Wahyu 20:4-10

20:4 Then ¹  I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. ²  I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These ³  had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They ⁴  came to life ⁵  and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) ⁶  This is the first resurrection. 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part ⁷  in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, ⁸  but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Satan’s Final Defeat

20:7 Now ⁹  when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 20:8 and will go out to deceive ¹⁰  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ¹¹  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ¹²  20:9 They ¹³  went up ¹⁴  on the broad plain of the earth ¹⁵  and encircled ¹⁶  the camp ¹⁷  of the saints and the beloved city, but ¹⁸  fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. ¹⁹  20:10 And the devil who deceived ²⁰  them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, ²¹  where the beast and the false prophet are ²²  too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

[20:4]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:4]  ² tn Grk “I saw thrones, and those seated on them, and judgment was given to them.” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 3 says, “judging, judgment, the κρίμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς authority to judge was given to them Rv 20:4.”

[20:4]  ³ tn Grk “God, and who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “these” as subject.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:4]  ⁵ tn On the use of the aorist ἔζησαν (ezhsan) BDAG 425 s.v. ζάω 1.a.β says, “of dead persons who return to life become alive again: of humans in general (3 Km 17:23) Mt 9:18; Ac 9:41; 20:12; Rv 20:4, 5.”

[20:5]  ⁶ sn This statement appears to be a parenthetical comment by the author.

[20:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “who has a share.”

[20:6]  ⁸ tn The shift from the singular pronoun (“the one”) to the plural (“them”) in the passage reflects the Greek text: The singular participle ὁ ἔχων (Jo ecwn) is followed by the plural pronoun τούτων (toutwn). In the interests of English style, this is obscured in most modern translations except the NASB.

[20:7]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ¹¹ sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ¹² tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).

[20:9]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:9]  ¹⁴ tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.

[20:9]  ¹⁵ 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.

[20:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “surrounded.”

[20:9]  ¹⁷ tn On the term παρεμβολή (parembolh) BDAG 775 s.v. states, “Mostly used as a military t.t.…so always in our lit.…1. a (fortified) camp…ἡ παρεμβολὴ τῶν ἁγίων Rv 20:9 is also to be understood fr. the OT use of the word.”

[20:9]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[20:9]  ¹⁹ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

[20:10]  ²⁰ tn Or “misled.”

[20:10]  ²¹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[20:10]  ²² 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.