Revelation 20:13; And the Sea Gave Up the Dead

Revelation 20:13 (KJV)  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 

The resurrection implied in Revelation 12a receives a duller description in v13 as the writer returns to the event alluded to before the opening of the books and the judgment in the previous verse (Swete, Beckwith) – And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 

Revelation 20:12 (KJV)  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

Sequentially, the words of v13 belong in the middle of v12, before the opening of the books and the judgment.

The combination of “gave up…. and …delivered up” is another way of depicting bodily resurrection. The dead rise to receive their sentence (Moffatt; Johnson). This is a resurrection to life (cf. Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Acts 24:15).

Daniel 12:2 (KJV)  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 

John 5:29 (KJV)  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Acts 24:15 (KJV)  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. 

The second resurrection fulfils the implication of the first resurrection of Revelation 20:4).

Revelation 20:4 (KJV)  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

The double reference to the dead who participate in the resurrection “the dead….the dead” involves the unsaved dead only. The passage has no sentence for those destined for life. The concept of one general resurrection and judgment for all men opposes the clear statement of Revelation 20:5 (KJV)  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (Scott). All those judged here will fall under the authority of the second death.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 432]