KJV: For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
YLT: for they are spirits of demons, doing signs -- which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to bring them together to the battle of that great day of God the Almighty; --
Darby: for they are the spirits of demons, doing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole habitable world to gather them together to the war of that great day of God the Almighty.
ASV: for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
εἰσὶν | they are |
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: εἰμί Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present. |
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πνεύματα | spirits |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Plural Root: πνεῦμα Sense: a movement of air (a gentle blast. |
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δαιμονίων | of demons |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural Root: δαιμόνιον Sense: the divine power, deity, divinity. |
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ποιοῦντα | performing |
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Neuter Plural Root: ποιέω Sense: to make. |
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σημεῖα | signs |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural Root: σημεῖον Sense: a sign, mark, token. |
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ἐκπορεύεται | go forth |
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἐκπορεύομαι Sense: to go forth, go out, depart. |
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βασιλεῖς | kings |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural Root: βασιλεύς Sense: leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king. |
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τῆς | of the |
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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οἰκουμένης | inhabited [world] |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: οἰκουμένη Sense: the inhabited earth. |
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ὅλης | whole |
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὅλος Sense: all, whole, completely. |
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συναγαγεῖν | to gather together |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active Root: συνάγω Sense: to gather together, to gather. |
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εἰς | unto |
Parse: Preposition Root: εἰς Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among. |
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πόλεμον | battle |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: πόλεμος Sense: a war. |
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ἡμέρας | day |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ἡμέρα Sense: the day, used of the natural day, or the interval between sunrise and sunset, as distinguished from and contrasted with the night. |
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τῆς | - |
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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μεγάλης | great |
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: μέγας Sense: great. |
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τοῦ | - |
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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Θεοῦ | of God |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: θεός Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities. |
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Παντοκράτορος | Almighty |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: παντοκράτωρ Sense: he who holds sway over all things. |
Greek Commentary for Revelation 16:14
“Spirits of demons.” Explanation of the simile ως βατραχοι hōs batrachoi See 1 Timothy 4:1 about “deceiving spirits and teachings of demons.” [source]
“Doing signs” (present active participle of ποιεω poieō). The Egyptian magicians wrought “signs” (tricks), as did Simon Magus and later Apollonius of Tyana. Houdini claimed that he could reproduce every trick of the spiritualistic mediums.Which go forth (α εκπορευεται ha ekporeuetai). Singular verb with neuter plural (collective) subject.Unto the kings The three evil spirits (dragon and the two beasts) spur on the kings of the whole world to a real world war. “There have been times when nations have been seized by a passion for war which the historian can but imperfectly explain” (Swete).To gather them together (συναγαγειν sunagagein). Second aorist active infinitive of συναγω sunagō to express purpose (that of the unclean spirits).Unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty Some take this to be war between nations, like Mark 13:8, but it is more likely war against God (Psalm 2:2) and probably the battle pictured in Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19. Cf. 2 Peter 3:12, “the day of God,” his reckoning with the nations. See Joel 2:11; Joel 3:4. Paul uses “that day” for the day of the Lord Jesus (the Parousia) as in 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philemon 1:6; Philemon 2:16; 2 Timothy 1:12, 2 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 4:8. [source]
