Rev 20:13

“Consider, he says, whether too the blessed John, when he says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them," does not mean the parts which are given up by the elements for the reconstruction of each one? By the sea is meant the moist element; by hell, the air, derived from ἀειδής, because it is invisible, as was said by Origen; and by death, the earth, because those who die are laid in it; whence also it is called in the Psalms the "dust of death," Christ saying that He is brought "into the dust of death."”

“Who, now, are these dead people who were in the sea and whom the sea will give up? Surely we are not to think that because a person drowns, his soul does not go to hell, or that his body is preserved in the sea, or—what is still more absurd—that the sea keeps the good dead people and hell the bad ones. No one could entertain such a notion. Surely those are right who take the sea in this text to stand for this world of ours. To indicate, accordingly, that the living who Christ is to find on earth are to be judged along with the arisen dead, John termed the former dead, too. Such are the good "dead" to whom the words were addressed: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." The bad "dead" … are addressed in the verse: "Leave the dead to bury their own dead." There is another reason why living people can be called dead, namely, because they carry around bodies destined for death. This was Paul's thought when he wrote, "The body, it is true, is dead by reason of sin, but the spirit is life by reason of justification"35—a text in which he shows that both life and death exist in a person living in his body, death in his body, life in the spirit.… The sea is said to "deliver up" its dead, because they are presented for judgment living, just as they are; whereas death and hell are said to "give back their dead," because they are actually restored to life. And do not imagine that it would perhaps have been sufficient for John to say death or hell. He said both—death alone for the good people who, although they suffered death, did not go to hell; and hell for the evil people who, after death, suffer the pains of hell.”

“And they were judged, each one according to their deeds. This signifies that bodies will be gathered from the earth and souls from their places. The good are designated by the name of death, which has only suffered the dissolution of the flesh, but not punishment. The wicked are designated by the name of hell. It can also be taken literally, that all bodies, even those that the waves have swallowed or beasts have devoured, will be resurrected. Tyconius explains it thus: "The nations that he will find alive here are the dead of the sea. And death and hell gave up their dead, these are the buried nations." When he had said: And they were judged, each one according to their works, he briefly added how death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. He refers to the devil and his followers, whom he had previously described as being followed by hell on the pale horse. He repeats what he had already said more clearly by anticipation: And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur. What he had added there more obscurely, he explains here more clearly, that both the beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire.”

“Lest anyone say that those who have died at sea or have been drowned by water or have been eaten by beasts or have been destroyed by fire cannot be raised again, [it says therefore that] they gave up their dead. And since no one will escape the judgment of God, it adds, "and all were judged by what they had done." Lest anyone should think that after the resurrection there follows a death of the body, an opinion that is profane to believe and even to mention, he adds [that death was sent into the lake of fire].”

“And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each was judged according to their works. Those who disbelieve in the resurrection of bodies mock both us and our doctrine that these bodies will be raised again, as if this were not only difficult but wholly impossible. And they say that each of the bodies on earth is composed of the four basic elements, fire, water, earth, air, and that bodies dissolved by death return to those elements from which they were originally formed. Therefore, the fiery element in us returns to its kindred universal fire; the watery element to water; and the other components to their proper counterparts. If then these are dissolved and mingled with their own substances, how can that which has become indiscernible by composition be restored again to every one of the bodies which you call bodies, unless you would say that some arise from others rather than from their own? To these one might reply with the words of the divine Scripture: "You are mistaken, O men, not knowing the power of God," (Matt. 22:20) by whose will all things were constituted, whose will alone accomplishes the work intended, as has also been said before. For what is easier than for what is not to bring into being the substances, or having been produced and mingled either with themselves or with others to separate them again, and to assign to each its own? For the last indeed we perform too, often separating artfully the wine that has been mixed with water. Moreover the sun draws from the sea the drinkable and sweet by means of the vapors and exhalations, and lets go the heavy and earthy and salty and bitter. And first this belongs to God alone, who is able to do all things whatever He wishes. If then God brought the non-being into being, how would it not be easy for him to separate again for himself the things mixed according to the elements, and to distribute the same to each body, even if this is impossible for men? For just as it is impossible for you and for me to separate the illuminating from the burning aspect of fire, but possible for God, for "the voice of the Lord has been said to cut off the flame of fire," (Ps. 29:7) so also the things that have been mingled are impossible for you and for me, but easy and effortless for God. Now this marvelous assertion is presented to us by the present account of the Revelation, saying, "The sea gave up the dead that were in it from the sea." And this element of water signified every moist substance. The moist substance, then, he says, gave as much as was contained in it from the watery parts of human bodies. And Death and Hades, he says, gave up the dead who were in them. Calling the earth "death" because our bodies are dissolved in it, therefore also the inspired prophet, by indirectness, calls death "earth of death," saying "and brought me down into the earth of death." (Ps. 21:16) Therefore the whole earth gave what in it was our earthly part. In addition, Hades gave up the dead who were in it, calling Hades the air and the fire because of their invisibility and imperceptibility. For the air, by its thinness, happens to be invisible unless it were thickened; and the fire that once dwelt in the woods is invisible, unless it were applied outwardly. Moreover, the element of fire, the ether, is invisible to us because it is darkened by the superaddition of much air. Or rather, he calls fire Hades because it imparts invisibility and imperceptibility to whatever it seizes; therefore many of the learned designate it as "invisible." When therefore each of the elements had given up as much as of the human composition was in them, the resurrection was affected. When this had taken place, he says, each was judged according to their deeds.”