Revelationchapter 20
15 verses · John, by tradition · AD 95 or 96 · Revelation
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
Introduction
John, by tradition, Revelation, Revelation Overview.
John wrote to churches whose members had been jailed, and some killed, for the name of Jesus. This chapter answers the question their suffering raised: what becomes of those who die faithful before the Lord comes. It is the one chapter of the Bible that names a reign of a thousand years, and it names the span six times. Listen for the two resurrections and the two deaths. Listen for how each enemy of God's people meets its end. Read it as the last judgment before the new creation of the chapters that follow.
Context
- Who
- Believers who wanted to know what happened to the accuser and to their own dead
- What
- The binding of Satan, the thousand-year reign of Christ with His risen saints, Satan's release and final defeat, and the judgment of the dead at the great white throne.
- Where
- The vision moves from the Abyss to the thrones of the saints, to the camp around the beloved city and to the great white throne, and John sent it from Patmos to the churches of Asia.
- When
- About AD 95, late in the reign of Domitian, on the date most commentators give; others hold an early date under Nero, about AD 68.
- Why
- To assure suffering believers that the faithful dead will rise and reign with Christ, and that Satan, death and every enemy will be judged.
Historical context
An angel comes down with a key and a great chain, seizes the dragon, throws him into the abyss, shuts it, and seals it. Sealing a door with clay and a stamp was ordinary practice on a tomb, a storehouse, or a jar, the seal did not add strength, it added authority. Breaking it was a crime against whoever's mark was on it.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
Those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and had not worshiped the beast come to life and reign with Christ a thousand years. Beheading was the Roman execution used for citizens, so the detail names a specific and familiar death.
Expectation of a coming age of righteousness on earth was already part of Jewish hope, and the earliest Christian writers we have, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, plainly expected a literal reign. Others in the church came to read the thousand years differently. That range of readings is ancient, not modern.
After the thousand years Satan is released, deceives the nations one last time, and is finished. The names Gog and Magog come from Ezekiel.
Then the great white throne. Books are opened and another book, the book of life. Cities in the Greek world kept citizen registers, and having your name struck from the roll was civic death, so a book of life was not an abstract idea to these readers. The dead are judged out of the books, according to their works.
Significance
The chapter gave the persecuted a specific reversal: the ones executed by the empire are the ones seated on thrones, and the one who drove the persecution ends in the lake of fire.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
It also answered the injustice question at the root. Everything gets read out. Nothing that was done in the dark to a believer in Pergamum or Thyatira went unrecorded, and no one gets past the throne on reputation.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A Chain, a Pit, and a Thousand Years
Revelation 20:1-3
a great chain: An angel with the key to the Abyss seizes the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and seals him in. The stated purpose is that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete.
Revelation 20:1
“Having the key of the bottomless pit - Mentioned before, chap. ix, 1. And a great chain in his hand - The angel of the bottomless pit was shut up therein before the beginning of the first woe. But it is now first that Satan, after he had occasioned the third woe, is both chained and shut up.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Revelation 20:1
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven - Compare the notes on Rev 10:1. He does not say whether this angel had appeared to him before, but the impression is rather that it was a different one. The whole character of the composition of the book leads us to suppose that different angels were employed to make these communications to John, and that, in fact, in the progress of things disclosed in the book, he had contact with a considerable number of the heavenly inhabitants.”
bound him for a thousand years: The dragon is bound for a thousand years right after his agents, the beast and the false prophet, are thrown into the lake at 19:20. The text sets the two judgments in sequence.
Revelation 20:2
“The dragon - See the notes on Rev 12:9. That old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan - He who is called the old serpent is the Devil - the calumniator, and Satan - the opposer. He who supposes that the term old serpent here plainly proves that the creature that tempted our first parents was actually a snake, must enjoy his opinion; and those who can receive such a saying, why let them receive it. Selah. A thousand years - In what this binding of Satan consists, who can tell?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Revelation 20:2
“The woman's bringing forth is followed by the casting of the dragon out of heaven to the earth. With this is connected the third woe, whereby the dragon through, and with, the beast, rages horribly. At the conclusion of the third woe the beast is overthrown and cast into "the lake of fire." At the same time the other grand enemy, the dragon, shall be bound and shut up.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 20:2
“The power of Satan was broken in part by the setting up of the gospel kingdom in the world; it was further reduced by the empire's becoming Christian; it was yet further broken by the downfall of the mystical Babylon; but still this serpent had many heads, and, when one is wounded, another has life remaining in it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
could not deceive the nations: The Abyss is a prison, as verse 7 names it, distinct from the lake of fire of verse 10. The dragon is shut in so that he could not deceive the nations, and afterward he must be released for a brief period of time.
