Revelation 20:9-11

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Revelation 20:9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2. Revelation 20:9 tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.
3. 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.
4. Revelation 20:9 tn Or “surrounded.”
5. 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) camp…ἡ παρεμβολὴ τῶν ἁγίων Rv 20:9 is also to be understood fr. the OT use of the word.”
6. Revelation 20:9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
7. Revelation 20:9 tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesthiō) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”
8. Revelation 20:10 tn Or “misled.”
9. Revelation 20:10 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
10. 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.
11. Revelation 20:11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
12. Revelation 20:11 tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.
13. Revelation 20:11 tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.
14. Revelation 20:11 tn Or “vanished.”sn The phrase the earth and the heaven fled from his presence can be understood (1) as visual imagery representing the fear of corruptible matter in the presence of God, but (2) it can also be understood more literally as the dissolution of the universe as we know it in preparation for the appearance of the new heaven and new earth (Rev 21:1).