⁴ In Mark 6.39, however, χόρτος refers literally to the grass in the fields. Hence, given the context in which χλωρός is used to describe the vegetation, its meaning is simply ‘green’, describing the colour of the plants. This is how it is translated in the Vulgate (viride) and also in modern Spanish, English, French or Italian versions of the Bible.Footnote ⁴⁵

Now that the meaning of χλωρός, ‘green’, has been clarified, it is necessary to go one step further as its use in the Gospel of Mark is surprising. Mark only uses two colour adjectives in his narrative: χλωρός and λευκός in Mark 9.3; 16.5. In these pericopes, it is almost mandatory to use λευκός to describe the transformation undergone by Jesus in the transfiguration and to show the presence of the angels in the Lord's tomb. On the other hand, neither Matthew nor Luke describes either the place or the time of year when the multiplication of the loaves and fish takes place, although John specifies that this happens during Passover (John 6.4). In any case, the colour green is completely absent from the Fourth Gospel. The presence of χλωρός, ‘green’, therefore, in the Gospel of Mark seems to be intentional, and not merely for ornamental or picturesque purposes, as Henry Barclay Swete has already suggested.Footnote ⁴⁶ However, the problem is that Mark left us no clue as to how to interpret it.Footnote ⁴⁷

One possible explanation is that, given the early withering of the grass in Palestine in the scorching sun, use of the adjectival lexeme χλωρός would indicate the colour and also the freshness of the grass.Footnote ⁴⁸ Here, Mark provides the listeners/readers of his Gospel with valuable information about the time of year in which the multiplication of the loaves and fish takes place: during the spring,Footnote ⁴⁹ in agreement with John – in other words, before the summer. At any other time of year the grass would have withered in the intense heat of the sun, losing its green colour. Accordingly, one could deduce that Mark uses the adjective χλωρός to describe the time of year during which one of Jesus' most important miracles takes place – springtimeFootnote ⁵⁰ – rather than merely to describe the colour of the grass. Its expressive function refers to the temporality of Jesus' action.

Objections have been raised to this interpretation, since areas around the lake could have also been green, even if it was not springtime.Footnote ⁵¹ However, this would not explain why the adjective is used or why Mark gives the reader an unimportant piece of information.

Another objection comes from the current consensus that Mark's narrative technique does not follow chronological criteria, in which case the adjective χλωρός would have a completely different expressive function. The authors who maintain this view claim that the pericope should be read in the context of the episode, where shortly before the miracle Jesus expresses his compassion for the masses, comparing them to sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6.34); thus Jesus starts to preach to the people, until his apostles tell him that the people have not eaten and should go back to their homes. In this context, the expression χλωρὸς χόρτος would have a symbolic significance, as it would connote the green pastures of Ps 23.22, since the narrated scene has other elements in common, such as ‘the shepherd, the flock, resting time, the laid table, satisfying hunger, abundance’.Footnote ⁵² In this way, the Psalm would be relived in the person of Jesus: He is the good shepherd who leads his flock to green pastures.Footnote ⁵³

Some go one step further with this messianic image of the shepherd, completing it with an eschatological banquet (Isa 25.6–9) in which the desert has been transformed into green pastures (Isa 35.1–2). In other words, the green grass would symbolise a time in the future when the desert blooms and flourishes.Footnote ⁵⁴

In both these interpretations, the expressive function of χλωρός transcends the more direct meaning of the colour green and suggests another reality: the benefits of the good shepherd and an ideal eschatological time.

After this analysis, it can be concluded that the text is open to two different interpretations by the listener/reader, or even that it is possible to maintain both of them,Footnote ⁵⁵ although it does seem almost certain that the adjective χλωρός is used in the Gospel of Mark for connotations that can be derived from it and its symbolism, rather than to describe the colour of the grass.

2.5 Synthesis

From this study, it can be deduced that colour is used in the gospels and the letters not so much to allude to the denoted colour of an object, but more to express another reality that transcends the literal meaning. Hence, colours are not used with a merely descriptive function, but as a way of connoting another reality characterised by that colour. One could, therefore, suggest that colours in the gospels and the letters play an informative role, telling the listeners/readers about an individual's rank, his condition or nature, his age; even providing chronological information or conveying a symbolic meaning, since the colour word can denote a different reality.

3.1 Colour in the Descriptions

This explains the presence of colour in the different descriptions of the Apocalypse. For the descriptions καὶ εἶδον (which provide a detailed description of most important features of the characters),Footnote ⁵⁹ John choses λευκός, πυρρός, κόκκινος and πορφυροῦς from the colour palette. Λευκός, ‘white’, is the colour of the resurrected Christ's hair in John's first vision (Rev 1.14),Footnote ⁶⁰ of the garments worn by the twenty-four elders (Rev 4.4), and of the crowd (Rev 7.9), of the cloud upon which the son of man appears (Rev 14.14), and of the rider's horse and of all his horsemen (Rev 19.11,14); πυρρός, ‘bright red’, is the colour of the seven-headed dragon (Rev 12.3); κόκκινος, ‘scarlet’, is the colour the author of the Apocalypse uses to describe both the beast upon which the prostitute is mounted (Rev 17.3), and her dress, which also has another colour: πορφυροῦς, ‘purple’ (Rev 17.4).

