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Echoes of Revelation
Revelation never quotes the Old Testament outright, yet no New Testament book refers to it more. See both texts side by side, why they don’t match, and what John does with them.
Revelation 20:4, thrones and judgment given
The thrones and the judgment given to those seated on them come from Daniel 7, where thrones are set and the verdict is given for the holy ones, who then take the kingdom.
Revelation 20:4, in every translation this tool compares.
A courtroom drawing shows the bench, the judges and the people the verdict is for. In Daniel 7 thrones are set up, the court sits, and a verdict is given in favour of God's holy people. Then they receive the kingdom. John sees thrones too, and judgment given. But now God's people sit on the thrones themselves, and they reign with Christ.
Thrones, plural, set for a court, as in Daniel 7:9. Judgment given (krima edothe), as in the Greek of Daniel 7:22, where judgment is given to the holy ones. In both the verdict leads to the saints reigning.
In Daniel the court sits and gives the verdict for the holy ones; the people and the judges are distinct. In John the faithful dead sit on the thrones, so they share the judging. Daniel's holy ones are Israel's faithful; John's are those who refused the beast, the martyrs among them. John adds a thousand years, which Daniel does not have.
Daniel saw thrones set in place and judgment given for the saints, who then received the kingdom. John sees that courtroom again. The faithful who refused the beast are vindicated and reign with Christ. The sources differ on where and when that reign takes place.
Not a courtroom John made up. The thrones and the verdict come from Daniel's courtroom, as Beale, Wright and three study Bibles note.
Beale calls the wording a partial allusion to Daniel 7:22, widened by I saw thrones to include Daniel 7:9. The Greek of Daniel 7:22 reads to krima edoken hagiois, he gave judgment to the holy ones; John has krima edothe autois, judgment was given to them. Daniel 7:9 has thronoi etethesan, thrones were set; the Aramaic has korsavan remiv. Beale lists five views of who sits on the thrones and prefers exalted believers with angels, since the only other plural thrones in Revelation are the elders' in 4:4 and 11:16; a Talmud passage views Daniel's court as God, angels and the Messiah. He notes the vindication in Daniel 7 leads to the kingdom (7:18, 27). The ESV Study Bible names the echoes of Daniel 7:9 and 22; the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible says amillennialists read vv 4-6 as fulfilling them; the CSB Study Bible lists Daniel 7:18, 22 and 27. The grade is drawn here: plural thrones with judgment given are traceable to Daniel 7.
Heiser reads the plural thrones as the divine council, widened to include believers. He walks through Beale's five options and agrees with the fifth: angels and exalted believers together. After Aune he adds that the verb they sat has no stated subject, pointing back to Daniel 7:9-10, where the son of man, the holy ones and their people all inherit the rule. His pastoral conclusion: a believer who dies now joins the council's rule at once.
Who sits on the thrones? Beale lists martyrs, all believers, the angelic court of Daniel 7, angels standing for saints, and his own choice, believers with angels. Beale and Wright read the reign as heavenly, during the present age. MacArthur reads the souls as martyrs of the tribulation who reign on earth for the thousand years, with the redeemed of both Testaments. The ESV Study Bible notes that premillennial interpreters place the thrones on earth in a future reign, while amillennial interpreters read the Daniel echoes as putting them in heaven. Keener follows the narrative as most naturally future and leaves the figure open.
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- G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (New International Greek Testament Commentary), comment on 20:4
- N. T. Wright, Revelation for Everyone, comment on Revelation 20:1-6
- ESV Study Bible, note on Revelation 20:4-5
- NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, note on Revelation 20:4
- CSB Study Bible, note on Revelation 20:4-6, and cross-references at 20:4
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Revelation 20:1-6
- Septuagint, Daniel 7:9 and 7:22, Interlinear Greek-English Septuagint
- Aramaic text of Daniel 7:9, Miqra according to the Masorah (Sefaria)
- SBL Greek New Testament (MorphGNT), Revelation 20:4
- Michael S. Heiser, Revelation 20: Satan's Final Defeat and the Great White Throne Judgment, video lecture (Naked Bible Revelation series)
- John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (ESV), note on Revelation 20:4
