Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 37:1 (Fall 1974)
Article: The Resurrections Of Revelation 20
Author: Norman P. Shepherd

WTJ 37:1 (Fall 1974) p. 34

The Resurrections Of Revelation 20

Norman Shepherd

The interpretation of Revelation 20 is foundational for premillennial eschatology. It is doubtful whether anything like the premillennial scheme as it is currently popularized would have emerged from relevant passages in either the Old or New Testaments apart from settled convictions with respect to the meaning of Revelation 20. A classic formulation of these convictions respecting the two-fold resurrection may be found in the commentary of Henry Alford whose brief but cogent observations have proved decisive for many. Alford writes, “If, in a passage where two resurrections are mentioned, where certain νεκροὶ ἔζησαν at the first, and the rest of the ψυξαὶ ἔζησαν only at the end of a specified period after the first—if in such a passage the first resurrection may be understood to mean spiritual rising with Christ, while the second means literal rising from the grave;—then there is an end of all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to any thing.”1 Alford further argues that if at least one of the resurrections must be a bodily resurrection, both are; the one is of the just, and the other, of the unjust at the end of the millennial reign of Christ.

The purpose of what follows is to offer in at least a tentative way a different understanding of the resurrections of Revelation 20, taking account of the broader biblical and theological context in which the prophecy concerning these resurrections appears.

Revelation 20:4 indicates that the persons described in the verse “lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” There is no need to determine the precise identity of these persons, nor is it necessary to determine the precise force of the verb, ἔζησαν. It could mean “they lived,” or “they came to life.” Living would seem to carry with it the implication of an inception of life, and

WTJ 37:1 (Fall 1974) p. 35

in terms of the succeeding context it is appropriate to refer to this inception of life as resurrection. Vss. 4 and 5 together indicate that of a larger group called the dead, some lived (ἔζησαν), and the rest did not live (οὐχ ἔζησαν). To this p...