Revelation 20:13

Rev 20:13-15. And — That none might be exempt from being brought to judgment, the resurrection extended even to the waters; the sea — The lakes and rivers; gave up the dead which were in them, and, ο θανατος και ο αδης, death and hades — Or, the state of separate souls, delivered up the dead which were in them — Death gave up all the bodies of men, and hades their souls, to be united to their bodies. And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire — That is, were abolished for ever. For neither the righteous nor the wicked were to die any more; their souls and bodies were to be no more separated. Consequently neither death nor hades could any more have a being. Such is the awful end of the whole human race: they are plunged into that flaming and eternal ruin signified by the lake of fire, or are received into those abodes of glory, which are described in the next two chapters under the figures of a new heaven and a new earth.

Here then we have before us a most affecting view of those important events in which we are all most intimately, yea, infinitely concerned; even the illustrious day of the passing away of the heaven and earth, and the final judgment of all mankind, whether small or great. Therefore let all the living, both small and great, seriously weigh these things; let them often look forward to the awful period when the glorious throne shall be set, the important volumes opened, and our whole lives, all our tempers, words, and works, which are now perfectly known to God, shall be exhibited to the view of men, angels, and devils. Let us, therefore, judge ourselves impartially, that we be not condemned of the Lord; and, conscious how unable we shall be to stand in that judgment if he were to lay justice to the line, let us humbly and penitently apply to the throne of mercy, to the grace of the gospel covenant, through the blood of the Redeemer. So shall we find mercy of the Lord in that day, and reign with him, not a thousand years only, but for everlasting ages. In the mean time, let those who have no reverence for his majesty, nor esteem for his gospel, and who have never taken this awful alarm, have never fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them, tremble at these awakening views. Let them all, of every condition, both small and great, say in their hearts, Who shall dwell with devouring flames, with everlasting burnings? Shall we have our portion in this lake of fire, into which every one who is not found written in the book of life shall be cast? and shall we be those wretched victims of the divine justice, who shall be tormented for ever and ever? Nay, rather let us turn to God in sincerity and truth that our souls may live, and an entrance be administered unto us into his everlasting kingdom!

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The final penal award—the lake of fire, Rev_20:13-15.

13. The sea gave up—Even while the heaven and earth are fleeing in flames before the throne, the sea surrenders the myriads who have perished in its waves. Death and hell (hades)—From three sources do the dead, body and soul, come forth. From the sea and from death (by land) come their bodies; from hell or hades, (the intermediate state of disembodied spirits,) come their souls. How unhappy here the term hell is for hades is illustrated by the fact that it was the abode of the blessed as well as of the unholy souls. It included Paradise as well as Tartarus.

Judged—Solemn and emphatic repetition of closing clause of last verse.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:13 the grave: See study note on 6:7-8.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This is a prevention or an answer to an objection: for happily some man will say, but they are dead, whom the sea, death and the grave hath consumed, how shall they appear before the judge? S. John answereth by resurrection from death, whereunto all things (however repugnant) shall minister and serve at the commandment of God, as Dan. 12.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

death and hell--Greek, "Hades." The essential identity of the dying and risen body is hereby shown; for the sea and grave give up their dead. The body that sinned or served God shall, in righteous retribution, be the body also that shall suffer or be rewarded. The "sea" may have a symbolical [CLUVER from AUGUSTINE], besides the literal meaning, as, in Rev 8:8; Rev 12:12; Rev 13:1; Rev 18:17, Rev 18:19; so "death" and "hell" are personifications (compare Rev 21:1). But the literal sense need hardly be departed from: all the different regions wherein the bodies and souls of men had been, gave them up.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. The sea gave up the dead] Those who had been drowned in it, and those millions slain in naval contests, who had no other grave.

And death] All who died by any kind of disease. Death is here personified, and represented as a keeper of defunct human beings; probably no more than earth or the grave is meant, as properly belonging to the empire of death.

And hell] αιδης, Hades, the place of separate spirits. The sea and death have the bodies of all human beings; hades has their spirits. That they may be judged, and punished or rewarded according to their works, their bodies and souls must be reunited; hades, therefore, gives up the spirits; and the sea and the earth give up the bodies.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. death and hell] See Rev_6:8. Sheol, the Hebrew equivalent of Hades, seems not quite determined in meaning between the receptacle of the bodies of the dead and of their souls, but is sometimes translateable as “the grave.” Here it seems implied that those who died in the sea are not in Hades, as those who were buried are: but all, whether buried or unburied, are raised and judged.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it,.... Which is not to be interpreted metaphorically of the world, and the men of it, who are like the troubled sea; but literally of the sea, and of all such who have been drowned in the waters of it, as were Pharaoh and his host; or have died upon the mighty waters, and have been cast into them, and devoured by the fishes; and particular regard may be had to the men of the old world, drowned by the flood; these shall be raised from thence; the sea shall deliver them up: now this, and what is expressed in the next clause, will not be done after the judgment is set, the books are opened, and the sentence passed, but before all this, and in order to it, as the last clause of this verse shows:

and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; "death", which is here represented as a person, and elsewhere as a king, reigning and having power over men, signifies death in general, and every kind of death of which men have died, whether natural or violent, over whom it will now have no longer dominion, but will be obliged to deliver up all its subjects; and "hell" signifies the grave, which will now be opened, and deliver up all its prisoners, all that have been buried in the earth; see Job 26:5 the Ethiopic version adds, "and the earth delivered up them that were dead in it": but this seems unnecessary after the former:

and they were judged every man according to their works; some to greater, some to lesser punishment, as their sinful works deserved.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Ver. 13. And the sea] Those that perish in the waters, and those whose ashes were scattered upon the waters, as John Huss’s; whom after they had burnt, they beat his heart with their staves, and cast his ashes into the river. But there is a substance of the saints’ bodies preserved, by a secret influence from Christ their Head; and their dust is precious.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it - All that had been buried in the depths of ocean. This number in the aggregate will be great. If we include all who were swept off by the flood, and all who have perished by shipwreck, and all who have been killed in naval battles and buried in the sea, and all who have been swept away by inundations of the ocean, and all who have peacefully died at sea, as sailors, or in the pursuits of commerce or benevolence, the number in the aggregate will be immense - a number so vast that it was proper to notice them particularly in the account of the general resurrection and the last judgment.

And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them - That is, all the dead came, from all regions where they were scattered - on the land and in the ocean - in this world and in the invisible world. “Death and hell” are here personified, and are represented as having dominion over the dead, and as now “delivering” up, or “surrendering” those who were held tinder them. On the meaning of the words used here, see the notes on Rev 1:18; Rev 6:8. Compare the Mat 10:23 note; Job 10:21-22 notes; Isa 14:9 note. This whole representation is entirely inconsistent with the supposition that a large part of the dead had been already raised up at the beginning of the millennial period, and had been permitted, in their glorified bodies, to reign with Christ.

And they were judged, ... - All these were judged - the righteous and the wicked; those buried at sea, and those buried on the land; the small and the great; the dead, in whatever world they may have been.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

By hell is meant all places where the dead are; whosoever shall be at that day in the state of the dead; the bodies of men, whether buried in the earth or sea; and the souls of men, whether they be in the place of torments or happiness, shall all be re-united to their bodies, that they may both in soul and body receive their final doom of eternal happiness, or eternal misery, accordingly as they have lived in the world; and those who shall be alive at that day, who shall be changed, ( as the apostle speaks, 1Co 15:51), are to be counted dead in the sense of this text, their change being instead of death to them. It is not said they shall be judged for their works, (though that as to the wicked is true), but

according to their works; which is true as to the elect, who though their names be written in the book of life, yet must work righteousness; and they shall have judgment of absolution, not according to the perfection, but the sincerity, of their works, done in obedience to the will of God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. It is difficult to decide upon the exact signification of this clause.

(1) It may be inserted in order to show the universal nature of this resurrection, although it may not, in conjunction with the next part of the verse, constitute a strictly logical classification of the dead.

(2) The sea being a type of the ungodly nations, the sentence may mean those spiritually dead, but living on the earth at the time of the judgment. The next clause seems to support this view. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; death and Hades. (see Rev_1:18 Rev_6:8) As in Rev_6:8, the two really one are mentioned separately, the latter being looked upon as the guard house of those whom the former has seized. This clause, taken in conjunction with the preceding one, may mean From the ungodly nations, those physically living but spiritually dead were called up for judgment, and also those who were actually dead, having been seized by death and Hades. And they were judged every man according to their works. A solemn repetition of ver. 12 (which see).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Death and hades gave up the dead that were in them - Death gave up all the bodies of men; and hades, the receptacle of separate souls, gave them up, to be re-united to their bodies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

hell

(See Scofield "Luk 16:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. The sea. A symbol of the lost dead of whom no man knoweth. Death and Hades. The unseen world which hides from our view those who have departed from earth. The thought of the verse is that all the dead shall be judged.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

The sea gave up the dead ... Death and Hades gave up the dead

Here John speaks of the sea, death, and Hades as if they were living persons. (See: Personification)

the dead were judged

This can be stated in active form. AT: "God judged the dead people" (See: Active or Passive)

Death and Hades were thrown

This can be stated in active form. AT: "God threw Death and Hades" or "God's angel threw Death and Hades" (See: Active or Passive)

Hades

Here "Hades" is a metonym that represents the place where unbelievers go when they die, to wait for God's judgment. (See: Metonymy)

the second death

"dying a second time." This is described as eternal punishment in the lake of fire in Revelation 20:14 and Revelation 21:08. See how you translated this in Revelation 2:11. AT: "the final death in the lake of fire" (See: Symbolic Language)

If anyone's name was not found written

This can be stated in active form. AT: "If God's angel did not find a person's name" (See: Active or Passive)

he was thrown into the lake of fire

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the angel threw him into the lake of fire" or "the angel threw him into the place where fire burns forever" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

die

Hades

judge

hell

written

Book of Life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

See Pirke Aboth, iv. 32: “Let not thine imagination assure thee that the grave is an asylum” (for, like birth and life and death, judgment is appointed before the King of the kings of kings). “And the earth shall restore those that are asleep in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell therein in silence, and the secret chambers shall deliver up those souls (of the righteous, iv. 35) that were committed unto them,” 4 Esd. 7:32 reproducing, as here, Enoch Lev 1 , “and in those days will the earth also give back those who are treasured up within it, and Sheol also will give back that which it has received, and hell will give back that which it owes”. Also En. lxi. 5 where the restoration includes “those who have been destroyed by the desert, or devoured by the fish of the sea and by the beasts”. Evidently drowned people are supposed not to be in Hades; they wander about or drift in the ocean (Achill. Tat. ver 313), μηδὲ εἰς ᾅδου καταβαίνειν ὅλως . According to the prophet’s conception ( cf. Rev 13:8 ; Rev 13:14 .f.) the fate of pagans must have been a foregone conclusion, when the Imperial cultus was made the test of character; in which case “the scene before the white throne is rather a final statement of judgment than a statement of final judgment” (Gilbert). But the broader allusioni to works here shows that the prophet is thinking of the general ethical judgment, which embraced issues wider than the particular historical test of the Emperor-worship. ᾅδης κ . τ . λ ., cf. Plutarch’s ( de Iside , 29) derivation of Amenthes, the Egyptian name for Hades, as “that which receives and gives”. As in Slav. En. lxv. 6 and the later Iranian Bundehesh ( S. B. E. ver 123 f.), the resurrection of the body is not mentioned, though it is probably implied ( cf. En. Lev 1 , lxii. 14 and Mat 27:52 f.).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. ἔδωκαν. Lach[780] reads ἔδωκαν with A.

[780] Lachmann’s larger edition.

ἐκρίθησαν. א reads κατεκρίθησαν.

13. ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης. See Rev 6:8. Sheol, the Hebrew equivalent of Hades, seems not quite determined in meaning between the receptacle of the bodies of the dead and of their souls, but is sometimes translateable as “the grave.” Here it seems implied that those who died in the sea are not in Hades, as those who were buried are: but all, whether buried or unburied, are raised and judged.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sea. As commonly understood, the sea means the literal sea, and the passage signifies that the dead contained in it shall rise. So Alford. Other interpreters, however, say that it cannot mean the literal sea. Thus Milligan argues that the symbols of the Apocalypse must always be interpreted in the same way. "Symbols," he says, "are a form of speech, and therefore subject to the rules that regulate the interpretation of all speech... The power of that convention which links a certain sense to a certain sound in ordinary terms, is not less binding in the presence than in the absence of metaphor of any kind whatever. Thus when we read in the Apocalypse of 'the sea ' as an emblem of the troubled and sinful nations of the earth, we are bound, unless forbidden by the context, to carry that interpretation through, and to understand the sea of the troubled and sinful world."

Hell [ο αδης] . Rev., Hades. See on Mt 16:18.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.