Revelation 20:3
“These thousand years bring a new, full, and lasting immunity from all outward and inward evils, the authors of which are now removed, and an affluence of all blessings. But such time the church has never yet seen. Therefore it is still to come.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 20:3
“And cast him into the bottomless pit - See the notes on Rev 9:1. A state of peace and prosperity would exist as if Satan, the great disturber, were confined in the nether world as a prisoner. And shut him up - Closed the massive doors of the dark prison-house upon him. Compare the notes on Job 10:21-22. And set a seal upon him - Or, rather, “upon it” - ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ epanō autou.”
reigned with Christ: John sees thrones and those who had been beheaded for their testimony, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The promise of 2:26 and 3:21 is kept. The thousand years is named six times in six verses.
Revelation 20:4
“Those who suffer with Christ shall reign with Christ; they shall reign with him in his spiritual and heavenly kingdom, in a glorious conformity to him in wisdom, righteousness, and holiness, beyond what had been known before in the world. This is called the first resurrection, which none but those who have served Christ and suffered for him shall be favoured with.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 20:4
“The guillotine in revolutionary France was a revival of the mode of capital punishment of pagan imperial Rome. Paul was beheaded, and no doubt shall share the first resurrection, in accordance with his prayer that he "might attain unto the resurrection from out of the rest of the dead" (Greek, "exanastasis").”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 20:5-6
This is the first resurrection: Ezesan, came to life, is used of the saints in verse 4 and of the rest of the dead; this is the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them (2:11); they will be priests of God and of Christ (Exodus 19:6).
Revelation 20:5
“There is room enough for the fulfilling of all the prophecies, and those which before seemed to clash are reconciled; particularly those which speak, on the one hand, of a most flourishing state of the church as yet to come; and, on the other, of the fatal security of men in the last days of the world.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 20:5
“The rights which Rome as a harlot usurped, shall be exercised in holiness by the Bride. They are "kings" because they are "priests" (Re 20:6; 5:10); their priesthood unto God and Christ (Re 7:15) is the ground of their kingship in relation to man.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
priests of God and of Christ: Adam Clarke notes that the second death was already a Jewish phrase for punishment in the world to come. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown put the priesthood first, as at 5:10, so the saints reign because they serve God. Irenaeus reads it as the fathers' inheritance restored.
Revelation 20:6
“None can be blessed but those that are holy; and all that are holy shall be blessed. These were holy as a sort of first-fruits to God in this spiritual resurrection, and as such blessed by him. (2.) They are secured from the power of the second death.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
3 more voices on this verse
Revelation 20:6
“Blessed - Μακαριος· Happy. And holy; he was holy, and therefore he suffered for the testimony of Jesus in the time when nothing but holiness was called to such a trial. The first resurrection - Supposed to be that of the martyrs, mentioned above. The second death - Punishment in the eternal world; such is the acceptation of the phrase among the ancient Jews. Hath no power - Ουκ εχει εξουσιαν· Hath no authority - no dominion over him. This is also a rabbinical mode of speech. In Erubin, fol. 19, 1; Chagiga, fol.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Revelation 20:6
“Now "the pain of the stroke" means that inflicted at the beginning upon disobedient man in Adam, that is, death; which [stroke] the Lord will heal when He raises us from the dead, and restores the inheritance of the fathers, as Isaiah again says: "And thou shall be confident in the Lord, and He will cause thee to pass over the whole earth, and feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father." This is what the Lord declared: "Happy are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book Vpatristic
Revelation 20:6
“Moreover, none can be saved in the present age and in the pale of the Christian Church who does not also reign with Christ hereafter, the necessary preliminary to which is suffering with Christ now. If we fail to lay hold of the crown, we lose all, "the gift of grace as well as the reward of service" [DE BURGH].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Loosed for a Season: Fire Ends the Last Siege
Revelation 20:7-9
Satan will be released: Released, Satan gathers Gog and Magog, the names of Ezekiel 38-39, in a number like the sand of the seashore. They surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. The war ends at once: fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
Revelation 20:7
“And when the former thousand years are fulfilled, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison - At the same time that the first resurrection begins. There is a great resemblance between this passage and chap. xii, 12.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that one Greek article stands over both names, binding prince and people together. Wesley traces Magog to Japheth's son in Genesis 10:2. Matthew Henry warns against pressing the names, since the army is gathered from every part of the world.
Revelation 20:8
“And shall go forth to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - (That is, in all the earth)-the more diligently, as he hath been so long restrained, and knoweth he hath but a small time. Gog and Magog - Magog, the second son of Japhet, is the father of the innumerable northern nations toward the east.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Revelation 20:8
“A has but one Greek article to "Gog and Magog," whereby the two, namely, the prince and the people, are marked as having the closest connection. B reads the second article before Magog wrongly. HILLER [Onomasticon] explains both words as signifying "lofty," "elevated." For "quarters" the Greek is "corners." to battle--Greek, "to the war," in A and B.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 20:8
“We have the names of the principal commanders in this army under the dragon-- Gog and Magog. We need not be too inquisitive as to what particular powers are meant by these names, since the army was gathered from all parts of the world. These names are found in other parts of scripture.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the camp of the saints: Albert Barnes pictures the army spreading over the land in long columns, the enemies roused at the close of the thousand years. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie this last judgment to the renewal of nature that chapter 21 describes. Then the new heaven and earth appear.
Revelation 20:9
“And they went up on the breadth of the earth - They spread over the earth in extended columns. The image is that of an invading army that seems, in its march, to spread all over a land. The reference here is to the hosts assembled from the regions of Gog and Magog; that is, to the formidable enemies of the gospel that would be roused up at the close of the period properly called the “millennial” period - the period of the thousand years.”
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 20:9
“Hence it is possible that an apostasy should take place at its close. In the judgment on this apostasy the world of nature is destroyed and renewed, as the world of history was before the millennial kingdom; it is only then that the new heaven and new earth are realized in final perfection.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
tormented day and night: The devil who had deceived them joins the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire and sulfur. Their torment is day and night forever and ever, Greek eis tous aionas ton aionon, the phrase for God's own life at 4:9. Here ends the serpent of Genesis 3:15.
Revelation 20:10
“If sorrow, and mourning, and sighing, and death itself, assail us from the afflictions both of soul and body, how shall they be removed, except by the cessation of their causes, that is to say, the afflictions of flesh and soul? where will you find adversities in the presence of God? where, incursions of an enemy in the bosom of Christ? where, attacks of the devil in the face of the Holy Spirit?-now that the devil himself and his angels are "cast into the lake of fire." Where now is necessity, and what they call fortune or fate?”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 20:10
“And the devil - was cast onto the lake - Before Satan was bound, that is, his power was curtailed and restrained; now, he is cast into the lake of fire, his power being totally taken away.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Great White Throne and the Books Opened
Revelation 20:11-12
a great white throne: Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. Two records are opened, the books and the Book of Life of 3:5 and 13:8, and the dead were judged according to their deeds.
Revelation 20:11
And in the Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth. For after the times of the kingdom, he says, "I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat upon it, from whose face the earth fled away, and the heavens; and there was no more place for them." And he sets forth, too, the things connected with the general resurrection and the judgment, mentioning "the dead, great and small."
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book Vpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Revelation 20:11
“Rather, the Son, to whom "the Father hath committed all judgment." God in Christ, that is, the Father represented by the Son, is He before whose judgment-seat we must all stand. The Son's mediatorial reign is with a view to prepare the kingdom for the Father's acceptance.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the dead, great and small: The dead stand before the throne as the books are opened, an echo of the court of Daniel 7:10 with its opened books. The Book of Life recalls Daniel 12:1, where deliverance comes to those enrolled in the book.
