Revelation 20:8-9

20:8 and will go out to deceive ¹  the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, ²  to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. ³  20:9 They ⁴  went up ⁵  on the broad plain of the earth ⁶  and encircled ⁷  the camp ⁸  of the saints and the beloved city, but ⁹  fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. ¹⁰ 

[20:8]  ¹ tn Or “mislead.”

[20:8]  ² sn The battle with Gog and Magog is described in the OT in Ezek 38:1-39:20.

[20:8]  ³ tn Grk “of whom the number of them [is] like the sand of the sea” (an allusion to Isa 10:22).

[20:9]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:9]  ⁵ tn The shift here to past tense reflects the Greek text.

[20:9]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “surrounded.”

[20:9]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[20:9]  ¹⁰ tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”