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NASB | Revelation 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 1:18 and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead). |
Bible Question: where in the bible does it refer to Jesus getting the keys to hell and hades? |
Bible Answer: "Last Things, Intermediate State—See Isa 14:9, note; Lk 8:31, note; 16:19-26, note. Hades is the New Testament counterpart to Sheol in the Old Testament. Some interpreters believe Hades refers to the general realm of the dead. They believe the statement is that Christ holds the keys to death itself and to the realm of the dead. All people will appear before the great white throne, the only judgment, at which both believers and unbelievers will be judged. Death does not hold the last word about human existence. When it has closed its doors upon a life, Christ still holds the keys to death and opens the way for believers into paradise. For believers, it is comforting to know Christ has the final word. Some see Hades here refer to the intermediate state for unbelievers, corresponding in this view to paradise for believers. Hades will yield to the authority of Christ and deliver up the dead therein to the judgment of the great white throne (Rev 20:13). According to this view, the Great White Throne is a judgment only for unbelievers (Rev 20:11). Mt 25:31-33; 2 Co 5:10; and Rev 20:4 are thought to describe separate and different judgments." (Disciple's Study Bible) "The keys of Hades and of Death describes Christ’s authority over those who have died physically and over their present resting place, which will be emptied and destroyed at the time of the great white throne judgment (20:11–15)." (Nelson NKJV Study Bible) "1:18 the keys of death and of Hades. The keys denote the authority of Christ over physical death and Hades, the place that temporarily holds the immaterial part of the unbeliever between death and the ultimate casting into the lake of fire (see 20:14)." (Ryrie Study Bible) "keys of death and of Hades. Absolute control over their domain" (Zondervan NASB Study Bible) "I am he that liveth, and was dead—I am Jesus the Savior, who, though the fountain of life, have died for mankind; and being raised from the dead I shall die no more, the great sacrifice being consummated. And have the keys of death and the grave, so that I can destroy the living and raise the dead. The key here signifies the power and authority over life, death, and the grave. This is also a rabbinical form of speech. In the Jerusalem Targum, on Genesis 30:22, are these words: “There are four KEYS in the hand of God which he never trusts to angel or seraph. 1. The key of the rain; 2. The key of provision; 3. The key of the grave; and 4. The key of the barren womb.” In Sanhedrin, fol. 113, 1, it is said: “When the son of the woman of Sarepta died, Elijah requested that to him might be given the key of the resurrection of the dead. They said to him, there are three KEYS which are not given into the hand of the apostle, the key of life, the key of the rain, and the key of the resurrection of the dead.” From these examples it is evident that we should understand , hades, here, not as hell, nor the place of separate spirits, but merely as the grave; and the key we find to be merely the emblem of power and authority. Christ can both save and destroy, can kill and make alive. Death is still under his dominion, and he can recall the dead whensoever he pleases. He is the resurrection and the life." (Adam Clarke Commentary) "the keys of hell [Hades] and of death—The order is reversed in the earliest manuscripts. The “keys” are symbolic of authority; the one who has the keys opens and shuts the gates at will (Ps. 9:13, 14; Isa. 38:10; Matt. 16:18). Christ now has authority over death and Hades." (New Commentary on the Whole Bible: NT) --Nolan |