Vincent's Word Studies And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, Thrones
See on Revelation 2:13. They sat All the faithful members of Christ's Church. Compare they reigned with Christ. Beheaded (πεπελεκισμένων) From πέλεκυς an ax. Only here in the New Testament. They lived Equivalent to lived again. Compare Revelation 20:5. And 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. Lived - again (ἀνέζησαν)
Read ἔζησαν lived, as in Revelation 20:4 And 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. Hath part (ἔχων μέρος)
A phrase peculiar to John as referring to a person. Compare John 13:8. Second death See on Revelation 2:11. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed 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. Gog and Magog
See Ezekiel 38, 39. Compare Genesis 10:2. where Magog appears as a son of Japhet. Magog is a general name for the northern nations, and, according to Ezekiel, Gog is their prince. Josephus says that the descendants of Magog were the Scythians. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, On the breadth (ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος)
Lit., over (ἐπί). As distinguished from the "four corners" of Revelation 20:8. They overspread the earth. The camp (τὴν παρεμβολὴν) See on castle, Acts 21:34. Encompassing and defending the city. Compare Psalm 78:7. The beloved city Compare Psalm 78:68. From God Omit. And 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.
And 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.
And 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. Before God
Read θρόνου throne for Θεοῦ God. So Rev., before the throne. The books (βιβλία) No article. Read books. Compare Daniel 7:10. Book of life See on Revelation 3:5. And 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. The sea
As commonly understood, the sea means the literal sea, and the passage signifies that the dead contained in it shall rise. So Alford. Other interpreters, however, say that it cannot mean the literal sea. Thus Milligan argues that the symbols of the Apocalypse must always be interpreted in the same way. "Symbols," he says, "are a form of speech, and therefore subject to the rules that regulate the interpretation of all speech... The power of that convention which links a certain sense to a certain sound in ordinary terms, is not less binding in the presence than in the absence of metaphor of any kind whatever. Thus when we read in the Apocalypse of 'the sea' as an emblem of the troubled and sinful nations of the earth, we are bound, unless forbidden by the context, to carry that interpretation through, and to understand the sea of the troubled and sinful world." Hell (ὁ ᾅδης) Rev., Hades. See on Matthew 16:18. And 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. This is the second death
Add even the lake of fire. And 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. And whosoever (εἴ τις)
Lit., if any. So Rev. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. New (καινὸν)
See on Matthew 26:29. Compare Isaiah 65:17. There was no more sea (ἡ θάλασσα οὐκ ἔστιν ἔπι) Lit., as Rev., the sea is no more. Here as in Revelation 20:13. Some explain the sea as the ungodly world. I cannot help thinking this interpretation forced. According to this explanation, the passage is in the highest degree tautological. The first earth was passed away, and the ungodly world was no more. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. IJohn Omit John. New Jerusalem Others join new with coming down, and render coming down new out of heaven. A bride Compare Isaiah 61:10; Isaiah 62:5. Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886]. Text Courtesy of Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Bible Apps.com |
