Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

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testimony to Jesus, and because of the word of God; and those who did not worship the beast,
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(...continued)
ismenon, means “those having been beheaded with an ax,” or “decapitated.”
Aune comments that “The Roman legal system knew two forms of the death penalty:
the summum supplicium as a more vindictive form involving burning alive, crucifixion, and
exposure to wild animals, while the capite puniri involved a simple death by decapitation...
Further, two types of decollatio, ‘decapitation,’ or capitis amputatio, ‘beheading,’ were distinguished:
that by the sword and that by the axe...
“In the Acts of the Christian Martyrs, there are several instances of death by decapitation...Yet
the record indicates that most martyrs were executed through burning or exposure to
wild animals...Since the only Christian martyr that John explicitly mentions is Antipas (2:13),
had this Christian suffered decapitation? While no confident answers to these questions can
be given, it appears probable that several Christians, including Antipas, had already been executed
by decapitation and that more were expected to follow (see Revelation 2:10).” (Pp.
1086-87)
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In Revelation 6:9, John has stated that he "...saw beneath the altar the innermost
beings of the ones who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the
testimony which they were having." The language which John uses here is almost identical--
the main difference being that in 6:9 he describes them as "having been slaughtered," while
here in 20:4 he describes them as "having been beheaded."
It is a vision of hope for those who have died for their faith. Powerful, demonic enemies
may have succeeded in taking their lives by beheading them; but their physical death is not
the ultimate end; indeed, they are even now, in John’s vision, again alive! John sees their
innermost beings alive, in the presence of the divine throne, living in hope, sharing in the reign
of God's kingdom!
It is clear from this statement that Revelation 20 continues in the same context as the
rest of Revelation. Hendricksen notes that "In order to arrive at a proper conception of these
verses, we must again go back in our thoughts to the first century A.D. Roman persecutions
are raging. Martyrs are calmly laying their heads under the executioner's sword...Rather than
say, 'The emperor is Lord,' or drop incense on the altar of a pagan priest in token of worshiping
the emperor, believers confess their Christ even in the midst of the flames and while they
are thrown before the wild beasts in the Roman amphitheaters." (P. 191)
Beasley-Murray, in like manner states, "John's mode of representing the messianic
kingdom by depicting the place which Christ's confessors have in it is determined by his pastoral
purpose, namely, to encourage his fellow believers to remain firm in faith and testimony,
whatever the cost demanded of them...For Christians of John's day this assurance was of
importance. It held out the prospect that even if they were called to yield up their lives for
Christ in the last great conflict, their sacrifice would issue in God's vindication of them in the
kingdom of His Son." (Pp. 292, 293)
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