SEV Biblia, Chapter 20:4
Y vi tronos, y se sentaron sobre ellos, y les fue dado juicio; y vi las almas de los degollados por el testimonio de Jess, y por la palabra de Dios, que no adoraron la bestia, ni a su imagen, y que no recibieron su marca en sus frentes, ni en sus manos, y vivirn y reinarn con el Cristo los mil aos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 20:4
Verse 4. I saw thrones] Christianity established in the earth, the kings and governors being all Christians. Reigned with Christ a thousand years.] I am satisfied that this period should not be taken literally. It may signify that there shall be a long and undisturbed state of Christianity; and so universally shall the Gospel spirit prevail, that it will appear as if Christ reigned upon earth; which will in effect be the case, because his Spirit shall rule in the hearts of men; and in this time the martyrs are represented as living again; their testimony being revived, and the truth for which they died, and which was confirmed by their blood, being now everywhere prevalent. As to the term thousand years, it is a mystic number among the Jews. Midrash Tillin, in Psa. xc. 15, Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, adds, "by Babylon, Greece, and the Romans; and in the days of the Messiah. How many are the days of the Messiah? Rab. Elieser, the son of R. Jose, of Galilee, said, The days of the Messiah are a thousand years." Sanhedrin, fol. 92, 1, cited by the Aruch, under the word qrya says: "There is a tradition in the house of Elias, that the righteous, whom the holy blessed God shall raise from the dead, shall not return again to the dust; but for the space of a thousand years, in which the holy blessed God shall renew the world, they shall have wings like the wings of eagles, and shall fly above the waters." It appears therefore that this phraseology is purely rabbinical. Both the Greeks and Latins have the same form of speech in speaking on the state of the righteous and wicked after death.
There is something like this in the Republic of Plato, book x., p. 322, edit. Bip., where, speaking of Erus, the son of Armenius, who came to life after having been dead twelve days, and who described the states of departed souls, asserting "that some were obliged to make a long peregrination under the earth before they arose to a state of happiness, einai de thn poreian cilieth, for it was a journey of a thousand years," he adds, "that, as the life of man is rated at a hundred years, those who have been wicked suffer in the other world a ten-fold punishment, and therefore their punishment lasts a thousand years." A similar doctrine prevailed among the Romans; whether they borrowed it from the Greeks, or from the rabbinical Jews, we cannot tell.
Thus Virgil, speaking of the punishment of the wicked in the infernal regions, says:- Has omnes, ubi MILLE rotam volvere per annos, Lethaeum ad fluvium Deus evocat agmine magno: Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant, Rursus et incipiant in corpora velle reverti AEN., lib. vi., 748.
"But when a thousand rolling years are past, So long their dreary punishment shall last, Whole droves of spirits, by the driving god, Are led to drink the deep Lethean flood In large, forgetful draughts, to sleep the cares Of their past labours and their irksome years; That, unremembering of its former pain, The soul may clothe itself with flesh again." How the apostle applies this general tradition, or in what sense he may use it, who can tell?
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them , etc.] Besides the throne of God the Father, and the throne of glory, on which the Son of God sits, and the twelve thrones for the twelve apostles of the Lamb; there will be thrones set, or pitched, for all the saints, ( Daniel 7:9) who will sit on them, in the character of kings, and as conquerors, and shall sit quiet, and undisturbed, and be in perfect ease, and peace, for they that sit on them are the same persons hereafter described in this verse; for after the binding of Satan, an account is given of the happiness and glory of the saints during that time: and judgment was given unto them ; that is, power, dominion, regal authority, possession of a kingdom, answerable to their character as kings, and to their position, sitting on thrones, ( Daniel 7:22,27) unless it should be rather understood of justice being done them, which does not so manifestly take place in the present state of things, and of which they sometimes complain; but now righteous judgment will be given for them, and against their enemies; their persons will be openly declared righteous; their characters will be cleared of all false imputations fastened on them; and their works and sufferings for Christ will be taken notice of in a way of grace, and rewarded in a very glorious manner. And so it may respect their being judged themselves, but not their judging of others, the wicked, which is the sole work of Christ; nor will the wicked now be upon the spot to be judged; nor is that notion to be supported by (see Gill on Matthew 19:28), (see Gill on 1 Corinthians 6:2), (see Gill on Corinthians 6:3). The Jews fancy that their chief men shall