9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.
I saw the souls – the souls of the Martyrs resurrect and reign with Christ for 1,000 years, Rev 20:4 (1471 – 2471). So, in the fifth seal, we are definitely after the year 1500.
who had been slain because of the word of God and their testimony – there actually is no word “martyr” in the Bible. The word “martus,” which means “witness,” was transformed into the word “martyr.” These are those who “overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and did not love their lives even when faced with death” (Rev 12:11), Here, we see the connection between “testimony” and “martyr.”