Revelation 20:2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Study Note
Study Note
The binding of 'the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, for a thousand years' introduces the most debated passage in the Book of Revelation for Christian eschatology, generating millennialist, amillennialist, and postmillennialist interpretive traditions. The fourfold identification — dragon, ancient serpent, devil, Satan — links the figure to Eden's serpent (Genesis 3), the chaos dragon of Old Testament cosmology, and the adversary of the heavenly court. The binding into 'the abyss' (abyssos) draws on Jewish apocalyptic traditions of angelic imprisonment as a prelude to final judgment. Whether the thousand years is literal, symbolic, or already inaugurated in the church age has occupied interpreters since the second century, with the verse functioning as the organizing text for a wide range of eschatological theologies.
Other Translations
And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, who is Devil and Adversary, and did bind him a thousand years,
And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years,
Cross References
But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the …
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even …
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like …
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a …
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which …
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her …
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the …
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: …