Revelation 20:3

Revelation 20:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
• New King James Version (NKJV)and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Context of Revelation 20:3

1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. 4Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)

Revelation 20:3 word by word

καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον καὶ ἔκλεισεν καὶ ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη. μετὰ ταῦτα δεῖ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν μικρὸν χρόνον.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• castβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the bottomless pitἄβυσσοςabussos · abyssG12
• shutκλείωkleiō · to shutG2808
• set a sealσφραγίζωsphragizō · to sealG4972
• uponἐπάνωepanō · aboveG1883
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• he should deceiveπλανάωplanaō · to lead astrayG4105
• the nationsἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484
• noμήmē · notG3361
• moreἔτιeti · stillG2089
• tillἄχριachri achris · untilG891
• the thousandχίλιοιchilioi · thousandG5507
• yearsἔτοςetos · yearG2094
• should be fulfilledτελέωteleō · to finishG5055
• afterμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• thatοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• must beδεῖdei · be necessaryG1163
• loosedλύωluō · to looseG3089
• a littleμικρόςmikros mikroteros · smallG3398
• seasonχρόνοςchronos · timeG5550

Cross-references for Revelation 20:3

• Revelation 20:1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand.
• Revelation 17:8The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.
• Daniel 6:17A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel.
• Matthew 27:66So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
• Revelation 20:8He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore.
• Revelation 12:9This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
• Revelation 13:14And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life.
• Revelation 16:14They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.
• Revelation 17:2The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”
• Matthew 24:24For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.
• 2 Corinthians 11:3But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
• Psalms 90:4For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.
• 2 Peter 3:8But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
• Revelation 20:7When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison.

Commentaries on Revelation 20:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3He should deceive the nations no more - Be unable to blind men with superstition and idolatry as he had formerly done.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3And cast him into the bottomless pit - See the notes on Revelation 9:1. A state of peace and prosperity would exist as if Satan, the great disturber, were confined in the nether world as a prisoner. And shut him up - Closed the massive doors of the dark prison-house upon him. Compare the notes on Job 10:21-22. And set a seal upon him - Or, rather, “upon it” - ̓́ ̓͂ epanō autouThe seal was placed upon the “door” or “gate” of the prison, not because this…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3This imprisonment, described as a bottomless pit (Abyss), represents an initial defeat for Satan and the forces of evil. Various New Testament passages explain how Christ's work impacts Satan (Luke 10:17–20; Acts 10:38; 26:18; Romans 16:20; Ephesians 6:11; James 4:7; see Matthew 12:24; 16:19; 18:18; John 12:31; 1 John 3:8). Christ's presence with his followers restrains evil powers (see 2 Thessalonians 2:7), reminding persecuted Christians that they have…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. shut him--A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Andreas omit "him." set a seal upon him--Greek, "over him," that is, sealed up the door of the abyss over his head. A surer seal to keep him from getting out than his seal over Jesus in the tomb of Joseph, which was burst on the resurrection morn. Satan's binding at' this juncture is not arbitrary, but is the necessary consequence of the events (Re 19:20); just as Satan's being cast out of heaven, where he had…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 20:3

• Millennium
• Pit
• Satan
• Vision
• Year

In the dictionaries

• Bottomless, Pit
• Millennium
• Pit
• Seal
• Abyss
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Parousia
• Print; Printing; Printed
• Revelation of John
• Satan

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