Add parallel Print Page Options

Satan’s Final Defeat

Now[a] when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive[b] the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog,[c] to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea.[d] They[e] went up[f] on the broad plain of the earth[g] and encircled[h] the camp[i] of the saints and the beloved city, but[j] fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely.[k] 10 And the devil who deceived[l] them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur,[m] where the beast and the false prophet are[n] too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 20:7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
  2. Revelation 20:8 tn Or “mislead.”
  3. Revelation 20:8 sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.
  4. Revelation 20:8 tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).
  5. Revelation 20:9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  6. Revelation 20:9 tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.
  7. Revelation 20:9 tn On the phrase “broad plain of the earth” BDAG 823 s.v. πλάτος states, “τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς Rv 20:9 comes fr. the OT (Da 12:2 LXX. Cp. Hab 1:6; Sir 1:3), but the sense is not clear: breadth = the broad plain of the earth is perh. meant to provide room for the countless enemies of God vs. 8, but the ‘going up’ is better suited to Satan (vs. 7) who has recently been freed, and who comes up again fr. the abyss (vs. 3).” The referent here thus appears to be a plain large enough to accommodate the numberless hoards that have drawn up for battle against the Lord Christ and his saints.
  8. Revelation 20:9 tn Or “surrounded.”
  9. Revelation 20:9 tn On the term παρεμβολή (parembolē) BDAG 775 s.v. states, “Mostly used as a military t.t.…so always in our lit.…1. a (fortified) campἡ παρεμβολὴ τῶν ἁγίων Rv 20:9 is also to be understood fr. the OT use of the word.”
  10. Revelation 20:9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  11. Revelation 20:9 tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesthiō) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”
  12. Revelation 20:10 tn Or “misled.”
  13. Revelation 20:10 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
  14. Revelation 20:10 tn The verb in this clause is elided. In keeping with the previous past tenses some translations supply a past tense verb here (“were”), but in view of the future tense that follows (“they will be tormented”), a present tense verb was used to provide a transition from the previous past tense to the future tense that follows.

The Judgment of Satan

When the thousand years are over,(A) Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations(B) in the four corners of the earth(C)—Gog and Magog(D)—and to gather them for battle.(E) In number they are like the sand on the seashore.(F) They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded(G) the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.(H) But fire came down from heaven(I) and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them,(J) was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur,(K) where the beast(L) and the false prophet(M) had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.(N)

Read full chapter