Wahyu 19:19

19:19 Then ¹  I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army.

Wahyu 13:1-8

The Two Beasts

13:1 Then ²  I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It ³  had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, ⁴  and on its heads a blasphemous name. ⁵  13:2 Now ⁶  the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The ⁷  dragon gave the beast ⁸  his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. ⁹  13:3 One of the beast’s ¹⁰  heads appeared to have been killed, ¹¹  but the lethal wound had been healed. ¹²  And the whole world followed ¹³  the beast in amazement; 13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority ¹⁴  to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” ¹⁵  13:5 The beast ¹⁶  was given a mouth speaking proud words ¹⁷  and blasphemies, and he was permitted ¹⁸  to exercise ruling authority ¹⁹  for forty-two months. 13:6 So ²⁰  the beast ²¹  opened his mouth to blaspheme against God – to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, ²²  that is, those who dwell in heaven. 13:7 The beast ²³  was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. ²⁴  He was given ruling authority ²⁵  over every tribe, people, ²⁶  language, and nation, 13:8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, ²⁷  everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world ²⁸  in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. ²⁹ 

Wahyu 13:18

13:18 This calls for wisdom: ³⁰  Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, ³¹  and his number is 666. ³² 

Wahyu 17:3-8

17:3 So ³³  he carried me away in the Spirit ³⁴  to a wilderness, ³⁵  and there ³⁶  I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 Now ³⁷  the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, ³⁸  and adorned with gold, ³⁹  precious stones, and pearls. She held ⁴⁰  in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. ⁴¹  17:5 On ⁴²  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ⁴³  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” 17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ⁴⁴  I ⁴⁵  was greatly astounded ⁴⁶  when I saw her. 17:7 But ⁴⁷  the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret ⁴⁸  for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss ⁴⁹  and then go to destruction. The ⁵⁰  inhabitants of the earth – all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world – will be astounded when they see that ⁵¹  the beast was, and is not, but is to come.

Wahyu 17:12

17:12 The ⁵²  ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority ⁵³  as kings with the beast for one hour.

[19:19]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[13:1]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[13:1]  ³ tn Grk “having” (a continuation of the previous sentence). All of the pronouns referring to this beast (along with the second beast appearing in 13:11) could be translated as “it” because the word for beast (θηρίον, qhrion) is neuter gender in Greek and all the pronouns related to it are parsed as neuter in the Gramcord/Accordance database. Nevertheless, most interpreters would agree that the beast ultimately represents a human ruler, so beginning at the end of v. 4 the masculine pronouns (“he,” “him,” etc.) are used to refer to the first beast as well as the second beast appearing in 13:11.

[13:1]  ⁴ tn For the translation of διάδημα (diadhma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196.

[13:1]  sn Diadem crowns were a type of crown used as a symbol of the highest ruling authority in a given area, and thus often associated with kingship.

[13:1]  ⁵ tc ‡ Several mss (A 051 1611 1854 2053 2344 2351 Ï^K) read the plural ὀνόματα (onomata, “[blasphemous] names”), while the singular ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) has somewhat better support (Ì⁴⁷ א C 1006 1841 2329 Ï^A). The plural reading seems motivated by the fact that what is written is written “on its heads.” In the least, it is a clarifying reading. NA²⁷ puts the plural in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[13:1]  sn Whether this means a single name on all seven heads or seven names, one on each head, is not clear.

[13:2]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the following description of the beast.

[13:2]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “gave it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:2]  ⁹ tn For the translation “authority to rule” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “one of its heads”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “killed to death,” an expression emphatic in its redundancy. The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. In this instance, the appearance of the beast’s head did not match reality, because the next phrase shows that in fact it did not die. This text does not affirm that the beast died and was resurrected, but some draw this conclusion because of the only other use of the phrase, which refers to Jesus in 5:6.

[13:3]  ¹² tn The phrase τοῦ θανάτου (tou qanatou) can be translated as an attributive genitive (“deathly wound”) or an objective genitive (the wound which caused death) and the final αὐτοῦ (autou) is either possessive or reference/respect.

[13:3]  ¹³ tn On the phrase “the whole world followed the beast in amazement,” BDAG 445 s.v. θαυμάζω 2 states, “wonder, be amazed…Rv 17:8. In pregnant constr. ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τ. θηρίου the whole world followed the beast, full of wonder 13:3 (here wonder becomes worship: cp. Ael. Aristid. 13 p. 290 D.; 39 p. 747 of Dionysus and Heracles, οἳ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Sir 7:29; Jos., Ant. 3, 65. – The act. is also found in this sense: Cebes 2, 3 θ. τινά = ‘admire’ or ‘venerate’ someone; Epict. 1, 17, 19 θ. τὸν θεόν).”

[13:4]  ¹⁴ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:4]  ¹⁵ tn On the use of the masculine pronoun to refer to the beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.