Revelation 20:12
“The dead, small and great - All ranks, degrees, and conditions of men. This description seems to refer to Dan 7:9, Dan 7:10. And the books were opened - See Dan 12:1. “Rab. Jehuda said: All the actions of men, whether good or bad, are written in a book, and of all they shall give account.” - Sohar Gen., fol. 79, col.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Revelation 20:12
“And another book - Wherein are enrolled all that are accepted through the Beloved; all who lived and died in the faith that worketh by love. Which is the book of life, was opened - What manner of expectation will then be, with regard to the issue of the whole!”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 20:12
“Therefore it is called, "the Lamb's book of life." Electing grace has singled them out from the general mass. according to their works--We are justified by faith, but judged according to (not by) our works.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Revelation 20:12
“Christ shall judge the secrets of all men according to the gospel. Happy are those who have so ordered and stated their cause according to the gospel as to know beforehand that they shall be justified in the great day of the Lord!”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Revelation 20:13-15
The sea gave up its dead: , and Death and Hades gave up their dead, so every holding place of the dead surrenders its charge. Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire, the last enemy of 1 Corinthians 15:26, and this is the second death of 2:11.
Revelation 20:13
“Consider, he says, whether too the blessed John, when he says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them," does not mean the parts which are given up by the elements for the reconstruction of each one?”
Methodius of Olympus · written before 311 · From the Discourse on the Resurrectionpatristic
Death and Hades were thrown: John Wesley reads the casting of Death and Hades as their end, so soul and body are never parted, for the righteous or the wicked. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the saints will never again exist as disembodied spirits. Aphrahat tells his hearers to fear this death.
Revelation 20:14
“Death and Hades, as personified representatives of the enemies of Christ' and His Church, are said to be cast into the lake of fire to express the truth that Christ and His people shall never more die, or be in the state of disembodied spirits. This is the second death--"the lake of fire" is added in A, B, and ANDREAS.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Revelation 20:14
“And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire - That is, were abolished forever; for neither the righteous nor the wicked were to die any more: their souls and bodies were no more to be separated.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Revelation 20:14
“It is right for us to be afraid of the second death, that which is full of weeping and gnashing of teeth and of groanings and miseries, that which is situated in outer darkness. But blessed shall be the faithful and the righteous in that resurrection, in which they expect to be awakened and to receive the good promises made them. But as for the wicked who are not faithful, in the resurrection woe to them, because of that which is laid up for them!”
Aphrahat the Persian Sage · written before 345 · DEMONSTRATIONS 8.19patristic
Revelation 20:14
“This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The utter destruction of the devil's kingdom very properly leads to an account of the day of judgment, which will determine every man's everlasting state; and we may be assured there will be a judgment when we see the prince of this world is judged, John xvi.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
written in the Book of Life: Albert Barnes stresses that one condition decides the verse, a name written in the Book of Life, whatever a person's rank or learning. John Gill links it to 13:8 and the beast's worshippers. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain the silence about the righteous, whose joy had begun before this judgment.
Revelation 20:15
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life,.... Upon the opening of it, Rev 20:12 as all that worship the beast, and wonder after him, Rev 13:8 and all wicked men, everyone of them: was cast into the lake of fire; where are the devil, beast, and false prophet, Rev 19:20. It is a saying of R.”
