independentparticipialrelativepurposeconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The binding of the dragon 20:1–3
1
And I saw an angel descending from heaven,independent — καὶ εἶδον — a new vision-panel (19:11, 17, 19); an unnamed angel suffices against the dragon
holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.participial — the instruments of imprisonment — the key of 9:1, now to lock rather than open; the chain sized to its captive
2
And he seized the dragon,independent — the arrest — κρατέω, the grip of superior force (Isa 24:21–22 behind the whole panel)
the ancient serpent,phrase modifier — SOLECISM kept — nominative apposition to the accusative τὸν δράκοντα (as 12:9); the serpent of Gen 3, named ad sensum
who is the Devil and Satan,relative — the unmasking relative — the four names of 12:9 repeated: slanderer (Greek) and accuser (Hebrew), one enemy
and bound him a thousand years,independent — the binding — accusative of extent; the first of the section's six χίλια ἔτη
3
and cast him into the abyss,independent — the first ἔβαλεν of the chapter — the abyss a holding-cell, not yet the lake
and shut it and sealed it over him,independent — shut and sealed — Dan 6:17: the stone sealed over the pit; the objects left unexpressed
so that he might not deceive the nations any longer,purpose — the point of the binding — πλανάω, the dragon's defining verb (12:9; 13:14), suspended, not cured
until the thousand years are finished;conditional — ἄχρι + aorist subjunctive (without ἄν), anchored backward — the ban has a built-in term
After these things he must be released for a little while.independent — δεῖ — the divine must (1:1); the release of vv. 7–10 announced in advance, and only μικρὸν χρόνον
The thrones and the first resurrection 20:4–6
4
And I saw thrones,independent — Dan 7:9 — thrones were set; the panel is Daniel's court scene reconvened
and they sat upon them,independent — subjectless ἐκάθισαν — the occupants left unnamed; the layout does not fill the seats
and judgment was given to them,independent — Dan 7:22 — κρίμα ἐδόθη, the divine passive: judgment given to the saints
and I saw the souls of those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God,independent — accusative resuming εἶδον across the parataxis — the souls of 6:9; πεπελεκισμένων, the axe of Roman execution; the book's word-pair (1:2, 9)
and those who did not worship the beast or its imagerelative — SOLECISM kept — nominative οἵτινες loosely coordinated with the accusative ψυχάς; read as extending the company to all the refusers of ch. 13
and did not receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand;relative — the relative chain continued — the χάραγμα of 13:16–17 refused at the cost of livelihood and life
and they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.independent — the panel's payoff and the chapter's storm-center — ἔζησαν: bodily resurrection (premillennial) or vindicated life above (amillennial); the grammar gives one aorist pair to the whole company
5
The rest of the dead did not come to lifeindependent — the parenthesis — absent from a few witnesses, kept with the earliest text; ἔζησαν repeated with the negative
until the thousand years were finished.conditional — the ἄχρι-refrain of v. 3, anchored backward — the two resurrections separated by the millennium
This is the first resurrection.independent — verbless identification — αὕτη reaches back past the parenthesis to v. 4's ἔζησαν; πρώτη implies a second, never so named
6
Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection;independent — the fifth of the book's seven beatitudes (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 22:7, 14) — only here ἅγιος is added
over these the second death has no power,independent — τούτων plural ad sensum for the singular ὁ ἔχων — the second death (2:11) named before it is defined (v. 14)
but they will be priests of God and of Christ,independent — the ἀλλά-counter — not merely exempt but priests (1:6; 5:10; Exod 19:6)
and they will reign with him a thousand years.independent — v. 4's aorist turned future promise — singular μετ’ αὐτοῦ after the double genitive: God and Christ share one 'him'
Satan released — Gog and Magog 20:7–10
vv. 7–8 — the release and the muster of the nations
7
And when the thousand years are finished,conditional — ὅταν — temporal protasis leaning on the release below; the term of v. 3 reached
Satan will be released from his prison,independent — the futures interrupt the aorist vision-narrative (through v. 8) — v. 3's δεῖ λυθῆναι enacted; the abyss now called φυλακή
8
and he will go outindependent — the release is for one last sortie — two purpose infinitives hang from this verb
to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth,purpose — purpose infinitive — the banned verb of v. 3 resumed at once; the four corners (7:1): the sweep is worldwide
Gog and Magog,phrase modifier — apposition to τὰ ἔθνη — Ezek 38–39: prince and land fused into a name-pair; one article, one enemy
to gather them for the war,purpose — second purpose infinitive — τὸν πόλεμον with the article: THE war (16:14; 19:19)
whose number is as the sand of the sea.relative — SOLECISM kept — pleonastic αὐτῶν doubling ὧν (Hebraism); verbless comparison: the promise-formula (Gen 22:17) turned against the promise-people's besiegers
vv. 9–10 — the march, the fire, and the lake
9
And they went up over the breadth of the earthindependent — the aorists resume — ἀνέβησαν, the invasion verb of Ezek 38:11, 16
and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city.independent — the encirclement — παρεμβολή, Israel's wilderness camp; the beloved city (Pss 78:68; 87:2): two names, one people
And fire came down from heavenindependent — Ezek 38:22; 39:6; 2 Kgs 1:10 — the shorter text ('from heaven') read; no battle is narrated
and consumed them;independent — κατεσθίω — devoured whole; the war is over in two verbs
10
and the devil who was deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,independent — ὁ πλανῶν — the deceiver's title become his epitaph; ἐβλήθη, the second casting: abyss then, lake now
where the beast and the false prophet are also,relative — verbless local relative — the trio of 16:13 reunited where 19:20 left the other two
and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.independent — future third plural — devil, beast, and false prophet its compound subject; the doxological 'for ever and ever' (1:6) turned to judgment (14:11)
The great white throne 20:11–15
vv. 11–12 — the throne, the fleeing cosmos, and the opened books
11
And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it,independent — the final tableau — great, white, and singular against v. 4's plural thrones; the enthroned one unnamed, as at 4:2
from whose face earth and heaven fled,relative — on τὸν καθήμενον — Ps 114:3, 7: creation flees the Presence; the de-creation before 21:1's new heaven and earth
and no place was found for them.relative — the relative continued paratactically — pleonastic dative αὐτοῖς, verbatim from Dan 2:35 Θ: nowhere left to flee
12
And I saw the dead,independent — the third εἶδον of the chapter — the dead themselves now the vision
the great and the small,phrase modifier — the merism in apposition — no rank exempts (11:18; 19:5)
standing before the throne,participial — predicative participle with εἶδον — the dead on their feet for judgment; ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου read over the variant τοῦ θεοῦ
and books were opened;independent — Dan 7:10 — the court sat and the books were opened: the ledgers of deeds
and another book was opened,independent — singular against the plural — one registry beside the ledgers
which is the book of life;relative — the identification — the book of life (3:5; 13:8; Exod 32:32–33; Dan 12:1): names, not deeds
and the dead were judged by the things written in the books, according to their works.independent — the verdict-line — ἐκ names the evidence, κατά the norm (Ps 62:12; Rom 2:6)
vv. 13–15 — the surrender of the dead and the second death
13
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it,independent — the first surrender — the unburied of the deep; no death evades the summons
and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them,independent — the pair of 1:18 and 6:8 personified — their keys were his all along; ἔδωκαν, the second and third giving-up
and each was judged according to their works.independent — the refrain of v. 12 — plural verb with distributive ἕκαστος (ad sensum): judgment universal but one by one
14
And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.independent — the third casting — the emptied jailers jailed; the last enemy destroyed (1 Cor 15:26; cf. 21:4)
This is the second death,independent — the seer's own gloss — v. 6's ὁ δεύτερος θάνατος finally defined
the lake of fire.phrase modifier — nominative apposition completing the equation — the lake IS the second death
15
And if anyone was not found written in the book of life,conditional — εἰ + aorist indicative, leaning on the apodosis below — the case put as fact, not hypothesis; the registry the last test
he was cast into the lake of fire.independent — the fourth and last ἐβλήθη — the chapter closes on the verb of vv. 3, 10, 14; the book of life has the final say (21:27)
Analysis. The most contested chapter in the book has the book's simplest grammar, and the shape shows it: four vision-panels, each a column of flush-left aorists marching down the margin in καί-chains, with almost nothing subordinated — the deepest line in the chapter sits only two steps in. The binding (vv. 1–3) runs seized–bound–cast–shut–sealed in five main verbs before its one subordinate cluster: the ἵνα-purpose (no more deceiving) with its ἄχρι-term hanging beneath it. The throne-panel of vv. 4–6 keeps the seer's loose accusatives and nominatives as he left them: the subjectless ἐκάθισαν is flagged, not filled in; τὰς ψυχάς resumes εἶδον across the parataxis; and the nominative οἵτινες-chain is read as extending the martyr-company to the refusers of the mark, all of whom are the subject of ἔζησαν. Satan's release (vv. 7–10) opens on the chapter's only forward-leaning protasis (ὅταν τελεσθῇ) and briefly speaks in futures before the aorists of the march and the fire resume; Γὼγ καὶ Μαγώγ stands as apposition to the nations (Ezek 38–39), and the relative of the numberless horde keeps its pleonastic αὐτῶν. The white-throne panel (vv. 11–15) is a tableau — throne, fleeing cosmos (with the pleonastic dative αὐτοῖς, straight out of Dan 2:35), standing dead, opened books — closed by the three surrender-lines with their κατὰ τὰ ἔργα refrain and the fourfold ἐβλήθη of the lake of fire. Interpretive choices: the solecisms are kept and tagged (the nominative apposition ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος against the accusative τὸν δράκοντα chief among them); v. 5a is printed with the earliest text and treated as a parenthesis; ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου is read at v. 12; and ἔζησαν — the storm-center — is laid out structurally as the martyrs' coming-to-life that v. 5 calls the first resurrection, while the millennial construals (premillennial bodily resurrection; the amillennial reading of ἔζησαν as heavenly vindication or regeneration) are named in the tags as views, not adjudicated by the layout.