Colour is also one of the elements used in the descriptions ἐν τῇ διηγήσει (inserted in the narratives as a single lexeme or syntagm).Footnote ⁶¹ Hence, λευκή is used to describe the robe of the ones who were sacrificed (Rev 6.11), λευκός, God's throne (Rev 20.11) and χλωρός, for the plants (Rev 9.4).Footnote ⁶² Sometimes, in spite of the shortness of the chromatic description, the author seems to fill the vision with colour, because of the wide range of colours that appear. This can be seen in the description of the four riders (Rev 6.1–12), who ride different coloured horses: the first is λευκός, ‘white’ (Rev 6.2); the second πυρρός, ‘bright red’ (Rev 6.4); the third μέλας, ‘black’, (Rev 6.5) and the fourth χλωρός (Rev 6.8). In this case, the meaning of χλωρός does not seem to be ‘green’ as in Rev 8.7 or 9.4, as the context in which the adjectival lexeme appears is almost certainly not vegetation but instead refers to death – this is the name of its rider; χλωρός here would refer to the unhealthy hue of an ill person's skin, as witnessed also by Homer, Hippocrates and Thucydides.Footnote ⁶³ Here, the translation of χλωρός would be ‘pale greenish-grey’.Footnote ⁶⁴

In the descriptions τὰ προλεγόμενα (of groups referred to previously in the story),Footnote ⁶⁵ the presence of colour is especially intense when describing the breastplates of the horsemen who will exterminate a third of mankind (Rev 9.16–19). Here, John uses the three primary colours – red, blue and yellow – but with specific shades that convey different sensations: πύρινος, ‘fiery red’, ὑακίνθινος, ‘blue like sapphire’Footnote ⁶⁶ and θειώδης, ‘yellow like sulphur’ (Rev 9.17). This chromatic sensation is intensified by the description immediately afterwards of the πῦρ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ θεῖον, ‘fire, smoke and sulphur’ (Rev 9.17) expelled from the horses' mouths – elements of nature to which, to a greater or lesser extent, the colours alluded: πῦρ, ‘fire’, denotes πύρινος, ‘fiery red’; καπνός, ‘smoke’; ὑακινθίνους, ‘blue’; and θεῖον, ‘sulphur’, θειώδεις, ‘yellow like sulphur’.

Colour is relevant to the description not only of characters, but also of τόποι (a picture in words of a specific place or how a natural physical phenomenon has occurred),Footnote ⁶⁷ such as the cataclysms (Rev 6.12; 8.7). In this case, the use of colour adjectives is sparing – the author of the Apocalypse only uses one in each case: μέλας, ‘black’, or χλωρός, ‘green’.Footnote ⁶⁸ However, he fills the scene with colour: in addition to the colour adjective, the seer also uses elements of nature that express colour such as αἷμα (Rev 6.12; 8.7) or χάλαζα καὶ πῦρ, ‘hail and fire’ (Rev 8.7).Footnote ⁶⁹ I will analyse the most representative example, Rev 6.12, in some detail.

After the opening of the sixth seal there is a great earthquake and, consequently, ὁ ἥλιος ἐγένετο μέλας ὡς σάκκος τρίχινος καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὅλη ἐγένετο ὡς αἷμα, ‘the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair and the full moon became as blood’. The only colour adjective is μέλας, although the chromatic impression is stronger than that produced by a single lexeme. On the one hand, this is because of the contrast between μέλας and ἥλιος, ‘sun’. Compared to the yellow rays of the sun, the star becomes black in colour. Moreover, to clarify the shade of the colour μέλας a simile is used that would be familiar to the Johannine community, ὡς σάκκος τρίχινος, ‘like sackcloth of hair’. As David E. Aune explains, σάκκος is the term used to refer to the garments of the two witnesses (Rev 11.3).Footnote ⁷⁰ It was, therefore, the robe of penitence. Τρίχινος, usually translated as ‘made of hair’, does not really help to determine its colour, although the translation offered by the Vulgate does: cilicinus, which, as H. B. Swete explained, means ‘made from black goat hair’.Footnote ⁷¹ On the other hand, in this brief description the colour red is also present through the simile with an element of nature: αἷμα, ‘blood’. The author of the Apocalypse does not use αἷμα to refer to blood as such (‘organic red-coloured fluid essential to life, which is an integral part of living beings’), but rather to allude to its colour.Footnote ⁷² In this way, the description of the earthquake is dominated by the presence of colour: black and blood red.

3.2 Colour in the Dialogues

Colour is not only part of John's visions, but is also present in the voices, dialogues and messages he hears. The speakers use colour so that their listeners/readers remember a characteristic element of a character or object that is mentioned, to help identify it or single it out. For example, while dictating the letters, Jesus uses the colour white to describe the stone which the victorious one will receive with his name on it (Rev 2.17), or to describe the garments of those faithful to him (Rev 3.4, 5, 18). At another time, when one of the twenty-four elders asks John who makes up the crowd in front of them, he uses colour so that John knows whom he is talking about: οὗτοι οἱ περιβεβλημένοι τὰς στολὰς τὰς λευκὰς τίνες εἰσὶν καὶ πόθεν ἦλθον; ‘These wearing white tunics, who are they and where have they come from?’ (Rev 7.13). Later on, when the voice from the heavens describes the merchandise with which they traded in Babylon, he again uses the term κόκκινος, in this case as a noun: γόμον … κοκκίνου, ‘merchandise … of scarlet’ (Rev 18.12). When the traders are lamenting over the fall of Babylon, he again uses colour to describe it: οὐαὶ οὐαί, ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ περιβεβλημένη βύσσινον καὶ πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκκινον …’, ‘woe, woe, the great city, dressed in linen, purple and scarlet …!’ (Rev 18.16).Footnote ⁷³

3.3 Aural Effect of Colour

John writes the Apocalypse to be read aloud in an assembly.Footnote ⁷⁴ Therefore, as the colours are repeated in the different descriptions of the story, in addition to denoting colour, these words also acquire another series of connotations for the listeners/readers due to the aural effect of the repetition.

For example, λευκός, ‘white’, is the first colour that is mentioned in the Apocalypse. The seer uses this word to describe the head and hair of the resurrected Christ (Rev 1.14). After this, the colour white is used several times to describe the robes of those faithful to Christ (Rev 3.5, 18; 6.11; 7.9, 13; 19.14) or the elders (Rev 4.4); the stone of the victorious one (Rev 2.17); the conquering horse (Rev 6.2; 19.11), and those following the heavenly army (Rev 19.14); the cloud upon which the son of man appears (Rev 14.14), and God's throne (Rev 20.11). When listeners/readers hear repetitions of λευκός, they realise that in some way everything that is associated with Jesus or with God is described with this colour. The adjectival lexeme λευκός acquires a new aural connotation: to inform the listeners/readers that anything described as white belongs to or follows God or the Lamb of God, in other words, it forms part of the celestial context.Footnote ⁷⁵

By contrast, the different shades of red, πυρρός, ‘bright red’, πύρινος, ‘fiery red’, κόκκινος, ‘scarlet’ and πορφυροῦς, ‘purple’, provide the listeners/readers with very different information. Taking into account that πυρρός is the horse that causes the war during the opening of the second seal (Rev 6.4), and also the dragon that attacks the woman (Rev 12.3–6), it is logical that when the breastplates of the horsemen during the last plague are described as πύρινοι (Rev 9.17), the listeners/readers feel terrified. This also happens when they hear κόκκινος, the colour of the beast and of the prostitute's dress (Rev 17.3, 4), or πορφυροῦς, ‘purple’ (Rev 18.16). It is important not to forget the negative connotation in the OT of a woman dressed in these colours. The colour red, therefore, acquires a negative meaning for the listeners/readers, since it is the colour associated either with those who bring misfortune to mankind, or with those who oppose the Lamb of God. It could, therefore, be said that red evokes the context of cataclysms or of evil, in other words, those who go against the Lamb of God.

Something similar also occurs with μέλας. This term has had negative connotations since ancient times. The author of the Apocalypse reinforces this. The black horse he describes is responsible for spreading hunger across the earth's sphere (Rev 6.5–6), and the sun changing into a star as black as sackcloth made of black hair marks the beginning of one of the great cataclysms in the Apocalypse (Rev 6.12–17).

Finally, although the adjectives χλωρός with the meaning of ‘greenish-grey’, ὑακίνθινος, ‘blue-like sapphire’, and θειώδης, ‘sulphurous yellow’, only appear once, the context in which they are used gives them a negative connotation associated with destruction and death: χλωρός because its rider is called Θάνατος, ‘Death’, which will be his mission (Rev 6.8), and ὑακίνθινος with θειώδης, because they appear in the same context as πύρινος and the very different colours of the horses further intensifies the terrifying image of those who will destroy a third of mankind (Rev 9.18).Footnote ⁷⁶

3.4 Synthesis

In view of this study, it can be concluded that the author of the Apocalypse uses colour adjectives for their denotation: their colour. They are used to describe characters, objects and events in a vivid and real way, achieving one of the effects of description ut pictura poiesis. The extent of this is such that sometimes the seer recreates scenes in which colour is the predominant element, either through the accumulation of colour adjectives (Rev 6.2–8), or by the addition of lexemes which, by nature, express colour (Rev 6.12; 8.7). However, the function of colour adjectives in the Apocalypse goes further than this. Since this is a text to be read aloud, the repeated and systematic use of colour creates an aural effect in the listeners/readers that gives extra information to help identify the characters, making it easier for them to follow the story. Hence, colour in the Apocalypse also acquires a symbolic meaning.