1. Revelation 20:10 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the term “tormented” mean?

Revelation 20:10 (ESV)

10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The term denotes the acute, conscious suffering a person experiences, perhaps on account of illness (Matthew 8:6), demon possession (Matthew 8:29), storm (Matthew 14:24), or labour (Revelation 12:2). In the book of Revelation the term is used to describe the agony the unrighteous experience as penalty on their wrongdoing (Revelation 9:5; Revelation 11:10; Revelation 14:10). The term recalls Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:42 about “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in the “fiery furnace” (Matthew 24:51; Matthew 25:30, Matthew 25:46).