Revelation 11 8

Revelation 11:8 kjv

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Revelation 11:8 nkjv

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Revelation 11:8 niv

Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city?which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt?where also their Lord was crucified.

Revelation 11:8 esv

and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

Revelation 11:8 nlt

And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called "Sodom" and "Egypt," the city where their Lord was crucified.

Revelation 11 verses

Revelation 11 8 Meaning

Revelation 11:8 describes the public display of the slain bodies of God's two witnesses. Their bodies will lie in the main thoroughfare of a specific "great city." This city is identified spiritually by three distinct names: Sodom, Egypt, and the place where their Lord was crucified. This spiritual identification unveils the city's profound spiritual rebellion and its role in the ultimate rejection of God and His Messiah, exposing its unholiness despite its physical appearance or previous sacred status. It emphasizes the complete contempt for God's messengers and the divine presence they represent.

Revelation 11 8 Context

Revelation chapter 11 details the ministry, death, and resurrection of two powerful witnesses of God. Prior to this verse, the witnesses have prophesied for 1,260 days, demonstrating immense power, shutting up the sky, turning waters to blood, and striking the earth with plagues. Their powerful testimony has tormented those dwelling on the earth. Verse 7 announces their defeat by the "beast that comes up out of the abyss," who makes war against them, conquers them, and kills them. Verse 8, then, sets the scene for the aftermath of their martyrdom, describing where their bodies will lie and the nature of that place. This public desecration and display occur in stark contrast to their powerful prophetic ministry, setting up the subsequent narrative of their dramatic resurrection and divine judgment on the city. Historically, Jerusalem, a city with a rich divine heritage, repeatedly rejected God's prophets and ultimately crucified His Son. This historical context underpins its "spiritual" identification.

Revelation 11 8 Word analysis

• And their dead bodies (καὶ τὰ πτώματα αὐτῶν - kai ta ptōmata autōn):

  • πτώματα (ptōmata): Refers to "corpses" or "dead bodies." The use of the plural emphasizes the death of both witnesses. In a broader biblical context, denying burial or public display of bodies signifies utmost contempt, disgrace, and utter victory by enemies, often a divine curse (Deut 28:26, Ps 79:2-3). It strips dignity from the deceased.

• will lie (ἔσται - estai):

  • A simple future tense verb, indicating certainty of the event. It signifies a static state, that the bodies will be left unburied and exposed, not just temporarily discarded. This points to the enemies' deliberate act of humiliation and triumphalism.

• in the street (ἐπὶ τῆς πλατείας - epi tēs plateias):

  • πλατεία (plateias): Literally "broad street," "public square," or "open place." It denotes a prominent, central, and publicly visible location. The act of leaving bodies in such a place ensures maximum public exposure and disgrace, turning their martyrdom into a spectacle for mocking. This contrasts sharply with Jewish customs of respectful burial.

• of the great city (τῆς πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης - tēs poleōs tēs megalēs):

  • πόλεως τῆς μεγάλης (poleōs tēs megalēs): "The great city" is a significant phrase in Revelation. While sometimes referring to "Babylon the Great" (Rev 14:8, 17:18), here it points to Jerusalem through its subsequent identification. It implies a prominent, powerful, and influential urban center, yet one deeply entangled in sin and rebellion against God. Its "greatness" is overshadowed by its spiritual degradation.

• which spiritually is called (ἥτις καλεῖται πνευματικῶς - hētis kaleitai pneumatikōs):

  • πνευματικῶς (pneumatikōs): "Spiritually," "figuratively," or "symbolically." This is a crucial adverb. It signals that the following names are not literal geographical or political titles for the city but reveal its deeper spiritual nature and character, as perceived by God and within the unfolding divine drama. It tells the reader to look beyond the surface. It’s an interpretation of the city's moral and theological condition.

