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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 20

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.⁠ 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. 7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. 9 They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely.⁠ 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.⁠ 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened,⁠ and another book was opened—the book of life.⁠ So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.⁠ 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds.⁠ 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.⁠ 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 51:1 and Revelation 20:13

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

1 Enoch 51 describes the earth, Sheol, and the underworld giving back the dead in them so they can be resurrected, apocalyptic imagery also used in Revelation 20 where the sea, death, and Hades also give up their dead to be resurrected.

Passages

1 Enoch 51:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 In those days, the earth will return what has been entrusted to it, and Sheol will also return what it has received, and the underworld will return what it owes. 2 He will choose the righteous and holy from among them: for the day is near when they shall be saved. 3 In those days, the Elect One shall sit on My throne, and his mouth shall reveal all the secrets of wisdom and counsel: for the Lord of Spirits has granted these to him and has honored him. 4 In those days, the mountains will leap like rams, and the hills will skip like lambs full of milk, and the faces of all the angels in heaven will shine with joy. 5 For in those days, the Elect One shall rise, and the earth shall rejoice, and the righteous shall live upon it, and the chosen shall walk there.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Revelation 20:13

New Testament
11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... One aspect of Revelation's relationship to the Jewish apocalypses which has been little enough explored is Revelation's use of specific items of apocalyptic tradition which also appear in Jewish apocalypses and sometimes also in later Christian apocalypses. Where these have been noticed they have often been taken to show that John was actually borrowing from a particular Jewish apocalyptic work, such as 1 Enoch. Although it is a priori quite likely that John had read some of the Jewish apocalypses which we know, it seems to me impossible to prove his specific literary dependence on any such work. The traditions in question usually turn out to be attested in a variety of works, Jewish and Christian, in such a way that a chain of literary dependence is very difficult to reconstruct and it seems more plausible to think of traditions which were known, independently of their use in particular apocalypses, in circles, Jewish and Christian, which studied and produced apocalyptic literature. One such tradition, which occurs in Revelation, will be studied -in this chapter. It is a way of describing the general resurrection, which in Revelation 20:13a takes this form: 'And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, NovTSup 93 (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 270.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Enoch 51:1 and Revelation 20:13

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