Ezekiel 38:4

38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types, ¹  all of them armed with swords.

Ezekiel 38:6

38:6 They are joined by ²  Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples are with you. ³ 

Joel 3:2

3:2 Then I will gather all the nations,

and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. ⁴ 

I will enter into judgment ⁵  against them there

concerning my people Israel who are my inheritance, ⁶ 

whom they scattered among the nations.

They partitioned my land,

Zephaniah 3:8

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ⁷  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ⁸ 

I have decided ⁹  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ¹⁰  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

Zechariah 12:2-4

12:2 “I am about to make Jerusalem ¹¹  a cup that brings dizziness ¹²  to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ¹³  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ¹⁴  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 12:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses ¹⁵  of the nations ¹⁶  with blindness.

Zechariah 14:2-3

14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ¹⁷  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. ¹⁸ 

14:3 Then the Lord will go to battle ¹⁹  and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days. ²⁰ 

Revelation 16:14

16:14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth ²¹  to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. ²² 

Revelation 16:16

16:16 Now ²³  the spirits ²⁴  gathered the kings and their armies ²⁵  to the place that is called Armageddon ²⁶  in Hebrew.

Revelation 20:8

20:8 and will go out to deceive ²⁷  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ²⁸  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ²⁹ 

[38:4]  ¹ sn The Hebrew text mentions two different types of shields here.

[38:6]  ² tn The words “they are joined by” are added in the translation for purposes of English style.

[38:6]  ³ sn The seven-nation coalition represents the north (Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, Beth-Togarmah), the south/west (Ethiopia, Put) and the east (Persia). The use of the sevenfold list suggests completeness. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:441.

[3:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will execute judgment.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “concerning my people and my inheritance Israel.”

[3:8]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “certainly.”

[12:2]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:2]  ¹² sn The image of a cup that brings dizziness is that of drunkenness. The Lord will force the nations to drink of his judgment and in doing so they will become so intoxicated by his wrath that they will stumble and become irrational.

[12:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

[12:3]  ¹⁴ sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.

[12:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “every horse.”

[12:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “peoples” (so NAB, NRSV).

[14:2]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[14:3]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[16:14]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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.”

[16:16]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the demonic spirits, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “gathered them”; the referent (the kings and [implied] their armies, v. 14) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:16]  ²⁶ 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.

[20:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ²⁸ sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).