Singular verb with neuter plural (collective) subject. [source]
The three evil spirits (dragon and the two beasts) spur on the kings of the whole world to a real world war. “There have been times when nations have been seized by a passion for war which the historian can but imperfectly explain” (Swete).To gather them together (συναγαγειν sunagagein). Second aorist active infinitive of συναγω sunagō to express purpose (that of the unclean spirits).Unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty Some take this to be war between nations, like Mark 13:8, but it is more likely war against God (Psalm 2:2) and probably the battle pictured in Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19. Cf. 2 Peter 3:12, “the day of God,” his reckoning with the nations. See Joel 2:11; Joel 3:4. Paul uses “that day” for the day of the Lord Jesus (the Parousia) as in 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philemon 1:6; Philemon 2:16; 2 Timothy 1:12, 2 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 4:8. [source]
Second aorist active infinitive of συναγω sunagō to express purpose (that of the unclean spirits). [source]
Some take this to be war between nations, like Mark 13:8, but it is more likely war against God (Psalm 2:2) and probably the battle pictured in Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19. Cf. 2 Peter 3:12, “the day of God,” his reckoning with the nations. See Joel 2:11; Joel 3:4. Paul uses “that day” for the day of the Lord Jesus (the Parousia) as in 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philemon 1:6; Philemon 2:16; 2 Timothy 1:12, 2 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 4:8. [source]
Omit of the earth and. [source]
See on Luke 2:1. [source]
Rev., more literally, war. Battle is μάχη . [source]
Omit. Read, as Rev., “the great day.” [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Revelation 16:14
The Rev., unfortunately, and against the protest of the American committee, retains devils instead of rendering demons. See on Matthew 4:1. The New Testament uses two kindred words to denote the evil spirits which possessed men, and which were so often east out by Christ: διάμων , of which demon is a transcript, and which occurs, according to the best texts, only at Matthew 8:31; and δαιμόνιον , which is not a diminutive, but the neuter of the adjective δαιμόνιος ,of, or belonging to a demon. The cognate verb is δαιμονίζομαι to be possessed with a demon, as in Mark 1:32. The derivation of the word is uncertain. Perhaps δαίω , to distribute, since the deities allot the fates of men. Plato derives it from δαήμων , knowing or wise. In Hesiod, as in Pythagoras, Thales, and Plutarch, the word δαίμων is used of men of the golden age, acting as tutelary deities, and forming the link between gods and men. Socrates, in Plato's “Cratylus,” quotes Hesiod as follows: “Socrates: You know how Hesiod uses the word? Hermogenes: Indeed I do not. Soc.: Do you not remember that he speaks of a golden race of men who came first? Her.: Yes, I know that. Soc.: He says of them,But now that fate has closed over this race,They are holy demons upon earth,Beneficent, averters of ills, guardians of mortal men.'”After some further conversation, Socrates goes on: “And therefore I have the most entire conviction that he called them demons, because they were δαήμονες (knowing or wise )Now, he and other poets say truly that, when a good man dies, he has honor and a mighty portion among the dead, and becomes a demon, which is a name given to him signifying wisdom. And I say, too, that every wise man who happens to be a good man is more than human ( δαιμόνιον ) both in life and death, and is rightly called a demon.” Mr. Grote (“History of Greece”) observes that in Hesiod demons are “invisible tenants of the earth, remnants of the once happy golden race whom the Olympic gods first made - the unseen police of the gods, for the purpose of repressing wicked behavior in the world.” In later Greek the word came to be used of any departed soul. In Homer δαίμων is used synonymously with θεός and θεά , god and goddess, and the moral quality of the divinity is determined by the context: but most commonly of the divine power or agency, like the Latin numen, the deity considered as a power rather than as a person. Homer does not use δαιμόνιον substantively, but as an adjective, always in the vocative case, and with a sorrowful or reproachful sense, indicating that the person addressed is in some astonishing or strange condition. Therefore, as a term of reproach - wretch! sirrah! madman! (“Iliad,” 2:190,200; 4:31; ix., 40). Occasionally in an admiring or respectful sense (“Odyssey,” xiv., 443; xxiii., 174); Excellent stranger! noble sir! Homer also uses δαίμων of one's genius or attendant spirit, and thence of one's lot orfortune. So in the beautiful simile of the sick father (“Odyssey,” 5:396), “Some malignant genius has assailed him.” Compare “Odyssey,” x., 64; xi., 61. Hence, later, the phrase κατὰ δαίμονα is nearly equivalent to by chance. We have seen that, in Homer, the bad sense of δαιμόνοις is the prevailing one. In the tragedians, also, δαίμων , though used both of good and bad fortune, occurs more frequently in the latter sense, and toward this sense the word gravitates more and more. The undertone of Greek thought, which tended to regard no man happy until he had escaped from life (see on Matthew 5:3, blessed )naturally imparted a gloomy and forbidding character to those who were supposed to allot the destinies of life. