English · KJV

Bede

Late Patristic · AD 500–800 · 6,271 passages across 45 books

Commentary

5,961–5,980 of 6,271
Revelation 19:19

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth ... to make war, etc. He explains how that supper of God is prepared, namely by the devil attacking the Church but being defeated.
Revelation 19:20

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur, etc. This seems to indicate that the devil and the Antichrist will be punished with a greater penalty than other humans or demons, as it is much more severe to be burned alive in sulfurous flames than to be quickly killed by the blow of a sword. Unless it signifies the divine retribution already being preempted against them. For he who does not believe is already judged (John 3). Whether you understand the Antichrist as the false prophet or heretics, no mortal sins more grievously than heretics, who, after knowing Christ, deny Him.
Revelation 19:21

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

And all the birds were filled with their flesh. If now the righteous will rejoice when they see the vengeance of the wicked, how much more will they then, when present with the judge himself, become one spirit with Him. However, the birds can also be understood as unclean spirits, who will be satiated with the destruction of their own. Tyconius explains this supper as follows: “At all times, the Church eats the flesh of its enemies, while it is being eaten by them; it will be satiated in the resurrection, being vindicated from their carnal work.”
Revelation 20:1

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

And I saw an angel ... having the key to the abyss, etc. Recapitulating from the beginning, he more fully explains how he previously said: The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend from the abyss and go into destruction (Rev. 17). Therefore, the Lord, endowed with paternal power, descended in the flesh to wage war against the prince of the world, and, having bound him, to snatch away his vessels.
Revelation 20:2 · 2 passages

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

And he bound him for a thousand years. That is, restraining and curbing his power from seducing those who were to be freed. If he were allowed to exercise his full power with force or deceit, he would deceive many of the weak in such a long time. He said a thousand years, meaning a part, that is, the remainder of the thousand years of the sixth day in which the Lord was born and suffered.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, etc. The devil is interpreted as flowing downward. In Greek, he is called the accuser. Satan means adversary or transgressor. He is called a dragon because of the malice of harming; a serpent because of the cunning of deceiving; the devil because of his fall from his status; and Satan because of his obstinacy in opposing the Lord.
Revelation 20:3 · 3 passages

And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And he shut him up and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer. He forbade and, as if with a royal seal, closed him off, so that he might not deceive the nations, but those destined for life, whom he previously seduced, might not be reconciled to God.
After that, he must be released for a little while. Then he will be released, as Saint Augustine says, when there will also be a short time (for it is read that he will rage with all his might for three and a half years), and there will be those with whom he will wage war, who cannot be overcome by his great force and tricks. If he were never released, his malignant power would appear less, the faithful patience of the holy city would be less tested, and it would be less evident how God, the Almighty, has used his great evil so well.
And he threw him into the abyss. Into the hearts of the persecuting people. Not because the devil was not there before, but because, excluded from the believers, he began to possess the wicked more abundantly, who are not only alienated from God but also more bitterly hate those who serve God. The Lord also visibly showed this when He expelled him from humans into pigs.
Revelation 20:4 · 3 passages

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, etc. He indicates what will be done during these thousand years in which the devil is bound. The Church, which will sit in Christ on the twelve thrones to judge, already sits, judging, as it has merited to hear from its King: Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven (Matt. 16).
And the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, etc. It is understood what he will say later: They reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The Church, therefore, reigns with Christ among the living and the dead. For this reason, as the Apostle says, Christ died so that he might be Lord of both the living and the dead (Rom. 14). But he mentions only the souls of the martyrs because they particularly reign after death, having fought for the truth to the point of death. What follows:
And those who did not worship the beast, etc. We must understand this as referring to both the living and the dead, who, whether still living in this mortal flesh or having passed away, reign with Christ already now in a way appropriate to this time, throughout this entire interval signified by the number of a thousand years.
Revelation 20:5 · 2 passages

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

This is the first resurrection. Indeed, by which we rise again through baptism, as the Apostle says: If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above (Col. 3). For just as the first death in this life is through sins, when the soul that sins shall die, so also the first resurrection in this life is through the forgiveness of sins.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. Whoever, during this whole time when the first resurrection, that is, of souls, is happening, has not heard the voice of the Son of God and has passed from death to life, will surely pass, in the second resurrection, which is of the flesh, into the second death, that is, eternal torments, with that very flesh.
Revelation 20:6 · 3 passages

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

But they shall be priests of God and of Christ. Another version reads, Priests of God and of Christ. However, this is not said only of bishops and priests, who are properly called priests in the Church, but just as we are all called Christians because of the mystical chrism, so we are all called priests because we are members of the one Priest. As the apostle Peter says: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Pet. 2).
And they shall reign with Christ for a thousand years. The Spirit reported, when he wrote these things, that the Church would reign for a thousand years, that is, until the end of the world, from which there could be doubt. For it is clear about the perpetual kingdom.
Revelation 20:7

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

And when the thousand years are completed, etc. He said completed as part of a whole, for he will be released such that three years and six months of the last struggle will remain. But besides this trope, it is rightly said that the time is finished. For such small remnants are not to be counted, since seven hundred and as many years as God wills are called an hour by the apostle.
Revelation 20:8

And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

And he will go out and deceive the nations, etc. Then he will deceive them to gather them for this battle. For even before, in the ways he could, he was deceiving through many and various evils. For it is said that he will go out: he will burst forth from the hidden places of his hatred into open persecution. Furthermore, Gog and Magog either signify the whole from a part or, according to the interpretation of their names, which are said to mean roof and from the roof, indicate hidden and open enemies. And they are the roof, because the enemy is now enclosed and ruled in them: and they will be from the roof when they erupt into open hatred.
Revelation 20:9

And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. This should not be considered the final punishment, but rather the fire of envy by which they will be tormented, the adversity stemming from the firmness of the saints. For heaven is the firmament. This is the fire that came out of the mouth of God's witnesses and devours their enemies. For on the last day, fire will not rain upon them, but the gathered and judged will be cast into the eternal fire, of which it is also said here:

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