Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

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width of the earth, and they encircled the camp of the set-apart people, and the city--
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There should be no question concerning the symbolical nature of this kind of language.
It is obvious that the attempt to understand these passages (with their surrounding contexts) in
a straight-forward, literal manner, with exact dates, is hopeless, and we are led once again to
recognize the enigmatic, puzzling nature of these visions “seen through a mirror darkly.”
But what does the symbolism of world-wide war mean? And does the phrase “the war”
refer to one particular great war? We have taken it to mean that John very realistically acknowledges
that the Christian witness in history will be faced with all sorts of opposition from
evil forces intent upon the destruction of the church and its proclamation. War and bloodshed
await the followers of the Little Lamb as they make their pilgrimage into the future. And even
though they are assured of astounding victory over the forces of evil, they need not think that
once victory has come, there will be no more battles--for such will simply not be the case! His
visions are not consistent, not capable of being dated and charted chronologically–but they
are unanimous in warning the people of God and the Little Lamb that conflict is inevitable,
even under the best of conditions! What do you think?
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The genitive plural pronoun áôí, auton, “of them,” or “their,” is omitted by Uncial
Manuscript 051, Minuscule 1854 and the “Majority Text” (A). The omission is apparently an
attempt by these copyists to eliminate unnecessary words from the original–which is “wordy” at
this point. The omission does not change the meaning of Revelation.
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This is a common biblical comparison, which is intended not literally, but symbolically,
as hyperbole--emphasizing the greatness in number of the enemy forces. See Genesis
22:17; 32;12; 41:49; Joshua 11:4; Judges 7:12; 1 Samuel 13:5; 2 Samuel 17:11; 1 Kings
4:20, 29; Job 6:3; 29:18; Psalm 78:27; 139:18; Isaiah 10:22; 48:19; Jeremiah 15:8; 33:22,
and Hosea 1:9-10 (where the meaning of the hyperbole is stated) and 1 Maccabees 11:1. In
the New Testament, see Romans 9:27; Hebrews 11:12 and Revelation 20:8.
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Aune translates by “They marched up across the breadth of the earth” (p. 1071).
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The verb êýêëåõóáí, ekukleusan, “they encircled,” is changed to read evku,klwsan,
ekuklosan, by Sinaiticus, Uncial Manuscript 051, Minuscules 1854, 2050, 2053, 2062 and the
“Majority Text” (A). The verbs are synonyms, and reflect the two different forms of this verb
meaning “encircle.” The variant reading does not change the meaning of Revelation, but
demonstrates the freedom felt by these copyists to substitute a synonym for the word found in
the original text.
Aune comments that this verb, “to surround,” reflects “the central strategy of ancient
warfare, to surround a city and besiege it until it surrendered (2 Kings 6:14; Isaiah 29:3; 36:1-
3; Judith 7:19-20; 1 Maccabees 15:14; Luke 19:43; 21:20).” (P. 1097)
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The noun parembolh,n, parembolen ("camp") has connotations of "a fortified camp,"
or the "barracks or headquarters" of the troops, or of "an army" in battle array, the "battle line."
Here once again we meet the "holy war motif," and with the kind of imagery that has been dev-
(continued...)
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