Skip to content

Grammar Analysis: Revelation 20:1-3

Text

Greek: Καὶ εἶδον ἄγγελον καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἔχοντα τὴν κλεῖν τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ ἅλυσιν μεγάλην ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐκράτησεν τὸν δράκοντα, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὅς ἐστιν Διάβολος καὶ Ὁ Σατανᾶς, καὶ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν χίλια ἔτη, καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον, καὶ ἔκλεισεν καὶ ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη, ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη· μετὰ ταῦτα δεῖ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν μικρὸν χρόνον.

KJV: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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.

Word-by-Word Parsing

Revelation 20:1

# Word Lemma Strong Parsing
1 Καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
2 εἶδον ὁράω G3708 V-2AAI-1S
3 ἄγγελον ἄγγελος G32 N-ASM
4 καταβαίνοντα καταβαίνω G2597 V-PAP-ASM
5 ἐκ ἐκ G1537 PREP
6 τοῦ ὁ G3588 T-GSM
7 οὐρανοῦ οὐρανός G3772 N-GSM
8 ἔχοντα ἔχω G2192 V-PAP-ASM
9 τὴν ὁ G3588 T-ASF
10 κλεῖν κλείς G2807 N-ASF
11 τῆς ὁ G3588 T-GSF
12 ἀβύσσου ἄβυσσος G12 N-GSF
13 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
14 ἅλυσιν ἅλυσις G254 N-ASF
15 μεγάλην μέγας G3173 A-ASF
16 ἐπὶ ἐπί G1909 PREP
17 τὴν ὁ G3588 T-ASF
18 χεῖρα χείρ G5495 N-ASF
19 αὐτοῦ αὐτός G846 P-GSM

Revelation 20:2

# Word Lemma Strong Parsing
1 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
2 ἐκράτησεν κρατέω G2902 V-AAI-3S
3 τὸν ὁ G3588 T-ASM
4 δράκοντα δράκων G1404 N-ASM
5 ὁ ὁ G3588 T-NSM
6 ὄφις ὄφις G3789 N-NSM
7 ὁ ὁ G3588 T-NSM
8 ἀρχαῖος ἀρχαῖος G744 A-NSM
9 ὅς ὅς G3739 R-NSM
10 ἐστιν εἰμί G1510 V-PAI-3S
11 Διάβολος διάβολος G1228 A-NSM
12 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
13 Ὁ ὁ G3588 T-NSM
14 Σατανᾶς Σατανᾶς G4567 N-NSM
15 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
16 ἔδησεν δέω G1210 V-AAI-3S
17 αὐτὸν αὐτός G846 P-ASM
18 χίλια χίλιοι G5507 A-APN
19 ἔτη ἔτος G2094 N-APN

Revelation 20:3

# Word Lemma Strong Parsing
1 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
2 ἔβαλεν βάλλω G906 V-2AAI-3S
3 αὐτὸν αὐτός G846 P-ASM
4 εἰς εἰς G1519 PREP
5 τὴν ὁ G3588 T-ASF
6 ἄβυσσον ἄβυσσος G12 N-ASF
7 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
8 ἔκλεισεν κλείω G2808 V-AAI-3S
9 καὶ καί G2532 CONJ
10 ἐσφράγισεν σφραγίζω G4972 V-AAI-3S
11 ἐπάνω ἐπάνω G1883 ADV
12 αὐτοῦ αὐτός G846 P-GSM
13 ἵνα ἵνα G2443 CONJ
14 μὴ μή G3361 PRT-N
15 πλανήσῃ πλανάω G4105 V-AAS-3S
16 ἔτι ἔτι G2089 ADV
17 τὰ ὁ G3588 T-APN
18 ἔθνη ἔθνος G1484 N-APN
19 ἄχρι ἄχρι G891 ADV
20 τελεσθῇ τελέω G5055 V-APS-3S
21 τὰ ὁ G3588 T-NPN
22 χίλια χίλιοι G5507 A-NPN
23 ἔτη ἔτος G2094 N-NPN
24 μετὰ μετά G3326 PREP
25 ταῦτα οὗτος G3778 D-APN
26 δεῖ δεῖ G1163 V-PAI-3S
27 λυθῆναι λύω G3089 V-APN
28 αὐτὸν αὐτός G846 P-ASM
29 μικρὸν μικρός G3398 A-ASM
30 χρόνον χρόνος G5550 N-ASM

Key Grammatical Features

1. εἶδον with Present Participles (v.1)

  • Form: εἶδον is V-2AAI-1S, "I saw." καταβαίνοντα and ἔχοντα are present active participles, accusative masculine singular, agreeing with ἄγγελον.
  • Significance: The finite aorist introduces the seer's vision; the participles describe the angel as "coming down" and "having" the key/chain within the vision scene.
  • Grammar reference: vision-introduction-formulas; apocalyptic-narrative-prolepsis

2. Aorist Active Indicative Chain (vv.2-3)

  • Form: ἐκράτησεν, ἔδησεν, ἔβαλεν, ἔκλεισεν, ἐσφράγισεν are all aorist active indicatives, 3rd singular.
  • Significance: The grammar presents a chain of bounded actions: seizure, binding, casting, shutting, sealing. The verbs advance the narrated action without marking internal duration.
  • Grammar reference: aorist-active-indicative-narrative-chain

3. Appositional Identification of the Dragon (v.2)

  • Form: τὸν δράκοντα is accusative object of ἐκράτησεν; ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος stands in nominative apposition, followed by a relative clause ὅς ἐστιν Διάβολος καὶ Ὁ Σατανᾶς.
  • Significance: The grammar supplies identity labels for the dragon inside the sentence. The nominative apposition is explanatory rather than a new finite clause.
  • Grammar reference: no dedicated entry yet; compare self-interpretation-literal-correction for in-text identification patterns.

4. ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ (v.3)

  • Form: ἵνα + μή + πλανήσῃ (V-AAS-3S, aorist active subjunctive of πλανάω) introduces a negative purpose clause.
  • Significance: The preceding actions are grammatically oriented toward the prevented outcome: "that he should not deceive the nations any longer." The aorist subjunctive views the possible deception as a bounded event/action.
  • Grammar reference: purpose-clause-hina-me-aorist-subjunctive
  • Word study: G4105-planao

5. δεῖ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν μικρὸν χρόνον (v.3)

  • Form: δεῖ is V-PAI-3S, an impersonal necessity verb. λυθῆναι is V-APN, aorist passive infinitive of λύω. αὐτόν is accusative subject of the infinitive. μικρὸν χρόνον is accusative of duration/extent.
  • Significance: The clause means "it is necessary for him to be loosed for a short time." The passive infinitive marks the subject as undergoing release; the accusative time phrase marks extent, not object.
  • Grammar reference: aorist-infinitive-accusative-of-duration for the duration syntax; divine-passive as a related passive-voice category where relevant by context.
  • Word study: G1163-dei

Clause Structure

  1. Vision frame: Καὶ εἶδον + accusative object + participial modifiers.
  2. Object identification: τὸν δράκοντα is seized, then identified by appositional and relative material.
  3. Narrative chain: καὶ ἐκράτησεν ... καὶ ἔδησεν ... καὶ ἔβαλεν ... καὶ ἔκλεισεν καὶ ἐσφράγισεν.
  4. Purpose clause: ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη.
  5. Temporal limit: ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη.
  6. Necessity clause: μετὰ ταῦτα δεῖ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν μικρὸν χρόνον.

Cross-References

Generated from: greek_parser.py --verse REV 20:1, REV 20:2, REV 20:3; --similar REV 20:3; --pattern searches Last updated: 2026-05-07