Yoel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ¹ 

I will enter into judgment ²  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ³ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

Yehezkiel 38:9-18

38:9 You will advance; ⁴  you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.

38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, ⁵  and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, “I will invade ⁶  a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against ⁷  those living quietly in security – all of them living without walls and barred gates – 38:12 to loot and plunder, to attack ⁸  the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center ⁹  of the earth.” 38:13 Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors ¹⁰  will say to you, “Have you come to loot? Have you assembled your armies to plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to haul away a great amount of spoils?”’

38:14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice ¹¹  38:15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army. 38:16 You will advance ¹²  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ¹³  through you, O Gog.

38:17 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants ¹⁴  the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days ¹⁵  that I would bring you against them? 38:18 On that day, when Gog invades ¹⁶  the land of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, my rage will mount up in my anger.

Mikha 4:12

4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;

they do not understand his strategy.

He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed ¹⁷  at the threshing floor.

Zefanya 3:8

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ¹⁸  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ¹⁹ 

I have decided ²⁰  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ²¹  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

Zakharia 14:2-3

14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ²²  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ²³ 

14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle ²⁴  and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. ²⁵ 

Wahyu 16:14-16

16:14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth ²⁶  to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. ²⁷ 

16:15 (Look! I will come like a thief!

Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose ²⁸  his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition ²⁹  be seen.) ³⁰ 

16:16 Now ³¹  the spirits ³²  gathered the kings and their armies ³³  to the place that is called Armageddon ³⁴  in Hebrew.

Wahyu 19:19-20

19:19 Then ³⁵  I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now ³⁶  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ³⁷  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ³⁸ 

Wahyu 20:8-9

20:8 and will go out to deceive ³⁹  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ⁴⁰  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ⁴¹  20:9 They ⁴²  went up ⁴³  on the broad plain of the earth ⁴⁴  and encircled ⁴⁵  the camp ⁴⁶  of the saints and the beloved city, but ⁴⁷  fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. ⁴⁸ 

[3:2]  ¹ sn There is a play on words here. Jehoshaphat in Hebrew means “the Lord has judged,” and the next line in v. 2 further explicates this thought. The location of this valley is uncertain (cf. v. 12). Many interpreters have understood the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be the Kidron Valley, located on the east side of old Jerusalem. Since this is described as a scene of future messianic activity and judgment, many Jews and Muslims have desired to be buried in the vicinity, a fact attested to in modern times by the presence of many graves in the area. A variation of this view is mentioned by Eusebius, Onomasticon 1:10. According to this view, the Valley of Jehoshaphat is located in the Hinnom Valley, on the south side of the old city. Yet another view is held by many modern scholars, who understand the reference to this valley to be one of an idealized and nonliteral scene of judgment.

[3:2]  ² tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ³ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”

[38:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “go up.”

[38:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”

[38:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “go up against.”

[38:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “come (to).”

[38:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “to turn your hand against.”

[38:12]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term occurs elsewhere only in Judg 9:37. Perhaps it means “high point, top.”

[38:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “young lions.”

[38:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text is framed as a rhetorical question: “will you not take notice?”

[38:16]  ¹² tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ¹³ tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[38:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by the hand of my servants.”

[38:17]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “years” here, but this is probably a scribal gloss on the preceding phrase. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:201.

[38:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “goes up against.”

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tn The words “to be threshed” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the Lord is planning to enable “Daughter Zion” to “thresh” her enemies.

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ²¹ tn Or “certainly.”

[14:2]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ²³ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[14:3]  ²⁴ sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38–39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).

[14:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[16:14]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 1 states, “the inhabited earth, the world…ὅλη ἡ οἰκ. the whole inhabited earth…Mt 24:14; Ac 11:28; Rv 3:10; 16:14.”

[16:14]  ²⁷ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[16:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and keeps.” BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 2.c states “of holding on to someth. so as not to give it up or lose it…τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ Rv 16:15 (or else he will have to go naked).”

[16:15]  ²⁹ tn On the translation of ἀσχημοσύνη (aschmosunh) as “shameful condition” see L&N 25.202. The indefinite third person plural (“and they see”) has been translated as a passive here.

[16:15]  ³⁰ sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator. Many interpreters have seen this verse as so abrupt that it could not be an original part of the work, but the author has used such asides before (1:7; 14:13) and the suddenness here (on the eve of Armageddon) is completely parallel to Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:15-16 and parallels.

[16:16]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the resumption and conclusion of the remarks about the pouring out of the sixth bowl.

[16:16]  ³² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the demonic spirits, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16]  ³³ tn Grk “gathered them”; the referent (the kings and [implied] their armies, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16]  ³⁴ tc There are many variations in the spelling of this name among the Greek mss, although ῾Αρμαγεδών (&armagedwn) has the best support. The usual English spelling is Armageddon, used in the translation.

[16:16]  tn Or “Harmagedon” (a literal transliteration of the Greek), or “Har-Magedon” (NASB), meaning “the Mount of Magedon” in Hebrew.

[19:19]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:20]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ³⁷ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ³⁸ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[20:8]  ³⁹ tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ⁴⁰ sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).

[20:9]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:9]  ⁴³ tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.

[20:9]  ⁴⁴ tn On the phrase “broad plain of the earth” BDAG 823 s.v. πλάτος states, “τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς Rv 20:9 comes fr. the OT (Da 12:2 LXX. Cp. Hab 1:6; Sir 1:3), but the sense is not clear: breadth = the broad plain of the earth is perh. meant to provide room for the countless enemies of God vs. 8, but the ‘going up’ is better suited to Satan (vs. 7) who has recently been freed, and who comes up again fr. the abyss (vs. 3).” The referent here thus appears to be a plain large enough to accommodate the numberless hoards that have drawn up for battle against the Lord Christ and his saints.

[20:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “surrounded.”

[20:9]  ⁴⁶ tn On the term παρεμβολή (parembolh) BDAG 775 s.v. states, “Mostly used as a military t.t.…so always in our lit.…1. a (fortified) camp…ἡ παρεμβολὴ τῶν ἁγίων Rv 20:9 is also to be understood fr. the OT use of the word.”

[20:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[20:9]  ⁴⁸ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”