Revelation 20:1 BSB

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 (2) ▾

ASV

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

KJV

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

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Commentary

2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

19 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Καὶ	Kai	And	G2532 →
εἶδον	eidon	I saw	G1492 →
ἄγγελον	angelon	an angel	G32 →
καταβαίνοντα	katabainonta	descending	G2597 →
ἐκ	ek	out of	G1537 →
τοῦ	tou	<the>	G3588 →
οὐρανοῦ	ouranou	heaven	G3772 →
ἔχοντα	echonta	holding	G2192 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
κλεῖν	klein	key	G2807 →
τῆς	tēs	of the	G3588 →
ἀβύσσου	abussou	Abyss	G12 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἅλυσιν	halusin	a chain	G254 →
μεγάλην	megalēn	great	G3173 →
ἐπὶ	epi	in	G1909 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
χεῖρα	cheira	hand	G5495 →
αὐτοῦ.	autou	of him.	G846 →

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

The walk

The walk8

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;