1 Enoch 21:6

Pseudepigrapha

4 Then I said: 'For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?' 5 Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: 'Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? 6 These are of the number of the stars ⌈of heaven⌉, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.' 7 And from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture. 8 Then I said: 'How fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!'

Revelation 20:3

New Testament

1 Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 2 He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and tied him up for a thousand years. 3 The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.) 4 Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

 Notes and References

"... The anger and hostility of Satan toward the people of God are here said to be based on his awareness of the temporal limitations God has placed on his activities. According to the eschatological schema of Revelation 20:3, Satan is to be released for a short time (μικρὸς χρόνος) after his thousand-year confinement (in parallels in Jewish apocalypses, the evil angels are not released but are bound until the time of judgment; see 1 Enoch 18:16; 21:6). In Revelation 17:10, the period of activity of the seventh king is described as ὀλίγον (here used as an adverb of time), meaning a “short [time],” again reflecting the foreordained eschatological plan of God ..."

Aune, David Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 (p. 726) Zondervan, 2017

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.