• Sodom and Egypt (Σόδομα καὶ Αἴγυπτος - Sodoma kai Aigyptos):

  • Σόδομα (Sodoma): Sodom is consistently a biblical symbol of profound moral depravity, arrogance, excessive sin, pride, indifference to the poor, sexual perversion, and utter divine judgment (Gen 19, Isa 1:10, Eze 16:49). Identifying Jerusalem with Sodom accuses it of ultimate spiritual corruption and deserving of catastrophic judgment.
  • Αἴγυπτος (Aigyptos): Egypt symbolizes oppressive worldly power, slavery, bondage, the "flesh," and a place of idolatry and rebellion against God's liberating truth (Exod narratives). It represents the refusal to let God's people go and an allegiance to pagan forces. By calling the city "Egypt," Revelation suggests that it, like Pharaoh's Egypt, opposes God's will and holds His people in spiritual bondage.

• where also their Lord was crucified (ὅπου καὶ ὁ Κύριος αὐτῶν ἐσταυρώθη - hopou kai ho Kyrios autōn estaurōthē):

  • ὅπου (hopou): "Where" or "in which place." This geographical and historical anchor decisively identifies "the great city."
  • ὁ Κύριος αὐτῶν (ho Kyrios autōn): "Their Lord." This clearly refers to Jesus Christ, the Lord of the witnesses (who are His disciples/servants).
  • ἐσταυρώθη (estaurōthē): "Was crucified." This passive voice verb highlights the specific, historically verifiable act of His crucifixion. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem (Jn 19:18-20, Lk 13:33-34). This fact seals the identification of "the great city" as Jerusalem, but it is Jerusalem in its deepest spiritual apostasy – a city that not only rejected its prophets but killed its Messiah. It connects the fate of the witnesses to the fate of Jesus Himself.

Revelation 11 8 Bonus section

The naming of Jerusalem as "Sodom" and "Egypt" is a form of prophetic polemic. It deconstructs the city's self-perception or external reputation as God's chosen dwelling place. By comparing it to archetypal places of human rebellion against God, the text exposes the spiritual reality beneath the physical location. This is not about a literal geopolitical alliance between Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem, but a spiritual condemnation where the accumulated wickedness of these symbolic entities finds its full expression in Jerusalem's spiritual state. The "great city" ultimately represents not just geographical Jerusalem, but any religious or societal system that outwardly professes righteousness but inwardly crucifies Christ anew by rejecting His truth and His witnesses (Heb 6:6).

Revelation 11 8 Commentary

Revelation 11:8 profoundly reveals the spiritual nature of the place where God's ultimate end-time testimony is rejected and His messengers are martyred. The deliberate public display of the witnesses' dead bodies on the "broad street" signifies complete humiliation, triumph of evil, and utter disdain for divine authority, mirroring the disgrace of Christ's public execution. The city, outwardly possibly revered, is internally rotten.

Its spiritual appellations – Sodom, Egypt, and the place of Christ's crucifixion – powerfully condemn it. "Sodom" identifies its moral depravity, reflecting the corrupt and violent rejection of divine messengers, akin to Sodom's turning away strangers. "Egypt" signifies its role as an oppressor of God's people and its rebellious antagonism towards divine sovereignty, similar to Pharaoh's defiance against Yahweh. Crucially, the final phrase, "where also their Lord was crucified," unmask this "great city" unequivocally as Jerusalem. This is not a judgment on the literal stones of the city, but on the unfaithful and apostate spirit prevalent within it at that time – a spirit that has consistently rejected God's prophets (Matt 23:37) and ultimately crucified the Lord of Glory (Acts 3:15).

This verse presents a theological paradox: the city once considered holy by divine election has become, in spiritual reality, a den of iniquity, a persecutor of truth, and a crucifier of Messiah and His witnesses. The defilement of the "holy city" is stark. It means that the unholy triumph of those who rejected Jesus culminates in this public scorn for His followers. However, this degradation sets the stage for God's ultimate and immediate vindication in the verses that follow, reminding that even in apparent defeat, God's purpose cannot be thwarted.