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In classical Greek it is noticeable that the abstract τὸ δαιμόνιον fell into the background behind δαίμων , with the development in the latter of the notion of a fate or genius connected with each individual, as the demon of Socrates; while in biblical Greek the process is the reverse, this doctrine being rejected for that of an overruling personal providence, and the strange gods, “obscure to human knowledge and alien to human life,” taking the abstract term uniformly in an evil sense. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Empedocles, a Greek philosopher, of Sicily, developed Hesiod's distinction; making the demons of a mixed nature between gods and men, not only the link between the two, but having an agency and disposition of their own; not immortal, but long-lived, and subject to the passions and propensities of men. While in Hesiod the demons are all good, according to Empedocles they are both bad and good. This conception relieved the gods of the responsibility for proceedings unbecoming the divine nature. The enormities which the older myths ascribed directly to the gods - thefts, rapes, abductions - were the doings of bad demons. It also saved the credit of the old legends, obviating the necessity of pronouncing either that the gods were unworthy or the legends untrue. “Yet, though devised for the purpose of satisfying a more scrupulous religious sensibility, it was found inconvenient afterward when assailants arose against paganism generally. For while it abandoned as indefensible a large portion of what had once been genuine faith, it still retained the same word demons with an entirely altered signification. The Christian writers in their controversies found ample warrant among the earlier pagan authors for treating all the gods as demons; and not less ample warrant among the later pagans for denouncing the demons generally as evil beings” (Grote, “History of Greece”). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- This evil sense the words always bear in the New Testament as well as in the Septuagint. Demons are synonymous with unclean spirits (Mark 5:12, Mark 5:15; Mark 3:22, Mark 3:30; Luke 4:33). They appear in connection with Satan (Luke 10:17, Luke 10:18; Luke 11:18, Luke 11:19); they are put in opposition to the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:20, 1 Corinthians 10:21); to the faith (1 Timothy 4:1). They are connected with idolatry (Revelation 9:20; Revelation 16:13, Revelation 16:14). They are special powers of evil, influencing and disturbing the physical, mental, and moral being (Luke 13:11, Luke 13:16; Mark 5:2-5; Mark 7:25; Matthew 12:45). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
“The Lord the God.” Common phrase in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 6:3, Ezekiel 6:11; Ezekiel 7:2, etc.) and in this book (Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7; Revelation 19:6; Revelation 21:22). See Revelation 1:4; Revelation 4:8 for the triple use of ο ho etc. to express the eternity of God.The Almighty (ο παντοκρατωρ ho pantokratōr). Late compound (πας pās and κρατεω krateō), in Cretan inscription and a legal papyrus, common in lxx and Christian papyri, in N.T. only in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7, Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:6, Revelation 19:15; Revelation 21:22. [source]
Late compound (πας pās and κρατεω krateō), in Cretan inscription and a legal papyrus, common in lxx and Christian papyri, in N.T. only in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7, Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:6, Revelation 19:15; Revelation 21:22. [source]
The first of the visions to be so described (Revelation 13:3; Revelation 15:1), and it is introduced by ωπτη ōphthē as in Revelation 11:19; Revelation 12:3, not by μετα ταυτο meta tauto or by ειδον eidon or by ειδον και ιδου eidon kai idou as heretofore. This “sign” is really a τερας teras (wonder), as it is so by association in Matthew 24:24; John 4:48; Acts 2:22; Acts 5:12. The element of wonder is not in the word σημειον sēmeion as in τερας teras but often in the thing itself as in Luke 21:11; John 9:16; Revelation 13:13.; Revelation 15:1; Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:20. [source]
