under the altar: During sacrificial rites belonging to the tabernacle, the blood
of the victim, symbolic of its life, was poured at the altar’s base and seeped
beneath it (Lev. 4:7; 17:11). John’s view of the soul of the martyr as being
under the altar probably echoes this idea. Of course the souls of these
martyred saints do not literally dwell under the altar—they are in Paradise,
but symbolically, they, like their Savior, have given their lives for a
righteous cause. That the souls of the saints reside there emphasizes the idea
that, in spite of the fact they have suffered physical death, they are watched
over by God and under his ultimate care. Thus, like their Lord before them,
what seems like an earthly defeat will turn out to be their ultimate victory. (Richard
D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes, The Revelation of John the Apostle [BYU
New Testament Commentary Series; Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2013], 171-72)
While
he was a proponent of “soul death,” Ron Abel (a Christadelphian) raised the
following interesting point:
It is a principle in Scripture that
"the life of the flesh [soul, 'nephesh'] is in the blood". (Lev.
17:11). By personification, a slain person's blood is said to "cry"
or "speak". (Gen. 4:10 cf. Heb. 12:24). The Revelation contains over
500 references to the Old Testament, and in this text the allusion is to the
blood of the burnt offering which was poured at the base of the brasen altar.
(Lev. 4:7). The passage, therefore, refers to the lives of martyrs given as a
testimony to their faith. (Paul makes a similar allusion: "For I am
already on the point of being sacrificed ['poured out'1]; the time of my
departure has come." (2 Tim. 4:6R.S.V.) (Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures:
A Christadelphian Handbook of Suggested Explanations to Difficult Passages
[Pasadena, Calif.: The Christadelphians, n.d.], 115)