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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 2 Baruch 30:2 and Revelation 20:13

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation describes the sea, Death, and Hades giving up their dead for judgment, similar to 2 Baruch’s description of the chambers of souls releasing their dead. Both describe resurrection when the hidden realms give up their dead so they can be judged.

Passages

2 Baruch 30:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch
1 And it shall come to pass after these things, when the time of the advent of the Messiah is fulfilled, that He shall return in glory. Then all who have fallen asleep in hope of Him shall rise again. 2 And it shall come to pass at that time that the treasuries will be opened in which is preserved the number of the souls of the righteous, and they shall come forth, and a multitude of souls shall be seen together in one assemblage of one thought, and the first shall rejoice and the last shall not be grieved. 3 For they know that the time has come of which it is said, that it is the consummation of the times. 4 But the souls of the wicked, when they see all these things, shall then waste away the more. 5 For they shall know that their torment has come and their perdition has arrived.’
70–135 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Baruch

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

"... There seem then to be two possible explanations for the reference to the sea. It may be the place for a special category of the dead: those who have died at sea. Whereas those who are buried in the earth are thought of as being in Sheol/Hades, those who die at sea are thought of as being in the subterranean ocean. But there seems to be no other evidence for this distinction. So more probably, and in the light of several Old Testament passages which closely associate the subterranean ocean with Sheol (e.g. 2 Samuel 22:5-6; Job 26:5; Psalm 69:15; Jonah 2), the sea is here simply another synonym for Sheol. Thus Revelation 20:13 preserves the synonymous parallelism exhibited by the tradition as found elsewhere. There remains the term: the chambers of the souls. This term occurs frequently in 4 Ezra, twice in 2 Baruch (21:23; 30:2), once in Pseudo-Philo, and occasionally in the Rabbis, to designate the place where the righteous dead await the resurrection. It may have originated as an interpretation of Isaiah 26:20. Whether or not the original text of 4 Ezra 4:41 explicitly located the chambers of the souls in Sheol, there can be little doubt that both 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra imply that the chambers are in Sheol. So the phrase 'the chambers of the souls' is another equivalent to Sheol, the place of the dead, at least with reference to the righteous dead ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, NovTSup 93 (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 280–281.

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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2 Baruch 30:2 and Revelation 20:13

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