Revelation 20:8

and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The text records John’s vision of events occurring immediately after the thousand years conclude, when Satan is released from his prison to initiate a final mobilization.

The words — ἐξελεύσεται (exeleusetai) translates literally as “will go out,” and πλανῆσαι (planēsai) means “to deceive,” both verbs describing the released figure’s direct action toward the nations.

The thread — The deception of nations appears in Revelation 20:3 as the reason for the binding seal, and Revelation 16:14 describes demonic spirits going out to gather kings for battle.

Why it lands — The passage states that rebellion will manifest as widespread deception and mass assembly, requiring readers to identify the source of spiritual opposition and recognize the certainty of divine intervention before drawing conclusions about the conflict’s outcome.

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

And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 38:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Revelation 16:14 These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
Revelation 20:3 And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Hebrews 11:12 And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Isaiah 10:22 Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
Jeremiah 33:22 As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”
Judges 7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
1 Samuel 13:5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
1 Kings 4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.