Wahyu 20:1

The Thousand Year Reign

20:1 Then ¹  I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding ²  in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.

Wahyu 20:5

20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) ³  This is the first resurrection.

[20:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:1]  ² tn The word “holding” is implied. The two clauses “having the key of the abyss” and “a huge chain in his hand” can be construed in two ways: (1) both are controlled by the participle ἔχοντα (econta) and both are modified by the phrase “in his hand” – “having in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.” (2) The participle ἔχοντα refers only to the key, and the phrase “in his hand” refers only to the chain – “having the key of the abyss and holding a huge chain in his hand.” Because of the stylistic tendency in Rev to use the verb ἔχω (ecw) to mean “hold (something)” and the phrase “in his hand” forming a “bracket” along with the verb ἔχω around both the phrases in question, the first option is preferred.

[20:5]  ³ sn This statement appears to be a parenthetical comment by the author.