Effective first aorist passive indicative of βαλλω ballō cast down for good and all, a glorious consummation. This vision of final victory over Satan is given by Jesus in Luke 10:18; John 12:31. It has not come yet, but it is coming, and the hope of it should be a spur to missionary activity and zeal. The word megas (great) occurs here with δρακων drakōn as in Revelation 12:3, and the whole picture is repeated in Revelation 20:2. The dragon in both places is identified with the old serpent (Genesis 3:1.) and called αρχαιος archaios (from αρχη archē beginning), as Jesus said that the devil was a murderer “from the beginning” (John 8:44). Both διαβολος diabolos (slanderer) and Satan This is his aim and his occupation, pictured here by the nominative articular present active participle of πλαναω planaō to lead astray. For “the inhabited world” see Luke 2:1; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 16:14. Satan can almost “lead astray” the very elect of God (Matthew 24:24), so artful is he in his beguilings as he teaches us how to deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8). [source]
Second aorist active indicative of συναγω sunagō singular (the three unclean spirits), like εκπορευεται ekporeuetai in Revelation 16:14. [source]
Repeated in Revelation 1:5; Revelation 6:15; Revelation 17:18; Revelation 18:3, Revelation 18:9; Revelation 19:19; Revelation 21:24 and “the kings of the inhabited earth” (Revelation 16:14) either for human rulers in general or the vassal kings absorbed by the Roman Empire. [source]
The best attested reading, genitive plural of λεγω legō agreeing with οχλου ochlou (genitive singular), for roll of the waters and the roar of the thunders were not articulate. Some MSS. have λεγοντες legontes (nominative plural) referring also to οχλου ochlou though nominative instead of genitive. The fourth “Hallelujah” comes from this vast multitude.The Lord our God, the Almighty (Κυριοσ ο τεοσ ο παντοκρατωρ Kuriosεβασιλευσεν ho theosβασιλευω ho pantokratōr). For this designation of God see also Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7, Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:15; Revelation 21:22. Cf. deus et dominus noster used of the Roman emperor.Reigneth First aorist active of basileuō Probably ingressive prophetic aorist, “God became king” in fulness of power on earth with the fall of the world power. [source]
For this designation of God see also Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 16:7, Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:15; Revelation 21:22. Cf. deus et dominus noster used of the Roman emperor. [source]
First aorist active infinitive of ποιεω poieō to express purpose. See πολεμεω μετα polemeō meta in Revelation 12:7 and the use of συναγω εις πολεμον sunagō eis polemon in Revelation 16:14; Revelation 20:8. The beast (for his army see Revelation 16:13.) led a league of ten kings against Babylon in Revelation 17:16., but with the purpose also of fighting the Lamb (Revelation 17:14). [source]
Second aorist active infinitive of purpose of συναγω sunagō a congenial task for Satan after his confinement. See Revelation 16:14 for this very phrase and also Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19.Of whom (ωναυτων hōn- ως η αμμος της ταλασσης autōn). Pleonasm or redundant pronoun as in Revelation 3:8 and often (of whom - of them).As the sand of the sea Already in Revelation 13:1. Clearly then the millennium, whatever it is, does not mean a period when Satan has no following on earth, for this vast host rallies at once to his standard. [source]
Clearly the reign with Christ, if on earth, was not shared in by all on earth, for Satan finds a large and ready following on his release. See Revelation 7:1 (Isaiah 11:12) for “the four corners of the earth.”Gog and Magog (τον Γωγ και Μαγωγ ton Gōg kai Magōg). Accusative in explanatory apposition with τα ετνη ta ethnē (the nations). Magog is first mentioned in Genesis 10:2. The reference here seems to be Ezekiel 38:2, where both are mentioned. Josephus (Ant. I. 6. 1) identifies Magog with the Scythians, with Gog as their prince. In the rabbinical writings Gog and Magog appear as the enemies of the Messiah. Some early Christian writers thought of the Goths and Huns, but Augustine refuses to narrow the imagery and sees only the final protest of the world against Christianity.To gather them together to the war Second aorist active infinitive of purpose of συναγω sunagō a congenial task for Satan after his confinement. See Revelation 16:14 for this very phrase and also Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19.Of whom (ωναυτων hōn- ως η αμμος της ταλασσης autōn). Pleonasm or redundant pronoun as in Revelation 3:8 and often (of whom - of them).As the sand of the sea Already in Revelation 13:1. Clearly then the millennium, whatever it is, does not mean a period when Satan has no following on earth, for this vast host rallies at once to his standard. [source]