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But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.
Revelation 12:8 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB They didn’t prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven.
  • KJV And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
  • NKJV but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
  • NASB and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
  • NLT And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The dragon and his angels lose, and there is no longer any place for them in heaven. Satan is decisively defeated and expelled.

Overview

The enemy "did not prevail"—a flat statement of total defeat. No place remains for the accuser in God's presence, signaling that his power to stand before God against the saints is broken. This victory is grounded in Christ's redeeming work. It assures the church that the adversary, however fierce on earth, has already lost the decisive battle in heaven.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ps 37:10Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
  • Rev 12:11They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
  • Jude 1:6And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
  • Jer 1:19They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
  • Ps 13:4lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes rejoice when I fall.
  • Matt 16:18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
  • Ps 129:2many a time they have persecuted me from my youth, but they have not prevailed against me.
  • Rom 8:31–39What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
  • Job 8:18If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’
  • Job 7:10He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
  • Job 27:21–23The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
  • Jer 5:22Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
  • Acts 1:25to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”
  • Job 20:9The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
  • Ps 118:10–13All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Revelation videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Revelation 12:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RevelationMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.

How Revelation 12:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.