judge the world in the time to come; for so they say f432 , in future time, (or in the world to come,) the holy blessed God will sit, and kings will place thrones for the great men of Israel, and they shall sit and judge the nations of the world with the holy blessed God: but the persons here meant are not Jews, but sufferers for the sake of Jesus, as follows: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God : these, with the persons described in the next clause, are they who will sit on thrones, during the thousand years of Satan's being bound, and will have judgment given them; even such who have bore witness to the truth of Jesus being the Son of God, the true Messiah, and the only Saviour of sinners, and to him as the essential Word of God, or to the written word of God, the whole Gospel, all the truths and doctrines of it; and who have been beheaded for bearing such a testimony, as John the Baptist was, the first of the witnesses of Jesus: and since this kind of punishment was a Roman one, it seems particularly to point at such persons who suffered under the Roman Pagan emperors, and to design the same souls said to be under the altar, and to cry for vengeance, ( Revelation 6:9). This clause, in connection with the former, is differently rendered; the Syriac version renders it thus, and judgment was given to them, and to the souls that were beheaded, etc. the Arabic version, and to them was given the judgment the souls killed, etc. the Ethiopic version, and then I saw a seat, and the son of man sat upon it, and he rendered to them judgment for the souls of them that were slain for the law of the Lord Jesus. And which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands , (see Revelation 13:1,4,14-16). This describes such who shall have made no profession of the Popish religion, nor have supported it in any way; who shall not have joined in the idolatry of the Romish antichrist, but shall have protested against it, and departed from it, and shall have adhered to Christ, and to the true worship of God; (see Revelation 14:1 15:2). And so this, with the preceding character, includes all the saints that lived under Rome Pagan, and Rome Papal, to the destruction of antichrist, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom; not that these martyrs and confessors, or even all the saints of their times, are the only persons that shall share in the glory and happiness of the thousand years' reign of Christ, and binding of Satan; for all the saints will come with Christ, and all the dead in Christ will rise first, or be partakers of the first resurrection; and all that are redeemed by his blood, of whatsoever nation, or in whatsoever age of the world they have lived, even from the beginning of it, shall be kings and priests, and reign with him on earth, ( Zechariah 14:5 1 Thessalonians 3:13 4:14,16 Revelation 5:9,10) though John only takes notice of these, because the design of this book, and of the visions shown to him, was only to give a prophetic history of the church, from his time, to the end of the world; and these particularly are observed to encourage the saints under sufferings for Christ: and they lived ; meaning not spiritually, for so they did before, and while they bore their testimony to Christ, and against antichrist, and previous to their death; nor in their successors, for it would not be just and reasonable that they should be beheaded for their witness of Christ and his word, and others should live and reign with Christ in their room and stead; nor is this to be understood of their living in their souls, for so they live in their separate state; the soul never dies; God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: but the sense is, that they lived again, as in ( Revelation 20:5) they lived corporeally; their souls lived in their bodies, their bodies being raised again, and reunited to their souls, their whole persons lived; or the souls of them that were beheaded lived; that is, their bodies lived again, the soul being sometimes put for the body, ( Psalm 16:10) and this is called the first resurrection in the next verse: and reigned with Christ a thousand years ; as all that suffer with him will, and as all that will live godly must, and do, ( 2 Timothy 2:12) ( Timothy 3:12). Christ being descended from heaven, and having bound Satan, and the dead saints being raised, and the living ones changed, he will reign among them personally, visibly, and gloriously, and in the fullest manner; all the antichristian powers will be destroyed; Satan will be in close confinement; death, with respect to Christ and his people, will be no more; the heavens and the earth will be made new, and all things will be subject to him; and all his saints will be with him, and they shall reign with him; they shall be glorified together; they shall sit on the throne with him, have a crown of righteousness given them, and possess the kingdom appointed for them; they will reign over all their enemies; Satan will be bruised under their feet, being bound; the wicked will be shut up in hell, and neither will be able to give them any disturbance; and sin and death will be no more: this reign will not be in a sensual