English
And I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was granted to them. And the souls of the ones who were beheaded because of the witness of Jesus and God’s word, and the ones who did not worship the wild animal, nor its image, and did not take the mark on their forehead or hand. And they came to life and reigned with the Anointed One for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were complete.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and the Anointed One, and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Interpretation
The Book of Daniel describes the fates which await those who are resurrected from death after the Maccabean Revolt. The righteous would receive ‘eternal life’, while sinners would suffer ‘shame and eternal contempt’. However, Daniel also had a third category, reserved uniquely for ‘the wise’ (probably the author’s subcommunity of pacifistic, Torah-observant Judeans). These righteous elite would become angel-like, eternally shining ‘like the stars in the sky’. This book has a similar situation, where those who are martyred by the Roman Empire for refusing to participate in the imperial cult will uniquely become co-regents with the Anointed One. The duration of the kingdom of the Anointed One, one thousand years, overlaps with the imprisonment of the satan. In the theology of Plato, the souls of the righteous would journey through the paradise of Elysium for one thousand years before being reincarnated, which may have influenced how the author settled on a thousand-year duration for the kingdom of the Anointed One.
Parallels
Testament of Judah
25.4 ‘And those who died in sorrow shall be raised in joy; and those who died in poverty for the Lord’s sake shall be made rich; those who died on account of the Lord shall be wakened to life.’
LXX Ezekiel
37.10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Daniel
7.9, 10 As I watched, thrones were set in place […] The court sat in judgment
1 Thessalonians
4.16 and the dead in the Anointed One will rise first.
1 Corinthians
15.22–23 as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in the Anointed One. But each in his own order: the Anointed One the first-fruits, then at his coming those who belong to the Anointed One.
Romans
8.17 heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Anointed One
4 Ezra
7.28–29 ‘For my son the Anointed One shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain shall rejoice for four hundred years. After those years my son the Anointed One shall die, and all who draw human breath.’
2 Baruch
30.1 And it will happen after these things when the time of the appearance of the Anointed One has been fulfilled and he returns with glory, that then all who sleep in hope of him will rise.
40.3 And his dominion will last for ever until the world of corruption has ended and until the times which have been mentioned before have been fulfilled.
Sanhedrin
99a It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: ‘The messianic era will be forty years long, as it is stated: “Forty years will I strive with the generation.” The forty years of strife with the gentiles will be followed by the glory days of the Anointed One.’ Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: ‘The messianic era will last seventy years, as it is stated: “And it shall come to pass on that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king.” In this context, one means unique. Which is the unique king? You must say that this is a reference to the Anointed One.’ Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: ‘The messianic era will last three generations, as it is stated: “May they fear You as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout the generations [dor dorim].” Dor is singular and dorim is plural, for a total of three generations.’ Rabbi Hillel says: ‘There is no Anointed One coming for the Jewish people, as they already ate from him, as all the prophecies relating to the Anointed One were already fulfilled, during the days of Hezekiah.’ […] It is taught in another baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: ‘The messianic era will be forty years long. It is written here with regard to the forty-year sojourn of the children of Israel in the wilderness: “And He afflicted you, and suffered you to hunger and fed you with manna.” And it is written there: “Make us glad according to the days that You afflicted us, the years that we saw evil.”’ Rabbi Dosa says: ‘The messianic era will last four hundred years. It is written here with regard to the Covenant of the Pieces: “And they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years.” And it is written there: “Make us glad according to the days that you afflicted us.”’ Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: ‘The messianic era will last 365 years, corresponding to the number of days of the solar year, as it is stated: “For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.”’ […] Avimi, son of Rabbi Abbahu, taught: ‘The messianic era for the Jewish people will last seven thousand years, as it is stated: “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your god rejoice over you.” The bridegroom rejoices over the bride for seven days, and the day of the Holy One, blessed be he, is one thousand years.’ Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: ‘The duration of the messianic era is like the duration of the period that runs from the day the world was created until now, that is, the day when the Anointed One will come, as it is stated: “That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.”’ Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak says: ‘The duration of the messianic era is like the duration of the period that runs from the days of Noah until now, that is, the day when the Anointed One will come, as it is stated with regard to redemption: “For this is as the seas of [ki mei] Noah to me; as I have sworn that the seas of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you nor rebuke you.” The words ki mei can be understood as one word, kimei, meaning: “Like the days of.”’