[13:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and there was given to him.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:5]  ¹⁷ tn For the translation “proud words” (Grk “great things” or “important things”) see BDAG 624 s.v. μέγας 4.b.

[13:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to it was granted.”

[13:5]  ¹⁹ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:6]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the permission granted to the beast.

[13:6]  ²¹ tn Grk “he” (or “it”); the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:6]  ²² tc The reading “and his dwelling place” does not occur in codex C, but its omission is probably due to scribal oversight since the phrase has the same ending as the phrase before it, i.e., they both end in “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou). This is similar to the mistake this scribe made in 12:14 with the omission of the reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou).

[13:7]  ²³ tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:7]  ²⁴ tc Many mss omit the phrase “it was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them” (Ì⁴⁷ A C 2053 Ï^A sa). It is, however, found in Ì^115vid א 051 1006 (1611) 1841 (1854) 2329 2344 2351 (Ï^K) lat sy^ph,(h) bo. Although the ms evidence is somewhat in favor of the shorter reading, the support of ̹¹⁵ (a recently-discovered ms) for the longer reading balances things out. Normally, the shorter reading should be given preference. However, in an instance in which homoioteleuton could play a role, caution must be exercised. In this passage, accidental omission is quite likely. That this could have happened seems apparent from the two occurrences of the identical phrase “and it was given to him” (καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ, kai edoqh autw) in v. 7. The scribe’s eye skipped over the first καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ and went to the second, hence creating an accidental omission of eleven words.

[13:7]  ²⁵ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

[13:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[13:8]  ²⁷ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ²⁸ tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.

[13:8]  ²⁹ tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[13:18]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Here is wisdom.”

[13:18]  ³¹ tn Grk “it is man’s number.” ExSyn 254 states “if ἀνθρώπου is generic, then the sense is, ‘It is [the] number of humankind.’ It is significant that this construction fits Apollonius’ Canon (i.e., both the head noun and the genitive are anarthrous), suggesting that if one of these nouns is definite, then the other is, too. Grammatically, those who contend that the sense is ‘it is [the] number of a man’ have the burden of proof on them (for they treat the head noun, ἀριθμός, as definite and the genitive, ἀνθρώπου, as indefinite – the rarest of all possibilities). In light of Johannine usage, we might also add Rev 16:18, where the Seer clearly uses the anarthrous ἄνθρωπος in a generic sense, meaning ‘humankind.’ The implications of this grammatical possibility, exegetically speaking, are simply that the number ‘666’ is the number that represents humankind. Of course, an individual is in view, but his number may be the number representing all of humankind. Thus the Seer might be suggesting here that the antichrist, who is the best representative of humanity without Christ (and the best counterfeit of a perfect man that his master, that old serpent, could muster), is still less than perfection (which would have been represented by the number seven).” See G. K. Beale, Revelation, [NIGTC], 723-24, who argues for the “generic” understanding of the noun; for an indefinite translation, see the ASV and ESV which both translate the clause as “it is the number of a man.”

[13:18]  sn The translation man’s number suggests that the beast’s number is symbolic of humanity in general, while the translation a man’s number suggests that it represents an individual.

[13:18]  ³² tc A few mss (̹¹⁵ C, along with a few mss known to Irenaeus {and two minuscule mss, 5 and 11, no longer extant}), read 616 here, and several other witnesses have other variations. Irenaeus’ mention of mss that have 616 is balanced by his rejection of such witnesses in this case. As intriguing as the reading 616 is (since the conversion of Nero Caesar’s name in Latin by way of gematria would come out to 616), it must remain suspect because such a reading seems motivated in that it conforms more neatly to Nero’s gematria.

[17:3]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

[17:3]  ³⁴ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[17:3]  ³⁵ tn Or “desert.”

[17:3]  ³⁶ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.

[17:4]  ³⁸ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[17:4]  ³⁹ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[17:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[17:4]  ⁴¹ tc Several mss (including 1611 1854 2053 Ï^K pc) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneia" th" gh") instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other mss (א sy^h** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneia" aujth" kai th" gh"). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 al}. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (auths would have been read as thsghs), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.

[17:5]  ⁴² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5]  ⁴³ tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

[17:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

[17:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[17:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “I will tell you,” but since what follows is the angel’s interpretation of the vision, “interpret for you” is the preferred translation here.

[17:8]  ⁴⁹ tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11…φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”

[17:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:8]  ⁵¹ tn Some translations take the ὅτι (Joti) here as causal: “because he was, and is not, but is to come” (so NIV, NRSV), but it is much more likely that the subject of the ὅτι clause has been assimilated into the main clause: “when they see the beast, that he was…” = “when they see that the beast was” (so BDAG 732 s.v. ὅτι 1.f, where Rev 17:8 is listed).

[17:12]  ⁵² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:12]  ⁵³ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.