Revelation 14:20
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The immense quantity of blood, reaching the horses' bridles and stretching for hundreds of miles, isn't just a graphic description of slaughter; it signifies the utter completeness and universality of God's judgment. This isn't a localized incident but a cosmic, world-encompassing reckoning that leaves no corner untouched.
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 verse describes the final, devastating judgment of God's enemies, depicted as a winepress outside the holy city. It follows visions of the harvest of the righteous and the reaping of the wicked, emphasizing the complete destruction of those who oppose God, shown by blood flowing so deeply and over such a vast area that it reaches the horses' bridles. This intense imagery signifies the universality and severity of God's wrath being poured out on a global scale, far from the sanctuary of the saved.
Why was this terrible judgment depicted as happening 'outside the city'?
The imagery of the winepress being trodden 'without the city' powerfully signifies separation and judgment. The 'city' here refers to the New Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God's people.
Blood 'as high as a horse's bridle' sounds like an impossible image. What does this extreme language communicate?
The description of blood flowing 'as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia' is a dramatic hyperbole. It's not meant to be a literal, measured event, but an overwhelming picture of utter destruction.
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Is this winepress the scene of eternal punishment, or something else?
The 'winepress' in Revelation 14 is primarily a symbol of God's active, destructive wrath poured out upon His enemies in a final, decisive judgment, rather than the place of their eternal torment.
Understand the original words
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 also uses the vivid imagery of a winepress and treading, directly linked to God's judgment and the shedding of blood from His enemies.
Joel 3:13Joel prophesies a similar scene where the valley of Jehoshaphat becomes a winepress for God's judgment, directly correlating with the 'winepress' imagery in Revelation.
Jeremiah 51:33This verse describes Babylon being threshed like grain in a threshing floor, likening its destruction to the process of preparing grain, similar to how the winepress signifies the treading out of God's wrath upon enemies.
Luke 19:42Jesus wept over Jerusalem, stating that its enemies would 'level it to the ground—you and the children within your walls—not one stone on another.' This echoes the idea of a city being utterly destroyed and its inhabitants crushed, aligning with the judgment described in Revelation.
pulpitRevelation 14:20: "And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."
Verse 20. - And the wine press was trodden without the city. "The city" is Jerusalem (cf. ver. 1), that is, the Church of God; the idea thus being either (1) that the wicked are punished in a place apart from the just (cf. Revelation 22:15); or (2) that no unclean thing (e.g. the blood) can enter the city of th…
gillRevelation 14:20: "And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."
And the winepress was trodden without the city,.... The beloved city, the new Jerusalem, into which none of the wicked will enter, and without which are dogs, &c. Revelation 20:9 . The allusion may be, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, to the olive presses, which were without the city of Jerusalem, from whence Gethseman…
The immense quantity of blood, reaching the horses' bridles and stretching for hundreds of miles, isn't just a graphic description of slaughter; it signifies the utter completeness and universality of God's judgment. This isn't a localized incident but a cosmic, world-encompassing reckoning that leaves no corner untouched.
This verse describes the final, devastating judgment of God's enemies, depicted as a winepress outside the holy city. It follows visions of the harvest of the righteous and the reaping of the wicked, emphasizing the complete destruction of those who oppose God, shown by blood flowing so deeply and over such a vast area that it reaches the horses' bridles. This intense imagery signifies the universality and severity of God's wrath being poured out on a global scale, far from the sanctuary of the saved.
This verse describes the final, devastating judgment of God's enemies, depicted as a winepress outside the holy city. It follows visions of the harvest of the righteous and the reaping of the wicked, emphasizing the complete destruction of those who oppose God, shown by blood flowing so deeply and over such a vast area that it reaches the horses' bridles. This intense imagery signifies the universality and severity of God's wrath being poured out on a global scale, far from the sanctuary of the saved.
"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." — The immense quantity of blood, reaching the horses' bridles and stretching for hundreds of miles, isn't just a graphic description of slaughter; it signifies the utter completeness and universality o…
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Last reviewed October 2026
