Headless Kings

After the dragon is bound in the abyss, John next sees thrones (Revelation 20:4). His description of the thrones and those who sit on them is arranged chiastically:

A. Thrones – they sat on them

B. Judgment was given to them

C. Souls of the beheaded

C’. Those who did not worship the beast or receive his mark

B’. Came to life

A’. And reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

This structure reinforces the four-dimensional character of the blessings that the saints enjoy: Enthronement, judgment, life from the dead, reign with Christ. Throughout the book, the Father has been the Enthronement, and the Lamb has been in the midst of the throne. At the beginning of Revelation, the elders sat on thrones around the Throne. Now, headless martyrs and resolute saints take their place, those newborn from the dead taking over thrones from the Ancient Ones.

Another of the revealing features of this structure is the link it forges between B and B’. “Judgment was given to them” can mean either that a judge (God) has rendered a sentence in their favor or that someone (God) has handed over authority to judge. Here, it means both. It certainly implies that the saints are authorized as judges; why else would they be sitting on thrones? But it also means that God has passed judgment in their favor, and that means (B’) they are raised from the dead. A favorable judgment is a deliverdict, a rescue from the grave.

This chiastic structure obscures the grammatical complexity of the passage, which becomes tangled in the C/C’ sections. Essentially, two categories of enthroned-ones are named: Souls of the beheaded, and those who are defined by what they do not. Each of these is subdivided into two categories: Some souls have been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and some because of the word of God; the second category does not worship the beast and does not receive his mark.

The negative worship of the “No” party is also double: They do not worship the beast and do not worship His image (some form of ou, the negative particle, is used 3x in the verse). The mark that they do not receive is also subdivided into two: They do not receive the mark on the forehead or on the hand.

Tallying this up, the two basic categories unfolds in a five-fold description:

1) Souls beheaded for the witness of Jesus.

2) [Souls beheaded] for the word of God.

3) Those who do not worship the beast.

4) [Those who do not worship] his image.

5) Those who do not receive the mark.

We venture a numerological suggestion: Five is the number of military formation. Israel leaves Egypt five in a rank, and the dimensions of the tabernacle at the center of the war camp are multiples of five. A fivefold description suggests that this is not only a courtroom and palace, but a gathering of generals, a war room.