2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.
9:1 Then 10 the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky 11 to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss. 12
12:7 Then 13 war broke out in heaven: Michael 14 and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But 15 the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, 16 so there was no longer any place left 17 in heaven for him and his angels. 18 12:9 So 19 that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.
1 sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.
2 tn Or “will be thrown out.” This translation regards the future passive ἐκβληθήσεται (ekblhqhsetai) as referring to an event future to the time of speaking.
3 sn The world is proven wrong concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Jesus’ righteousness before the Father, as proven by his return to the Father, his glorification, constitutes a judgment against Satan. This is parallel to the judgment of the world which Jesus provokes in 3:19-21: Jesus’ presence in the world as the Light of the world provokes the judgment of those in the world, because as they respond to the light (either coming to Jesus or rejecting him) so are they judged. That judgment is in a sense already realized. So it is here, where the judgment of Satan is already realized in Jesus’ glorification. This does not mean that Satan does not continue to be active in the world, and to exercise some power over it, just as in 3:19-21 the people in the world who have rejected Jesus and thus incurred judgment continue on in their opposition to Jesus for a time. In both cases the judgment is not immediately executed. But it is certain.
4 tn Or “that.”
5 sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.
6 tn Or “judged.”
7 tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).
8 tn Grk “the same.”
9 tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”
10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
11 tn Or “from heaven” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
12 tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11…φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”
13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
14 sn The archangel Michael had a special role in protecting the nation of Israel in the OT (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; see also Jude 9).
15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast.
16 tn The words “to prevail” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
17 tn Grk “found.”
18 tn Grk “for them”; the referent (the dragon and his angels, v. 7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.