Revelation 20:13; And Death and Hell Delivered 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 double reference to the dead who participate in this 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 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 (Revelation 20:6).

Revelation 20:6 (KJV)  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

Mentioning “the sea” as a source of dead bodies is of course mindful of drownings or “burials at sea”. The abhorrent fate of those who bodies were devoured by the fish accounts for the special mention of this group at the resurrection (Beckwith, Mounce).

Both Greeks and Romans attached great importance to land burial and the inviolability of the tomb. They recoiled with great horror at the thought of death by drowning or even burial at sea (Swete). The disappearance of the old earth in the prior scene (Revelation 20:11) is not an inconsistency, in that the sea could have yielded its dead simultaneously with that disappearance.

The personification of “death and hell” in Revelation 6:8 does not require that view of them here.

Revelation 6:8 (KJV)  And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 

To parallel the reference to a place called “the sea,” a local reference for both terms is preferable here (as in Revelation 1:18).

Revelation 1:18 (KJV)  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

The former word refers more to a state of death and the latter to a place of death.. The present instance involves only the latter, because the resurrection of the righteous dead has already occurred.

The plural “were judged” individualises the accountability at this final judgment whereas v12 speaks of it as judgement of the whole group with “were judged” alone – “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. 

“… they were judged every man according to their works” conveys the constant emphasis in Christian tradition upon individual responsibility (cf. Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6; 14:12; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Peter 1:17; Revelation 2:23) (Swete, Walvoord).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – an Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 432-433]