Devine Scripture

Revelation 20:1

What does Revelation 20:1 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 20:1 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 20:1 means

John sees a mighty messenger from God descend with the key to the abyss and a great chain. The picture shows that Satan’s confinement is not a struggle between equals; a single angel, acting by God’s authority, has all that is needed to restrain him. The key signifies rightful control over the prison; the chain signifies effective restraint. Evil has raged through the book, but here God’s sovereign timing arrives. The abyss is not annihilation but secure confinement. Heaven initiates this action, assuring suffering believers that the defeat of the enemy does not depend on human strength. God sends help from above, and when He acts, spiritual powers are bound and barred at His command.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

And I saw a messenger coming down out of the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain over his hand,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And I saw an angel descending from the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand.

Context

This follows the downfall of the beast and the false prophet in the previous vision, shifting attention from earthly foes to the ancient spiritual enemy behind them. The angel’s descent introduces the millennium scene by removing Satan from the stage. Understanding this move prepares the reader for the peace and justice that will characterize the next era in the vision, and it sets the contrast with the brief release that will come later. The flow is from decisive heavenly initiative to a secured period in which deceiving influence is suspended.

v.1This passage

v.2And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Revelation 9:1

    And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.

  • Revelation 10:1

    And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire;

  • Revelation 1:18

    and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

  • Luke 8:31

    And they entreated him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss.

  • Jude 1:6

    And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

  • Revelation 18:1

    After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

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