Revelation 19:18

so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — An angel standing in the sun addresses flying birds, commanding them to assemble for the great supper of God, which immediately follows the vision of the beast and earthly kings gathering their armies for battle.

The words — The Greek ἵνα (ina) establishes the purpose "so that," while φάγητε (phagēte) issues the command "you may eat" the σάρκας (sarkas) or "flesh" of βασιλέων (basileōn) "kings" and χιλιάρχων (chiliarchōn) "commanders."

The thread — The text directly parallels Ezekiel 39:18, which describes consuming the flesh of the mighty and drinking the blood of princes, and mirrors the complete social stratification listed in Revelation 6:15.

Why it lands — The passage states that divine judgment will physically consume every tier of opposing forces, from rulers to slaves, demonstrating that no earthly hierarchy escapes the scope of the coming defeat.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 39:18 You will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all the fattened animals of Bashan.
1 Samuel 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
Deuteronomy 28:26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
1 Samuel 17:44 “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
Jeremiah 7:33 The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
Jeremiah 16:4 “They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”
Jeremiah 19:7 And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
Jeremiah 34:20 I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
Psalms 110:5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.