What Does Revelation 20:10 Mean in the King James?
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 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 Slanderer’s name and sentence share one Greek root: the one who throws accusation across is himself cast.
THE MEANING
The deceiver is not beyond judgment: he is cast into the lake of fire alongside the beast and the false prophet. His torment continues day and night through the ages of the ages, and the verse leaves the suffering starkly stated.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the deceiver stands beyond judgment: the devil himself is cast into the lake of fire and tormented.
THE ROOT
διάβολος
diabolos
GROWS FROM
βάλλω
ballō
To throw or cast; in the compound διαβάλλω (diaballō), the sense develops into throwing a charge across, hence slandering or accusing.
“devil” in this verse is diabolos. The name διάβολος (diabolos) means “slanderer,” from διαβάλλω (diaballō), “to slander or accuse,” built on βάλλω (ballō), “to throw.” The verb used for “was cast” comes from that same seed, so the name and its sentence echo one another.
ALSO GROWS
ballō: To throw, cast.
βάλλω
It is the verb behind “was cast” here, echoing the seed inside διάβολος.
diaballō: To slander, accuse.
διαβάλλω
It shows the action beneath the name: throwing a charge across at someone.
diabolē: Slander, accusation.
διαβολή
This noun makes the accusation sense of the Slanderer’s name audible.
εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων
eis tous aiōnas
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
An age or span of time.
“for ever and ever” in this verse is eis tous aiōnas. The phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn) means “unto the ages of the ages,” giving the verse’s duration an age-upon-age shape. The doubled age-word intensifies the duration while the verse states the torment plainly.
ALSO GROWS
aiōn: An age, an era.
αἰών
This is the time-word repeated in the verse’s phrase about the torment’s duration.
aiōnios: Age-related; belonging to an age.
αἰώνιος
This related form keeps the root’s age-language present across descriptions of duration.
THE PATTERN
The lying accuser is named by his speech and brought under judgment.
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.THE THREAD
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.Here the accuser is cast down after accusing day and night; in Revelation 20:10, the devil is tormented day and night. The shared verb-family for casting and the repeated time phrase make the movement from accusation to judgment visible.
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