Rev 20:1

“"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he held the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed a little season." Those years wherein Satan is bound are in the first advent of Christ, even to the end of the age; and they are called a thousand, according to that mode of speaking, wherein a part is signified by the whole, just as is that passage, "the word which He commanded for a thousand generations," although they are not a thousand. Moreover that he says, "and he cast him into the abyss," he says this, because the devil, excluded from the hearts of believers, began to take possession of the wicked, in whose hearts, blinded day by day, he is shut up as if in a profound abyss. And he shut him up, says he, and put a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the nations until the thousand years should be finished. "He shut the door upon him," it is said, that is, he forbade and restrained his seducing those who belong to Christ. Moreover, he put a seal upon him, because it is hidden who belong to the side of the devil, and who to that of Christ. For we know not of those who seem to stand whether they shall not fall, and of those who are down it is uncertain whether they may rise. Moreover, that he says that he is bound and shut up, that he may not seduce the nations, the nations signify the Church, seeing that of them it itself is formed, and which being seduced, he previously held until, he says, the thousand years should be completed, that is, what is left of the sixth day, to wit, of the sixth age, which subsists for a thousand years; after this he must be loosed for a little season. The little season signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the devil will avenge himself trader Antichrist against the Church. Finally, he says, after that the devil shall be loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and will entice war against the Church, the number of whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.”

“We understand the angel coming down from heaven to be our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is called the angel of great counsel. He visited the region of those who are mortal, for as one who is stronger he wished to bind the strong one, so that he might make vessels of mercy out of those who had earlier been vessels of wrath. And he accomplished this through that work that he had promised before when he said, "No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his wares, unless he first binds the strong man," that is, the devil. The key of the bottomless pit is the depth of the divine judgments, for "the judgments of God are a great deep." Indeed, to him alone is it known who from the mass of sinners are to be called out into the full number of the elect.”

“an angel. An angel administers such a sentence,it says, in order to show that the devil is both weaker than thèse ministering powers in terms of power and that from the beginning in vain he boldly ruled over all. Here he narrates the destruction of the devil which had taken place during the Master's passion, in which he who appeared to be strong, having bound us as his spoils, one stronger than he, Christ our God, redeemed us from his hands, condemning him to the abyss. This is shown by the demons calling upon him not to be cast into the abyss.(lk 8:31) chain. He (John) called the restraint of his evil activity chain for our clarification.”

“This passage expresses the destruction of the devil that occurred through the passion of our Lord. For through his passion the one who is stronger than [the devil], namely, Christ our God, bound him who seemed to be strong and freed us, who were his spoils, from his hands and condemned him by throwing him into the pit. This is shown by those demons who pleaded that he not send them into the pit. The demonstration that the devil is bound is the disappearance of idol worship, the destruction of pagan temples, the abandonment of the defilement of altars and the knowledge of the will of God throughout the world.”

“And I saw an angel ... having the key to the abyss, etc. Recapitulating from the beginning, he more fully explains how he previously said: The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend from the abyss and go into destruction (Rev. 17). Therefore, the Lord, endowed with paternal power, descended in the flesh to wage war against the prince of the world, and, having bound him, to snatch away his vessels.”

“QUESTION: And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. ANSWER: So, the Lord, equipped with the Father's power, came down in the flesh to wage war against the prince of the world, bind him, and take the latter's containers back. (20:2) THERE FOLLOWS: And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. ANSWER: Devil translates to "flowing downwards," and in Greek it means "slanderer;" Satan means "adversary" or "prevaricator." So, he is called a dragon because of his evilness in doing harm, a serpent because of his craft in deceiving, devil because of his fall from his status, and Satan because of his obstinacy in opposing the Lord. (20:4) THERE FOLLOWS: And the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God. ANSWER: Here is implied what he was going to say afterwards: reigned with Christ a thousand years. So, the Church reigns with Christ over the living and the dead, for, as the apostle says, to this end Christ died, that he might be Lord of the living and of the dead. [Rom. 14:9] Now, he mentioned only the souls of the martyrs because those who reign more than others after death are those who have fought unto death for the truth; because it is not those who merely start, but those who persevere who are promised eternal blessedness.”

“We must entreat the Lord more earnestly here, lest we consent in error concerning the number of the thousand years or through our own excess nurture error. Rather, [let us entreat the Lord] that he who is called "Faithful" and "True" might keep our faith safe. The Lord himself said at the beginning of this book, "I am the first and the last, and the living one although I was dead; and I have the keys of death and of hades." By the key it speaks of him who bears the office of ministry, so that he might open the pit of the abyss. The great chain is the unbreakable bond of the divine commandment. It is in his hand, which means that he exercises it by work and deed.”

“I saw another angel descending from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a chain, and having seized he says the Devil was bound and cast into the abyss. As on a painted canvas the things that were spiritually affected by the Lord against the Devil are shown to the evangelist. For since the things that are spiritual could not be seen by a man, John being a human, the events are portrayed to him bodily: an angel having a chain and bonds binding the Devil and casting him into the abyss; for therefore also the book of Job, fashioning in a material sense the attempt of the Devil and the patience of God, made Job the one tested by God, and set down God as offering suitable words for request and giving along with the things that happened.”

“chain. By this is the great quantity of his power represented.”

“key to the bottomless pit. this is because he has in his power the hearts of those whom he hardens, and of those whom he opens to believing. The bottomeless pit is the great number of the faithful peoples, because just as it is incomprehensible, so also is the great number of peoples.”

“an angel. That angel is the Lord Jesus Christ, an angel of great prudence, who decended from heaven through the mystery of the Incarnation.”