Revelation 20

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the deep pit that has no bottom, and he held a great chain in his hand.

1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

NoteThe King James "bottomless pit" translates the Greek word abyssos, the abyss. It names an immeasurably deep place used in this book as a holding prison for evil spirits. Note that it is treated as a chamber that can be locked, sealed and opened with a key, not as an open hole with no floor.

2He grabbed the dragon, that ancient snake, who is the Devil and Satan, and tied him up for a thousand years.

2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

NoteThree names are stacked here for one figure. "Devil" is the Greek diabolos, meaning slanderer or accuser. "Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning adversary or opponent, the one who stands against you, and in older Hebrew usage it could serve as a job description before it became a name. "That old serpent" means the ancient serpent, pointing back to the snake of Genesis 3. The thousand years mentioned here is where the English word millennium comes from, by way of the Latin mille anni.

3He threw him into the deep pit, shut it, and sealed it over him. This was so he could not fool the nations anymore until the thousand years were over. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

NoteA seal was a lump of soft clay or wax pressed across a closure and stamped with a signet ring. It did not add strength; it showed on whose authority the thing had been shut and made tampering visible to anyone who looked. The King James "a little season" uses "season" in its older sense of a stretch of time, with no reference to the four seasons of the year.

4Then I saw thrones, and people sat on them, and they were given the right to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because they told the truth about Jesus and held to the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its statue, and had not taken its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled with Christ for a thousand years.

4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Note"Judgment was given unto them" is as ambiguous in the Greek as in the English: it can mean that they were given the authority to judge, or that a verdict was handed down in their favor. Translators go both ways and the rendering picks one. "The witness of Jesus" means testimony given about Jesus; the Greek word for that testimony, martyria, is the root of the English word martyr. Beheading was a Roman state execution, so the detail marks these as people killed by official action rather than by mob violence. The beast, its image and its mark on forehead or hand all refer back to chapter 13, where a hostile power demands the visible loyalty of those who buy and sell.

5The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Note"Lived not again" simply means did not come back to life. Some ancient manuscripts lack this first sentence, and a few older English readers would not have found it in their copies, but the great majority of manuscripts include it.

6Happy and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years.

6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Note"Blessed" translates the Greek makarios, which means fortunate or enviable, describing someone whose situation is good rather than someone on whom a blessing has been pronounced. To be a priest, in the ancient sense used here, was to have direct access to the presence of God and to act there on behalf of others, a role restricted in Israel to one family.

7When the thousand years are over, Satan will be let out of his prison.

7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Note"Expired" in 1611 meant only that a stretch of time had run out. It carries no sense of a document lapsing or of anything dying.

8He will go out to fool the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and gather them together for battle. There are as many of them as the grains of sand by the sea.

8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Note"The four quarters of the earth" is a standard ancient idiom for the whole world in every direction, the same figure as the four corners. Gog and Magog come from Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, where Gog is a ruler of a land called Magog who leads a coalition of distant nations in an attack on Israel and is destroyed. By the first century the two names had become shorthand for a final assault by hostile peoples from the far edges of the earth. "As the sand of the sea" was a stock phrase for a number too large to count.

9They marched across the wide-open earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city he loves. But fire came down from God out of heaven and burned them up.

9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Note"The breadth of the earth" means its wide open expanse, the broad plain across which an army would advance. "Compassed about" is older English for surrounded on all sides. "Camp" is a military word, the encampment of an army in the field. "Saints" translates the Greek hagioi, holy ones, which in this period meant God's people generally and not a select class of unusually holy individuals. "The beloved city" is a way of naming Jerusalem.

10And the devil, who had fooled them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are. They will be in pain day and night forever and ever.

10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Note"Brimstone" is the old English word for sulfur. Burning sulfur gives off a choking smell and burns with a pale flame, and in the Hebrew scriptures fire and sulfur falling from the sky is the language used of the destruction of Sodom. "The false prophet" is the second beast of chapter 13, the figure who performs signs on behalf of the first beast and appears again in chapters 16 and 19.

11Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it. The earth and the sky fled away from his presence, and no place was left for them.

11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Note"From whose face" is a Hebrew way of speaking in which the face stands for the whole person as encountered, so it means from his presence rather than from his facial features.

12And I saw the dead, both important and unimportant, standing in front of God. Books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, based on what they had done.

12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Note"Small and great" is a pairing of opposites used to mean everyone without exception, from the lowest in rank and importance to the highest. The image of opened books comes from ancient courts and royal archives, where written records were kept and read out. A "book of life" was pictured on the model of a city's register of living citizens, a list a name could be entered in or struck out of.

13The sea gave back the dead who were in it. Death and the place of the dead gave back the dead who were in them. Each person was judged based on what he had done.

13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

NoteThe King James "hell" here translates the Greek Hades, which in ordinary ancient usage means the realm of the dead in general, where everyone goes at death, not a place of punishment for the wicked. The King James uses the one English word "hell" for this and also for Gehenna, a different Greek word with a different sense; the word behind this verse is Hades, which is why the rendering says "the place of the dead."

14Then Death and the place of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

NoteDeath and Hades, the place of the dead, are spoken of here as though they were persons or powers that can themselves be seized and disposed of. "The second death" is set against ordinary bodily dying, which is the first.

15And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.