Revelation 14:19-20
So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
What's easy to miss here is the intentional grammatical anomaly in the original Greek where a masculine adjective describes a feminine noun for "winepress." This isn't a mistake, but a deliberate choice to amplify the terrifying, masculine force of God's wrath being unleashed upon the earth's "vine"—a vivid, visceral image of judgment.
This verse describes the terrifying final judgment of the ungodly world, following the earlier harvest imagery. It's the "vintage" for those who rejected God, depicted as rotten grapes being gathered and crushed. This act culminates in their consignment to the "great winepress of the wrath of God," a symbol of complete and overwhelming divine judgment.
The imagery here is intense – an angel, a sickle, a winepress overflowing with blood. What does this 'vine of the earth' represent, and why is it so ready for judgment?
The 'vine of the earth' in this passage refers to humanity that has repeatedly rejected God's grace and instead produced 'wild grapes' – fruits of rebellion and sin. Despite careful spiritual 'cultivation' (think of God's persistent efforts through prophets, laws, and even Christ), this vine yields only bitter fruit.
This isn't just about individuals; it signifies the apostate world, particularly those who have had the opportunity to know God but turn away. Their wickedness has reached its peak, making them 'ripe for punishment.' God's patience has limits, and when the 'vintage' is ready, judgment is inevitable.
The 'great winepress of the wrath of God' is a terrifying image. What does this symbolize about the nature and execution of God's final judgment?
This 'great winepress' is not a literal place, but a powerful symbol of the extreme and complete execution of God's judgment against sin. The process of treading grapes to extract juice is a graphic picture of intense pressure and crushing destruction.
Here, the 'grapes' are the wicked people of the earth, and the 'winepress' is where God's righteous wrath is poured out upon them. The resulting 'wine' is the 'blood' – a stark representation of the immense bloodshed and destruction that accompanies this judgment. This imagery, found in other parts of Scripture, emphasizes the totality and severity of God's righteous indignation against persistent evil.
The text mentions the winepress being 'trodden without the city' and blood flowing 'as far as the bridles of the horses' for 'a thousand six hundred furlongs.' What's the significance of these specific details?
These specific details are not random but are rich with symbolic meaning. The winepress being 'without the city' could allude to the judgment falling on those who have rejected the true 'city' – God's dwelling place and protection. The immense distance the blood flows (1,600 furlongs) isn't just about scale; it's a symbolic number representing completeness and thoroughness.
Understand the original words
lēnos · Greek Noun
A metaphorical place of punishment where the wicked are judged; often used in Scripture to depict the intensity and inescapability of divine condemnation.
orgē · Greek Noun
The holy and righteous indignation of God against sin and rebellion, which must eventually be fully expressed in judgment.
haima · Greek Noun
A potent symbol of life, death, and atonement; here, it represents the catastrophic loss of life and the severe nature of divine retribution.
This passage describes God trampling His enemies in judgment, using imagery remarkably similar to the winepress of God's wrath, showing a consistent Old Testament prophetic vision of divine retribution.
Jeremiah 49:12The prophet warns that those who are not worthy of death will not go unpunished, and this judgment is pictured as drinking from a cup of wrath, echoing the 'winepress of the wrath of God' here.
Joel 3:13This verse directly commands the Lord to bring up a multitude to the valley of decision, comparing the wicked to grapes ripe for harvest, which are then trodden in the winepress, directly paralleling the imagery of Revelation 14:19.
Lamentations 1:15The prophet Laments that the Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah as in a winepress, symbolizing the crushing judgment of God poured out on His people when they fall into sin, a concept mirrored in the great winepress of God's wrath for the unrepentant.
pulpitRevelation 14:19: "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."
Verse 19. - And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth. This angel is described in quite a different manner from "him who sat on the cloud" (ver. 16). And cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God; into the wine press, the great [winepress], etc. The feminine substantive has agr…
gillRevelation 14:19: "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth,.... Before "upon the earth", when the harvest was gathered in, the wheat being on the earth, but not belonging to it; but here "into the earth", the vine being the vine of the earth, rooted in it, and natural to it: and gathered the vine of the earth; the Arabic version reads, "of t…
What's easy to miss here is the intentional grammatical anomaly in the original Greek where a masculine adjective describes a feminine noun for "winepress." This isn't a mistake, but a deliberate choice to amplify the terrifying, masculine force of God's wrath being unleashed upon the earth's "vine"—a vivid, visceral image of judgment.
This verse describes the terrifying final judgment of the ungodly world, following the earlier harvest imagery. It's the "vintage" for those who rejected God, depicted as rotten grapes being gathered and crushed. This act culminates in their consignment to the "great winepress of the wrath of God," a symbol of complete and overwhelming divine judgment.
This verse describes the terrifying final judgment of the ungodly world, following the earlier harvest imagery. It's the "vintage" for those who rejected God, depicted as rotten grapes being gathered and crushed. This act culminates in their consignment to the "great winepress of the wrath of God," a symbol of complete and overwhelming divine judgment.
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Ask a follow-up
Ask Sola things like:
Live chat about Revelation 14:19-20 is available in the Sola app.
This isn't a partial judgment, but one that is full, perfect, and reaches to every corner of the earth. It signifies that the consequences of rebellion are far-reaching and absolute. This symbolic measurement assures us that God's justice, when executed, will be complete, leaving no wicked element untouched.
"So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as h…" — What's easy to miss here is the intentional grammatical anomaly in the original Greek where a masculine adjective describes a feminine noun for "winepress." This isn't a mistake, but a deliberate c…
