Revelation 13:2

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Revelation 13:1-4

Revelation 13:1-4. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, &c. Here the beast is described at large, who was only mentioned before, Revelation 11:7; and a beast, in the prophetic style, is a tyrannical idolatrous empire. The kingdom of God and of Christ is never represented under the image of a beast. As Daniel ( Dan 7:2-3 ) beheld four great beasts, representing the four great empires, come up from a stormy sea, that is, from the commotions of the world; so St. John ( Rev... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Revelation 13:1-10

Beast from the sea (13:1-10)Like the dragon of Chapter 12, the beast that arises out of the sea has seven heads and ten horns. If the dragon symbolizes Satan, the opponent of God in the spirit world, the beast out of the sea probably symbolizes the opponent of God in the world of humankind. As God took human form in Jesus Christ, so Satan takes human form in one called the antichrist (GNB: enemy of Christ), or man of lawlessness (GNB: wicked one). He combines cunning, strength, cruelty and... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Revelation 13:2

unto = to. leopard. Greek. pardalis. Only here. In Septuagint it occurs Jeremiah 5:6 ; Jeremiah 13:23 .Hosea 13:7 . Habakkuk 1:8 . lion. See Daniel 7:4 , Daniel 7:5 , Daniel 7:6 , and esp. Revelation 13:7 and Note. dragon. See Revelation 12:3 . him. The being from the abyss (Revelation 17:8 ); the "another" power. App-172 .1; Rev 176:1 . Compare Daniel 8:24 . 2 Thessalonians 2:9 . seat = throne. authority. App-172 . Its source will not he recognized by the peoples at the outset. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Revelation 13:2

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragons gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority.Like a leopard ... bear ... lion ... The significance here is that this one beast is a composite of all those named by Daniel, and having the effect of requiring a historical view of what is here prophesied. "The application is not the Roman empire, namely, but the aggregate of the empires of the... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Revelation 13:1-8

Revelation 13:1-8. And I stood upon the sand, &c.— Here the beast is described at large, who was only mentioned before, ch. Revelation 11:7. And a beast in the prophetic style, is a tyrannical, idolatrous person or empire. The kingdom of Christ is never represented under the image of a beast. As the prophet, Dan 7:2-3 beheld four great beasts, representing the four great empires, come up from a stormy sea (that is, from the commotions of the world); so St. John, Rev 13:1 saw this beast, in... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Revelation 13:2

2. leopard . . . bear . . . lion—This beast unites in itself the God-opposed characteristics of the three preceding kingdoms, resembling respectively the leopard, bear, and lion. It rises up out of the sea, as Daniel's four beasts, and has ten horns, as Daniel's fourth beast, and seven heads, as Daniel's four beasts had in all, namely, one on the first, one on the second, four on the third, and one on the fourth. Thus it represents comprehensively in one figure the world power (which in Daniel... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Revelation 13:1-4

Characteristics of the beast 13:1-4 read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Revelation 13:1-10

The beast out of the sea 13:1-10John stressed three things about this beast: his conspiracy with the dragon (Revelation 13:3-4), his success in deceiving the whole world (Revelation 13:3-4; Revelation 13:8), and his success in temporarily defeating God’s saints (Revelation 13:6-7 a). [Note: Paul S. Minear, I Saw a New Earth: An Introduction to the Visions of the Apocalypse, p. 118.] "The initial description of this creature identifies it as the culminating empire of Daniel’s vision of the end... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Revelation 13:2

This beast possessed qualities of three animals, perhaps swiftness, agility, vigilance, craftiness, and fierce cruelty; brutality; and strength and majesty. In Daniel, these animals represented three kingdoms that previously ruled the world. These kingdoms are Greece (Daniel 7:6), Medo-Persia (Daniel 7:5), and Babylon (Daniel 7:4). The fourth kingdom that Daniel described (Daniel 7:23) includes Antichrist’s kingdom. The kingdom the beast rules and represents seems to reflect his personal... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 13:1-18

The Two BeastsPersonification of the two powers inspired by the devil to persecute the Church.1-10. The dragon stands by the sea (i.e. the Ægean Sea), from which there rises to meet him a ’beast,’ i.e. something inhuman: signifying the Roman empire, which came to the Province of Asia, in which were the Churches addressed in Rev., from the sea. The beast has ten horns and seven heads: cp. Daniel 7. On the horns are diadems and on the heads ’names of blasphemy,’ i.e. blasphemous titles: cp.... read more

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