Offenbarung 13:3 Kommentar

We have, in this chapter, a further discovery and description of the church's enemies: not other enemies than are mentioned before, but described after another manner, that the methods of their enmity may more fully appear. They are represented as two beasts; the first you have an account of (Rev 13:1-10) the second (Rev 13:11, etc.). By the first some understand Rome pagan, and by the second Rome papal; but others understand Rome papal to be represented by both these beasts, by the first in its secular power, by the second in its ecclesiastical.

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 13 This chapter contains a description of the Romish antichrist, under the figure of two beasts, the one representing him in his civil power, the other in his ecclesiastical power. The first beast is described by its origin, the sea, and by the monstrous shape its several parts; its heads seven, in which were the name of blasphemy; its horns ten, on which were crowns; its skin like a leopard, its feet as a bear, and its mouth as a lion; and by its state and condition, having power, a throne, and great authority; and having one of its heads wounded, and healed; and by the great regard had unto him, being wondered at, and worshipped by all the world, and declared to be more powerful than any, and none to be like them, Rev 13:1. Next an account is given of what he was suffered to have, a blaspheming mouth, and power to continue forty two months, Rev 13:5; and of what he said or uttered, his blasphemy against God, his name, tabernacle, and the inhabitants of heaven, Rev 13:6; and of what he did by permission, made war with the saints, overcame them, and had power over all people, Rev 13:7; and of the worship given him by the reprobate part of the world, Rev 13:8; and the whole is concluded with an exhortation exciting attention to what had been said, with a threatening to the beast, and a word of comfort to the saints, Rev 13:9. And then follows the description of the second beast, by its original the earth; by its likeness to a lamb, and a dragon; to the former for its two horns, and to the latter for its speech, Rev 13:11; and by the actions ascribed to it, which are many; as exercising all the power of the first beast; causing all the inhabitants of the earth to worship that; doing miracles, of which one is mentioned, thereby deceiving the men of the world; ordering them to make an image to the wounded beast; giving life to it, so that it could speak; putting to death all that refused to worship it; obliging men of all ranks and degrees to have a mark in their right hands or foreheads, and forbidding such that had not to buy or sell, Rev 13:12. And the chapter is concluded with an epiphonema, exciting men of understanding to search out, and count the number of the beast's name, since it is possible to be done, being the number of a man, and easy to be done, consisting of three Greek letters, , which are numerically 666, Rev 13:18.

And I saw one of his heads,.... Not the Capitoline mountain, or the Capitol, the temple of Jupiter, built on that hill, which was burnt by lightning in the times of Titus, and magnificently rebuilt by Domitian, which was a thing past, and of no such moment as to be taken notice of here; nor anyone of the Roman emperors particularly, as Julius Caesar, at whose death the empire received a wound, upon its first erection in him, but was healed by the settlement of Augustus in it; nor Nero, at whose death the family of the Caesars ceased, when the empire was threatened with ruin in the following reigns, but was restored and reestablished in Vespasian, for these were before the times of John: but this is to be understood of the sixth head, or form of government, which obtained in the empire; namely, that of emperors, and of the destruction of Rome itself, the head of the empire, and which was built on seven mountains, designed by the seven heads of this beast: and this head was as it were wounded to death; when the Roman empire was like a burning mountain cast into the sea; when Rome itself was taken, sacked, and burnt, more than once, particularly by Totilas; when Augustulus, the last of the emperors, was obliged to abdicate the throne; when Odoacer called himself, not emperor of Rome, but king of Italy, and retired from Rome to Ravenna; and when Adolphus, another Gothic king, thought to have changed the name of Rome, and given it that of Gothia: this seemed to be a deadly wound to Rome, to the empire and emperors. And his deadly wound was healed; by the setting up of ten kingdoms in it, the kings of which gave them to the beast, to antichrist, the pope of Rome, and so the empire came to have an head again, a governor, though of another kind: some choose to understand this of the wound which antichrist received at the Reformation, by Luther, Calvin, and others, which has since been healing, Popery recovering itself again in some countries where it was driven out, and which, it is thought, will be entirely healed before his destruction: and all the world wondered after the beast; which expresses the large extent of antichrist's dominion, which reached to all the Roman empire, Luk 2:1; yea, to all kindreds, tongues, and nations, Rev 13:7; so that the universality the Papists boast of, as a note of the true church, is manifestly a mark of the beast, or of antichrist; and also the great esteem he is had in by his followers, who admire his power and authority, his grandeur, pomp, and riches, his signs and lying wonders, his pretended infallibility and holiness, his stock of merits and unwritten traditions, his skill to interpret Scripture, and his power to forgive sins, and the like: they went after him, obeyed him, embraced his doctrines, attended his religion and worship with wonder and amazement.

