How Can One Suffer Damage From The Second Death? The Dead Know Nothing, Don’t They?

The dead indeed know nothing and therefore cannot suffer either. As soon as death has set in, suffering is over and past. Hence in Dutch we rightly speak of over-lijden: suffering is over (de-ceased).

The word translated as “suffer damage” in Revelation 2:11 (adikeo; Strong 91) is built from the elements UN-RIGHTEOUS and is also rendered that way in Luke 16:11. In Revelation 22:11 it is translated as “do unrighteousness.” The other eight times the word occurs in Revelation, the NBG51 renders it as “bring damage” or “suffer damage.” For example, in Revelation 6:6:

… do not bring damage to the oil and the wine.

See also 7:2,3; 9:4,10,19 and 11:5.

Oil and wine obviously do not suffer, but they undergo damage. The damage that the second death brings consists in this: those who end up in it will have to miss the glory of the coming eons.

Share: