1. Revelation 19:13 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does “clothed in a robe dipped in blood” refer to?

Revelation 19:13 (ESV)

13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

The rider on the white horse had gone out “conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2). War invariably leads to bloodshed. That this rider, Christ Jesus, ends up in the course of the battle with blood on his robe is no surprise (Revelation 17:14). In fact, it speaks to how he obtained the many diadems and what he did (and does) to demonstrate the validity of his name. The Greek indicates that the victorious rider continually wears this blood-stained robe as lasting evidence of the severity of the fight and the demise of his opposition.