and carnal way, or lie in possessing worldly riches and honours, in eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage; the saints will not be in a mortal, but in an immortal state; the children of this resurrection will be like the angels; and this reign will be on earth, ( Revelation 5:10) the present earth will be burnt up, and a new one formed, in which these righteous persons will dwell, ( Peter 3:13) of which (see Gill on Revelation 21:1) and it will last a thousand years; not distinct from, but the same with the thousand years in which Satan will be bound; for if they were distinct from them, and should commence when they are ended, the reign of Christ with his saints would be when Satan is loosed, which is utterly inconsistent with it. The Syriac version very rightly renders it, these thousand years, referring to those of Satan's binding. Nor are these thousand years to be understood prophetically, for as many years as there are days in a thousand years; for as this would defer the judgment of the wicked, and the ultimate glory of the saints, to a prodigious length of time, so it should be observed, that prophetic time will now be no longer, according to the angel's oath in ( Revelation 10:6) but these are to be understood literally and definitely, as before, of just such an exact number and term of years; (see 2 Peter 3:8) this is a perfect number, and is expressive of the perfection of this state, and is a term of years that neither Adam, nor any of his sons, arrived unto; but Christ the second Adam shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days longer than any of them, ( Isaiah 53:10). It is an observation of the Jewish Rabbins f433 , that the day in ( Genesis 2:17) is the day of the holy blessed God (i.e. a thousand years), and therefore the first Adam did not perfect, or fill up his day, for there wanted seventy years of it: and it is a notion that prevails with them, that the days of the Messiah will be a thousand years f434 ; and so they will be at his second coming, but not at his first, which they vainly expect, it being past: and also they say f435 , that in these thousand years God will renew his world, and that then the righteous will be raised, and no more return to dust; which agrees with John's new heaven and new earth during this state, and with the first resurrection: and so Jerom, who was conversant with the Rabbins, says that the Jews expect a thousand years' reign.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 4-6 - Here is an account of the reign of the saints, for the same space of time as Satan is bound. Those who suffer with Christ, shall reign with him in his spiritual and heavenly kingdom, in conformity to him in his wisdom, righteousness, and holiness: this is called the firs resurrection, with which none but those who serve Christ, and suffe for him, shall be favoured. The happiness of these servants of God is declared. None can be blessed but those that are holy; and all that ar holy shall be blessed. We know something thing of what the first deat is, and it is very awful; but we know not what this second death is. I must be much more dreadful; it is the death of the soul, eterna separation from God. May we never know what it is: those who have bee made partakers of a spiritual resurrection, are saved from the power of the second death. We may expect that a thousand years will follow the destruction of the antichristian, idolatrous, persecuting powers during which pure Christianity, in doctrine, worship, and holiness will be made known over all the earth. By the all-powerful working of the Holy Spirit, fallen man will be new-created; and faith and holines will as certainly prevail, as unbelief and unholiness now do. We ma easily perceive what a variety of dreadful pains, diseases, and othe calamities would cease, if all men were true and consistent Christians All the evils of public and private contests would be ended, an happiness of every kind largely increased. Every man would try to lighten suffering, instead of adding to the sorrows around him. It is our duty to pray for the promised glorious days, and to do every thin in our public and private stations which can prepare for them.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 ειδον 1492 5627 θρονους 2362 και 2532 εκαθισαν 2523 5656 επ 1909 αυτους 846 και 2532 κριμα 2917 εδοθη 1325 5681 αυτοις 846 και 2532 τας 3588 ψυχας 5590 των 3588 πεπελεκισμενων 3990 5772 δια 1223 την 3588 μαρτυριαν 3141 ιησου 2424 και 2532 δια 1223 τον 3588 λογον 3056 του 3588 θεου 2316 και 2532 οιτινες 3748 ου 3756 προσεκυνησαν 4352 5656 τω 3588 θηριω 2342 ουτε 3777 την 3588 εικονα 1504 αυτου 846 και 2532 ουκ 3756 ελαβον 2983 5627 το 3588 χαραγμα 5480 επι 1909 το 3588 μετωπον 3359 αυτων 846 και 2532 επι 1909 την 3588 χειρα 5495 αυτων 846 και 2532 εζησαν 2198 5656 και 2532 εβασιλευσαν 936 5656 μετα 3326 χριστου 5547 {1: τα 3588 } χιλια 5507 ετη 2094
Vincent's NT Word Studies
4. Thrones. See on ch. ii. 13.
They sat. All the faithful members of Christ's Church. Compare they reigned with Christ.
Beheaded (pepelekismenwn). From pelekuv an ax. Only here in the New Testament.
They lived. Equivalent to lived again. Compare ver. 5.
