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Satan Bound 1,000 Years

Angel with key to the abyss binds the dragon 1,000 years so he cannot deceive the nations.

Key Hebrew Terms

תְּהוֹם (tehom, H8415); שָׁנָה (shanah, H8141)

Key Greek Terms

δράκων (drakon, G1404); ἄβυσσος (abyssos, G12); πλανάω (planao, G4105)

Linked Verses (3)

Revelation 20:1 source
KJV

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Revelation 20:2 source
KJV

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Revelation 20:3 source
KJV

And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Church Fathers

Irenaeus (Against Heresies V.32) takes the binding literally — Satan is bound during the millennial reign following Christ's return. Tertullian (Against Marcion III.24) agrees. Augustine (City of God XX.7) is the pivotal voice for amillennialism: the binding is present-tense throughout the Church age, and Satan is bound 'from deceiving the nations' in the sense that the gospel now reaches them. This reading comes to dominate the Latin West from the 5th century onward.

Ancient Text Cross-References

1 Enoch 1
1 Enoch 10:4-6
Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness... and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.
The binding of Azazel prefigures Revelation 20:1-3's binding of the dragon; the angel-with-chain-and-key motif has a direct Enochic antecedent.
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 1
Testament of Levi 18:12
And Beliar shall be bound by him, and he shall give power to his children to tread upon the evil spirits.
Direct Second Temple source for the 'Beliar bound' motif that shapes Revelation 20:1-3's binding of the dragon for a thousand years.