1.
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
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 dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Verse 2
This description seems intended simply to denote that in the form of the monster were combined all the marks and characteristics of savage ferocity.--The dragon; Satan.
3.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Verse 3
Wondered after the beast; worshipped and honored him.
4.
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Verse 4
They worshipped the dragon; that is, in effect, they worshipped Satan, by serving and honoring the power which Satan had raised.
5.
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Verse 5
Forty and two months; the same mystical period of three years and a half again recurring.
6.
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Verse 7
And it was given unto him; he was permitted. The beast described in Revelation 13:1-7, has been considered by some commentators as a personification of enmity to the cause of Christ in general; and by others as representing particularly the power of pagan Rome.
8.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9.
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10.
He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
11.
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12.
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13.
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14.
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Verse 14
And deceiveth them, &c. As the first beast (Revelation 13:1-10) represents plainly open and violent hostility to the Christian name, the second as clearly indicates a secret and doubtful enmity, accomplishing its purposes by cunning and imposture.
15.
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17.
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Verse 18
His number is Six hundred threescore and six. This mystical number, 666, intended, apparently, to designate, in some way or other, the name of the power described under the similitude of the two-horned beast, has come down through the whole succession of commentators on the sacred volume, a standing enigma on which their research and ingenuity have been exercised in vain. The clew which they have attempted to follow is this: The Greeks, having no separate characters to represent numbers, usually expressed them by the letters of their alphabet, each letter receiving, for this purpose, the assignment of a certain determinate value. Now, by adding together the values expressed by the several letters of a name, a number is obtained which is called the number of that name. Accordingly, it has been generally supposed that the name of the government, or church, or person, or influence, Whichever it may have been, that was intended to be prefigured by this beast, thus reduced to a number, would be 666. A great variety of names have consequently been proposed which answer this condition. Protestant commentators generally, who consider the beast as denoting the Papal power, refer this number to the word Lateinos, the supposed Greek form for the expression The Latin;--meaning the Latin church, by which expression the Roman church was originally designated.