Ezekiel 38:8-23

38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, ¹  with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people ²  were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 38:9 You will advance; ³  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, ⁴  and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, “I will invade ⁵  a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against ⁶  those living quietly in security – all of them living without walls and barred gates – 38:12 to loot and plunder, to attack ⁷  the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center ⁸  of the earth.” 38:13 Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors ⁹  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 ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  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 ¹²  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 ¹³  the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days ¹⁴  that I would bring you against them? 38:18 On that day, when Gog invades ¹⁵  the land of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, my rage will mount up in my anger. 38:19 In my zeal, in the fire of my fury, ¹⁶  I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake ¹⁷  in the land of Israel. 38:20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake ¹⁸  at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs ¹⁹  will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 38:21 I will call for a sword to attack ²⁰  Gog ²¹  on all my mountains, declares the sovereign Lord; every man’s sword will be against his brother. 38:22 I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 38:23 I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Joel 3:9-14

Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat

3:9 Proclaim this among the nations:

“Prepare for a holy war!

Call out the warriors!

Let all these fighting men approach and attack! ²² 

3:10 Beat your plowshares ²³  into swords,

and your pruning hooks ²⁴  into spears! ²⁵ 

Let the weak say, ‘I too am a warrior!’ ²⁶ 

3:11 Lend your aid ²⁷  and come,

all you surrounding nations,

and gather yourselves ²⁸  to that place.”

Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! ²⁹ 

3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up

to the valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.

3:13 Rush forth with ³⁰  the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!

Come, stomp the grapes, ³¹  for the winepress is full!

The vats overflow.

Indeed, their evil is great! ³² 

3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! ³³ 

Revelation 16:14

16:14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth ³⁴  to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. ³⁵ 

Revelation 19:19-21

19:19 Then ³⁶  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 ³⁷  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ³⁸  – 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. ³⁹  19:21 The ⁴⁰  others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged ⁴¹  themselves with their flesh.

Revelation 20:8-9

20:8 and will go out to deceive ⁴²  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ⁴³  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ⁴⁴  20:9 They ⁴⁵  went up ⁴⁶  on the broad plain of the earth ⁴⁷  and encircled ⁴⁸  the camp ⁴⁹  of the saints and the beloved city, but ⁵⁰  fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. ⁵¹ 

[38:8]  ¹ tn Heb “from the sword.”

[38:8]  ² tn Heb “it.”

[38:9]  ³ tn Heb “go up.”

[38:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”

[38:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “go up against.”

[38:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “come (to).”

[38:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “to turn your hand against.”

[38:12]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term occurs elsewhere only in Judg 9:37. Perhaps it means “high point, top.”

[38:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “young lions.”

[38:14]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text is framed as a rhetorical question: “will you not take notice?”

[38:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ¹² tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[38:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “by the hand of my servants.”

[38:17]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “goes up against.”

[38:19]  ¹⁶ sn The phrase “in the fire of my fury” occurs in Ezek 21:31; 22:21, 31.

[38:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “shaking.”

[38:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “tremble.”

[38:20]  ¹⁹ tn The term occurs only here and in Song of Songs 2:14.

[38:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “against.”

[38:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gog, cf. v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:9]  ²² tn Heb “draw near and go up.”

[3:10]  ²³ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[3:10]  ²⁴ sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.

[3:10]  ²⁵ sn This conversion of farming instruments to instruments of war is the reverse of Isa 2:4 (cf. Mic 4:3), where military weapons are transformed into tools for farming. Isaiah describes a time of kingdom blessing and prosperity, whereas Joel describes a time of eschatological conflict and judgment.

[3:10]  ²⁶ sn The “weak” individual mentioned here is apparently the farmer who has little or no military prowess or prior fighting experience. Under ordinary circumstances such a person would be ill-prepared for assuming the role of a soldier. However, in the scene that Joel is describing here even the most unlikely candidate will become a participant to be reckoned with in this final conflict.

[3:11]  ²⁷ tn This Hebrew verb is found only here in the OT; its meaning is uncertain. Some scholars prefer to read here עוּרוּ (’uru, “arouse”) or חוּשׁוּ (khushu, “hasten”).

[3:11]  ²⁸ tc The present translation follows the reading of the imperative הִקָּבְצוּ (hiqqavÿtsu) rather than the perfect with vav (ו) consecutive וְנִקְבָּצוּ (vÿniqbbatsu) of the MT.

[3:11]  ²⁹ tc Some commentators prefer to delete the line “Bring down, O Lord, your warriors,” understanding it to be a later addition. But this is unnecessary. Contrary to what some have suggested, a prayer for the Lord’s intervention is not out of place here.

[3:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “send.”

[3:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (rÿdu) may be from יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”) or from רָדָה (radah, “have dominion,” here in the sense of “to tread”). If it means “go down,” the reference would be to entering the vat to squash the grapes. If it means “tread,” the verb would refer specifically to the action of those who walk over the grapes to press out their juice. The phrase “the grapes” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ³² sn The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harvest is completely ripe, there can be no delay by the reapers in gathering the harvest. In a similar way, Joel envisions a time when human wickedness will reach such a heightened degree that there can be no further stay of divine judgment (cf. the “fullness of time” language in Gal 4:4).

[3:14]  ³³ sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.

[16:14]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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.”

[19:19]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:20]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[19:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:21]  ⁴¹ tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”

[20:8]  ⁴² tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ⁴³ sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).

[20:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:9]  ⁴⁶ tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.

[20:9]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “surrounded.”

[20:9]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[20:9]  ⁵¹ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”