What Does Revelation 19:20 Mean in the King James?
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse links a wandering voice to a visible imprint of allegiance: the deceived receive the beast’s mark and bow to its image.
THE MEANING
The verse exposes a false voice whose signs deceive people into receiving the beast’s mark and bowing to its image. It holds the beast and false prophet in the same sentence as their violent judgment: both are seized and thrown alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that spectacular signs prove a voice is trustworthy: here, miracles serve deception, and the false prophet faces judgment.
THE ROOT
χάραγμα
charagma
GROWS FROM
χαράσσω
charassō
To engrave, carve, or mark into a surface.
The mark is an impression made by engraving or stamping, not only a label. The same word family gives χαρακτήρ (charaktēr), meaning an engraved impression or exact imprint, making a linguistic bridge between the beast’s mark and the image people bow to.
ALSO GROWS
charassō: To engrave, carve, or inscribe.
χαράσσω
This verb names the act behind the mark: an impression formed by cutting or marking.
charaktēr: An engraved impression; an exact imprint.
χαρακτήρ
Hebrews uses this related word for the Son as the express image, showing how this word family connects a mark with the impression it bears.
πλανάω
planaō
GROWS FROM
πλαν-
plan-
To wander or stray, and to cause someone to wander off course.
“deceived” in this verse is planaō. The Greek word pictures deception as being led away from one’s course, not merely holding an incorrect idea. The false prophet’s signs carry people into a visible allegiance, joining the wandering voice to the mark they receive.
ALSO GROWS
planē: Wandering, error, or delusion.
πλάνη
It names the state of being carried off course that the false prophet’s deception produces.
planos: A deceiver; one who leads others astray.
πλάνος
This related word makes the deceiver’s role explicit: the voice does not simply err but leads others into error.
THE PATTERN
Signs that pull trust toward a false image can deceive, but their power ends under judgment.
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.THE THREAD
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;The word for the beast’s mark is χάραγμα (charagma), meaning an engraved mark or stamp; Hebrews’ “express image” is χαρακτήρ (charaktēr), meaning an exact imprint, from the same word family. This shared language connects the mark people receive with the imprint Hebrews uses to describe the Son.
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