Revelation 12:7-12, The Dragon is Thrown Down

Ἀποκάλυψις 12·7 Καὶ ἐγένετο πόλεμος ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Μιχαὴλ καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ τοῦ πολεμῆσαι μετὰ τοῦ δράκοντος. καὶ ὁ δράκων ἐπολέμησεν καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ,  8 καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσεν οὐδὲ τόπος εὑρέθη αὐτῶν ἔτι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ.  9 καὶ ἐβλήθη ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὁ καλούμενος Διάβολος καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς, ὁ πλανῶν τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐβλήθησαν.  10 καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγουσαν·

ἄρτι ἐγένετο ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δύναμις

καὶ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν

καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ,

ὅτι ἐβλήθη ὁ κατήγωρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν,

ὁ κατηγορῶν αὐτοὺς ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός. 

11 καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐνίκησαν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου

καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν

καὶ οὐκ ἠγάπησαν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἄχρι θανάτου. 

12 διὰ τοῦτο εὐφραίνεσθε, [οἱ] οὐρανοὶ

καὶ οἱ ἐν αὐτοῖς σκηνοῦντες.

οὐαὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν,

ὅτι κατέβη ὁ διάβολος πρὸς ὑμᾶς

ἔχων θυμὸν μέγαν,

εἰδὼς ὅτι ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει.

Translation

7 And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels made war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels made war. 8 And he was not strong enough and a place was not found for them any longer in heaven1. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the old snake, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceives2 the whole world was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a great voice in heaven saying,

“Now have come the salvation and the power 

     and the kingdom of our God 

     and the authority of his Christ

because the accuser of our brothers, 

     who accuses them before our God day and night was thrown down.3

11 And they conquered him because of the blood of the lamb 

     and because of the word of their testimony

and they did not love their life to the point of death4. 

12 Because of this, celebrate, the heavens

     and those who are living in them! 

But woe to the earth and sea,

     because the Devil came down to you 

having great anger5,

     having known6 that he has a short time.” Revelation 12:7-12

1 ”and a place was not found for them any longer in heaven” 

The dragon was no longer welcomed in heaven. 

2 ὁ πλανῶν (who deceives) 

Greek: “Who leads astray” or “Who misleads”.

3 This may indicate that the Devil can no long accuse people before God (see Job chapter 1). This may be another reason why he makes war with people in verse 17. In other words, he makes it personal with believers instead of just accusing them before God. He goes from indirect to direct.

4 ἄχρι θανάτου (to the point of death) 

Greek: “as far as death”. They were willing to lose their life over this.

 5 θυμὸν (anger)

θυμός, οῦ m: an intense, passionate desire of an overwhelming and possibly destructive character — ‘intense desire, overwhelming passion. (Louw & Nida Lexicon)

6 εἰδὼς (having known)

This carries a perfect tense that may indicate that the dragon already knew that he only had a short time on earth before he was thrown down to it.