Revelation 20:1

Revelation 20:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
• New International Version (NIV)And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Context of Revelation 20:1

And I saw an angel descending from the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent who is [the] devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3and cast him into the abyss, and shut [it] and sealed [it] over him, that he should not any more deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be loosed for a little time.

Revelation 20:1 word by word

Καὶ εἶδον ἄγγελον καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔχοντα τὴν κλεῖν τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ ἅλυσιν μεγάλην ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ.Read the interlinear

• sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• angelἄγγελοςaggelos · angelG32
• descendingκαταβαίνωkatabainō · to come/go downG2597
• heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772
• keyκλείςkleis · keyG2807
• abyssἄβυσσοςabussos · abyssG12
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• chainἅλυσιςhalusis · chainG254
• handχείρcheir · handG5495

Cross-references for Revelation 20:1

• Revelation 10:1And I saw another strong angel coming down out of the heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow upon his head, and his countenance as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire,
• Revelation 18:1After these things I saw another angel descending out of the heaven, having great authority: and the earth was lightened with his glory.
• Revelation 1:18and the living one: and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades.
• Revelation 9:1And the fifth angel sounded [his] trumpet: and I saw a star out of the heaven fallen to the earth; and there was given to it the key of the pit of the abyss.
• Luke 8:31And they besought him that he would not command them to go away into the bottomless pit.
• 2 Peter 2:4For if God spared not [the] angels who had sinned, but having cast them down to the deepest pit of gloom has delivered them to chains of darkness [to be] kept for judgment;
• Jude 1:6And angels who had not kept their own original state, but had abandoned their own dwelling, he keeps in eternal chains under gloomy darkness, to [the] judgment of [the] great day;

Commentaries on Revelation 20:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1An angel came down from heaven - One of the executors of the Divine justice, who receives criminals, and keeps them in prison, and delivers them up only to be tried and executed. The key of the prison and the chain show who he is; and as the chain was great, it shows that the culprit was impeached of no ordinary crimes.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1And I saw an angel come down from heaven - Compare the notes on Revelation 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Satan is bound for a thousand years. (1-3) The first resurrection; those are blessed that have part therein. (4-6) Satan loosed, Gog and Magog. (7-10) The last and general resurrection. (11-15) Verses 1-3 Here is a vision, showing by a figure the restraints laid on Satan himself. Christ, with Almighty power, will keep the devil from deceiving mankind as he has hitherto done. He never wants power and instruments to break the power of Satan. Christ shuts by…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2Like the Old Testament angel of the LORD (see Genesis 16:7–11; 22:15; Exodus 3:2; Numbers 22:22–34; Judges 2:1–4; 6:11–22), the angel coming down from heaven has God's authority. This is symbolized by the key that controls the bottomless pit and the power to chain God's great enemy (see Revelation 12:7–9) for a thousand years. See the "The Thousand Years (The Millennium)" Theme Note.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-151. The destruction of his representatives, the beast and the false prophet, to whom he had given his power, throne, and authority, is followed by the binding of Satan himself for a thousand years. the key of the bottomless pit--now transferred from Satan's hands, who had heretofore been permitted by God to use it in letting loose plagues on the earth; he is now to be made to feel himself the torment which he had inflicted on men, but his full torment is…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 20:1

• Chains
• Key
• Millennium
• Pit
• Satan
• Vision

In the dictionaries

• Bottomless, Pit
• Millennium
• Pit
• Seal
• Chain; Chains
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Key
• Keys, Power of the
• Mizpah; Mizpeh
• Print; Printing; Printed

Commentaries on Revelation 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings