Unlike in relation to the colours of the previous two horses, Scripture offers no uniformity of message in relation to the colour black. Yet given the further information given with this horse and its rider, it would be fitting to see here an allusion to hunger driven by shortage (as is also indicated by the term “black market”).
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.