Revelation 20:3

ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ. A has ἐμμενῶς (? = ἐμπεδῶς) αὐτόν.

ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη. 1 cop[753] æth[754] Tyc[755] omit ἔτι. Text. Rec[756] inserts it after ἔθνη.

[753] Coptic.
[754] Aethiopic Version.
[755] Tyconius.
[756] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

3. καὶ ἔκλεισεν καὶ ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ. The pit which was opened Revelation 9:2 is now sealed again.

τἀ ἔθνη. To be taken quite literally, though it probably limits the meaning of the passages which seem to speak of all but the elect worshipping the Beast. These are pressed by St Irenaeus to the uttermost, so that he supposes the Saints to reign over the surviving faithful who rapidly repeople the desolate earth, and fulfil the prophecies of a little one becoming a thousand and rebuilding the old waste places. Possibly we are to suppose that the Angelic warnings of Revelation 14:6-11 are not wholly unfruitful.

δεῖ αὐτὸν λυθῆναι. It is very remarkable that neither St Irenaeus nor St Justin are known to speak of this.