One of its heads refers to the antichrist, because there are seven heads not in regard to number but as a sign of the universality of that earthly kingdom that is hostile to the Lamb. It is evident that the dragon, that is, the devil, will give his authority and his throne to [the antichrist]. As in a good sense the soul of a righteous person is the seat of wisdom, so in an evil sense the enemy is said to give his throne to those whom he especially possesses and whom he uses for the seduction of others. Moreover, with God’s permission he frequently does amazing things through them, and he proceeds to so great a rashness that in imitation of the true Head and in order to delude the souls of [God’s] children, he claims that one of the seven heads resurrected as if it had died before and that he should be accepted instead of Christ, who actually accomplished this deed. “And the nations which inhabit the earth wondered at the beast.” … By “earth” he refers to those who are earthly and who desire to follow and to worship him, that is, those who in the antichrist are said to worship the dragon as in an image.

That which “seemed wounded” are the heretics who hypocritically seem to confess Christ and blaspheme since they do not believe as the catholic faith has it. They prophesy that he who was wounded is also raised again, for even Satan himself transfigures himself into an angel of light. Another interpretation might be that heresies are wounded by the catholics, for they are suppressed by the testimonies of the Scriptures. Yet, as though a wound of Satan they are revived and accomplish the works of Satan and do not cease from blaspheming and attracting whomever they can to his teachings.… [The dragon gave his power to the beast], for indeed the heretics possess power, especially the Arians. … “And they adored the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’ ” To be sure, the heretics flatter themselves that no one believes better than they and that no one can conquer their people who are marked by the name of the beast. And it will be given to him by the devil himself, although with God’s permission, that he should speak haughty things and blasphemies, as the apostle says, “There must be heresies in order that those who are genuine among you may be manifested.”

And I see, he says, one of his heads as if it were wounded unto death; and his deadly wound was healed. This meaning might have been known to the Spirit-bearing evangelist himself; but as it appears to me, he indicates something of this sort: for the deadly blow which was inflicted upon the Devil that was struck against one of the heads through the devotion of Israel, was healed through their subsequent idolatry.

That he had a head that was wounded indicates that one of his lieutenants, having been put to death, deceptively seems to be raised again by him through his sorcery, in a way similar to Simon the magician, who, in light of his magic tricks, was unmasked by the chief of the apostles. Or the phrase could indicate that the Roman Empire, having suffered a kind of wound through division, seems to be healed by a unified rule, as occurred at the time of Augustus Caesar.… The wonder directed at the antichrist will be transferred to the devil, who is working through him. For through him the devil will be worshiped, and through him he will seem, to those blinded in the eyes of the mind, to raise the dead and perform signs.

And I saw one of its heads as if it had been mortally wounded, etc. The Antichrist, pertaining to the heads of the earthly kingdom, in imitation of our true head, dares to present himself as if he were mortally wounded and had resurrected, to be accepted in place of Christ, who truly accomplished this. It is said that the deception in Simon Magus prefigured this deceit.

And the whole earth marveled and followed the beast. He uses the genus for the species, saying that the beast is worshiped, when it is the false head, under the name of the truly slain and living head, that earthly men are to worship.

The beast rising out of the sea with seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns, Rev 13:1. His description, power, blasphemy, cruelty, etc., Rev 13:2-10. The beast coming out of the earth with two horns, deceiving the world by is false miracles, and causing every one to receive his mark in their right hand, Rev 13:11-17. His number, 666, Rev 13:18.

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death - This is the second and last place where the heads of the beast are mentioned with any description; and therefore the meaning here must be forms of government, as these were noticed last in the angel's double explanation. The head that was wounded to death can be no other than the seventh draconic head, which was the sixth head of the beast, viz., the imperial power; for "this head," as Bishop Newton observes, "was, as it were, wounded to death when the Roman empire was overturned by the northern nations, and an end was put to the very name of emperor in Momyllus Augustulus." It was so wounded that it was wholly improbable that it could ever rise again to considerable power, for the western empire came into the possession of several barbarous nations of independent interests. And his deadly wound was healed - This was effected by Charlemagne, who with his successors assumed all the marks of the ancient emperors of the west, with the titles of Semper Augustus, Sacred Majesty, First Prince of the Christian World, Temporal Chief of the Christian People, and Rector or Temporal Chief of the Faithful in Germany; Mod. Universal History, vol. xxxii., p. 79. But it is said in Rev 13:2 that the dragon gave the beast his power, δυναμιν, his armies or military strength; i.e., he employed all his imperial power in defense of the Latin empire, which supported the Latin Church. He also gave his seat, θρονον, literally his throne, to him: that is, his whole empire formed an integral part of the Latin empire, by its conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. He also gave him great authority. This is literally true of the Roman empire of Germany, which, by its great power and influence in the politics of Europe, extended the religion of the empire over the various states and monarchies of Europe, thus incorporating them as it were in one vast empire, by uniting them in one common faith. And all the world wondered after the beast - Ὁλη ἡ γη· All the earth. As the original word signifies earth, and not world as in our translation, the Latin world, which is the earth of the beast, is here intended; and the meaning of the passage consequently is, that the whole body of the Roman Catholics were affected with great astonishment at the mighty sway of the Latin empire, considering it as a great and holy power.

