Revelation 20:1

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

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

ASV

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

YLT

And I saw a messenger coming down out of the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain over his hand,

DBT

And I saw an angel descending from the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand.

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On this verse

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he held the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed a little season.

Victorinus of Pettau· Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John, 304patristic

Related commentary

And I saw an angel come down from heaven,....

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

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.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

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, 1755evangelical

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Cross-references

29 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
Revelation 1:18
the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
Psalms 91:13
You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.
Mark 3:27
Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Revelation 20:3
And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.
Isaiah 59:19
So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.
Revelation 9:1
Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
Matthew 12:29
Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
Romans 16:20
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

17 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

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Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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About this book

The Transfiguration — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Revelation — John on Patmos sees the Lamb who was slain enthroned, the scroll opened, Babylon fallen, and the new Jerusalem descending. The canon's capstone — and its most interpretively contested book.

Canon: New Testament
Author: John (traditional — apostle of Jesus; same author as the Fourth Gospel). Some modern critical scholarship distinguishes ‘John of Patmos’ from the apostle; site defaults to traditional attribution
Date: Late-date c. AD 95–96 under Domitian (Irenaeus, mainstream traditional); early-date c. AD 65–68 under Nero (required by most preterist readings). Site surfaces both

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
leads to
- Matthew 25:41
  Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Jude 1:6
  And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- Romans 8:32
  He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
Through
Revelation 1:18
the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
leads to
- Romans 6:9
  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.
- Hebrews 7:25
  Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Romans 14:8–9
  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
- Psalms 68:20
  Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.
Through
Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
  For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

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