2 more voices on this verse
Revelation 20:15
“And whosoever - All persons, of all ranks, ages, and conditions. No word could be more comprehensive than this. The single condition here stated, as being what would save any from being cast into the lake of fire, is, that they are “found written in the book of life.” All besides these, princes, kings, nobles, philosophers, statesmen, conquerors; rich men and poor men; the bond and the free; the young and the aged; the frivolous, the vain, the proud, and the sober; the modest and the humble, will be doomed to the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:15
“The blissful lot of the righteous is not here specially mentioned as their bliss had commenced before the final judgment. Compare, however, Mt 25:34, 41, 46.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: A vision in three scenes: the binding and the reign, the release and the last battle, and the great white throne, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Two resurrections, two deaths | Verse 5 names the first resurrection, verse 6 promises that the second death has no power over those who share in it, and verse 14 names the second death as the lake of fire. Andreas of Caesarea teaches from Scripture that there are two lives and two deaths. The first life is temporary and the second eternal, promised to the saints.Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20:5-6. | Revelation 20:5, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14 |
| The enemies judged in order | The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake at 19:20, the dragon is bound at 20:2 and thrown into the same lake at 20:10, and Death and Hades follow at 20:14. John Wesley sets the binding at the same time as the beast's overthrow. Adam Clarke marks the step between the two scenes, Satan's power first restrained and then taken away.John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Revelation 20:2. | Revelation 20:2, Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:14 |
| The books and the Book of Life | Verse 12 opens two records, the books of deeds and the Book of Life, and verse 15 decides by the second. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown keep the two apart: believers are justified by faith and judged according to their works.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on Revelation 20:12. | Revelation 20:12, Revelation 20:15 |
Where the imagery comes from
12 more paragraphs on the patterns
Adam Clarke hears Daniel 7:9 to 10 in the thrones and the opened books, and Daniel 12:1 in the Book of Life (Commentary on the Bible, on Revelation 20:12). Daniel 7:22 and 27 give the kingdom to the saints, the reign this chapter shows. Gog and Magog come from Ezekiel 38 and 39, and John Wesley traces Magog to the son of Japheth in Genesis 10:2 (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Revelation 20:8).
Isaiah 24:21 to 22 had spoken of powers shut in a pit and punished after many days, as Satan is shut in the Abyss. Clarke reads the ancient serpent of verse 2 through Genesis 3 and the dragon of 12:9 (Commentary on the Bible, on Revelation 20:2).
Where it sits in the book
The chapter follows the return of Christ in 19:11 to 21. Verse 10 says the devil was thrown into the lake where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. John Wesley reads the order the same way, the beast overthrown and the dragon bound at the same time (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Revelation 20:2). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place the millennial kingdom between the judgment of the world's history and the renewal of nature that brings the new heaven and new earth of chapter 21 (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on Revelation 20:9).
The debated concept: the thousand years
The site reads the thousand years as a future reign of Christ on the earth, after His return and before the new creation. The earliest church writers who treat it read it so.
Papias, who heard the elders, taught a bodily reign of Christ on this earth after the resurrection (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.12). Justin Martyr held a thousand years in a rebuilt Jerusalem and cited John for it (Dialogue with Trypho 80 to 81). Irenaeus set the great white throne after the times of the kingdom (Against Heresies Book V, chapters 32 to 36). Tertullian taught a kingdom on earth for a thousand years (Against Marcion 3.24). John Wesley held that such a time is still to come (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Revelation 20:3).
The amillennial reading takes the thousand years as the present age between the two comings. Augustine gave it its classic form: Satan was bound when Christ bound the strong man, the first resurrection is the new birth of the soul, and the saints reign now with Christ in the church (The City of God, Book 20, chapters 7 to 9). Matthew Henry reads the reign as spiritual in a similar way, the martyrs reigning in a conformity to Christ beyond what the world had known (Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Revelation 20:4). Justin himself granted that many true Christians of his day thought otherwise (Dialogue with Trypho 80).
That reading pays a heavy cost in the text. The one verb for coming to life in verses 4 and 5 has to mean the soul's rebirth in its first use and the body's rising in its second. A Satan shut and sealed so that he could not deceive the nations has to be the same Satan who deceives the whole world at 12:9. Verse 10 has to be read apart from 19:20, although it says the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown.
The prophets' picture of a reigning King over a world where death still occurs, in Isaiah 65:20 and Zechariah 14:16 to 19, is left without a place, and so is the teaching of those earliest writers.
Where the New Testament touches it
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the first resurrection through Philippians 3:11, Paul's hope to attain the resurrection from among the dead (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on Revelation 20:4). They read the judge of verse 11 as the Son, to whom the Father has committed all judgment in John 5:22 (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on Revelation 20:11). John Gill ties the Abyss to Luke 8:31, where the demons begged not to be sent there (Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748), on Revelation 20:3). The throwing of Death into the lake answers 1 Corinthians 15:26, where death is the last enemy destroyed.
Keep studying
Studies22
Words12
Subjects3
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on Revelation 20:9 and 20:11; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Revelation 20:3 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Revelation 20:4.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATIONS 8.19; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book V; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.