VISION OF THE BEAST THAT CAME OUT OF THE SEA: THE SECOND BEAST, OUT OF THE EARTH, EXERCISING THE POWER OF THE FIRST BEAST, AND CAUSING THE EARTH TO WORSHIP HIM. (Rev. 13:1-18) I stood--So B, Aleph, and Coptic read. But A, C, Vulgate, and Syriac, "He stood." Standing on the sand of the sea, HE gave his power to the beast that rose out of the sea. upon the sand of the sea--where the four winds were to be seen striving upon the great sea (Dan 7:2). beast--Greek, "wild beast." Man becomes "brutish" when he severs himself from God, the archetype and true ideal, in whose image he was first made, which ideal is realized by the man Christ Jesus. Hence, the world powers seeking their own glory, and not God's, are represented as beasts; and Nebuchadnezzar, when in self-deification he forgot that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men," was driven among the beasts. In Dan 7:4-7 there are four beasts: here the one beast expresses the sum-total of the God-opposed world power viewed in its universal development, not restricted to one manifestation alone, as Rome. This first beast expresses the world power attacking the Church more from without; the second, which is a revival of, and minister to, the first, is the world power as the false prophet corrupting and destroying the Church from within. out of the sea-- (Dan 7:3; compare Note, see on Rev 8:8); out of the troubled waves of peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The earth (Rev 13:11), on the other hand, means the consolidated, ordered world of nations, with its culture and learning. seven heads and ten horns--A, B, and C transpose, "ten horns and seven heads." The ten horns are now put first (contrast the order, Rev 12:3) because they are crowned. They shall not be so till the last stage of the fourth kingdom (the Roman), which shall continue until the fifth kingdom, Christ's, shall supplant it and destroy it utterly; this last stage is marked by the ten toes of the two feet of the image in Dan 2:33, Dan 2:41-42. The seven implies the world power setting up itself as God, and caricaturing the seven Spirits of God; yet its true character as God-opposed is detected by the number ten accompanying the seven. Dragon and beast both wear crowns, but the former on the heads, the latter on the horns (Rev 12:3; Rev 13:1). Therefore, both heads and horns refer to kingdoms; compare Rev 17:7, Rev 17:10, Rev 17:12, "kings" representing the kingdoms whose heads they are. The seven kings, as peculiarly powerful--the great powers of the world--are distinguished from the ten, represented by the horns (simply called "kings," Rev 17:12). In Daniel, the ten mean the last phase of the world power, the fourth kingdom divided into ten parts. They are connected with the seventh head (Rev 17:12), and are as yet future [AUBERLEN]. The mistake of those who interpret the beast to be Rome exclusively, and the ten horns to mean kingdoms which have taken the place of Rome in Europe already, is, the fourth kingdom in the image has TWO legs, representing the eastern as well as the western empire; the ten toes are not upon the one foot (the west), as these interpretations require, but on the two (east and west) together, so that any theory which makes the ten kingdoms belong to the west alone must err. If the ten kingdoms meant were those which sprung up on the overthrow of Rome, the ten would be accurately known, whereas twenty-eight different lists are given by so many interpreters, making in all sixty-five kingdoms! [TYSO in DE BURGH]. The seven heads are the seven world monarchies, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, the Germanic empire, under the last of which we live [AUBERLEN], and which devolved for a time on Napoleon, after Francis, emperor of Germany and king of Rome, had resigned the title in 1806. FABER explains the healing of the deadly wound to be the revival of the Napoleonic dynasty after its overthrow at Waterloo. That secular dynasty, in alliance with the ecclesiastical power, the Papacy (Rev 13:11, &c.), being "the eighth head," and yet "of the seven" (Rev 17:11), will temporarily triumph over the saints, until destroyed in Armageddon (Rev 19:17-21). A Napoleon, in this view, will be the Antichrist, restoring the Jews to Palestine, and accepted as their Messiah at first, and afterwards fearfully oppressing them. Antichrist, the summing up and concentration of all the world evil that preceded, is the eighth, but yet one of the seven (Rev 17:11). crowns--Greek, "diadems." name of blasphemy--So C, Coptic, and ANDREAS. A, B, and Vulgate read, "names of blasphemy," namely, a name on each of the heads; blasphemously arrogating attributes belonging to God alone (compare Note, see on Rev 17:3). A characteristic of the little horn in Dan 7:8, Dan 7:20-21; Th2 2:4.

One of--literally, "from among." wounded . . . healed--twice again repeated emphatically (Rev 13:12, Rev 13:14); compare Rev 17:8, Rev 17:11, "the beast that was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit" (compare Rev 13:11); the Germanic empire, the seventh head (revived in the eighth), as yet future in John's time (Rev 17:10). Contrast the change whereby Nebuchadnezzar, being humbled from his self-deifying pride, was converted from his beast-like form and character to MAN'S form and true position towards God; symbolized by his eagle wings being plucked, and himself made to stand upon his feet as a man (Dan 7:4). Here, on the contrary, the beast's head is not changed into a human head, but receives a deadly wound, that is, the world kingdom which this head represents does not truly turn to God, but for a time its God-opposed character remains paralyzed ("as it were slain"; the very words marking the beast's outward resemblance to the Lamb, "as it were slain," see on Rev 5:6. Compare also the second beast's resemblance to the Lamb, Rev 13:11). Though seemingly slain (Greek for "wounded"), it remains the beast still, to rise again in another form (Rev 13:11). The first six heads were heathenish, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome; the new seventh world power (the pagan German hordes pouring down on Christianized Rome), whereby Satan had hoped to stifle Christianity (Rev 11:15-16), became itself Christianized (answering to the beast's, as it were, deadly wound: it was slain, and it is not, Rev 17:11). Its ascent out of the bottomless pit answers to the healing of its deadly wound (Rev 17:8). No essential change is noticed in Daniel as effected by Christianity upon the fourth kingdom; it remains essentially God-opposed to the last. The beast, healed of its temporary and external wound, now returns, not only from the sea, but from the bottomless pit, whence it draws new Antichristian strength of hell (Rev 13:3, Rev 13:11-12, Rev 13:14; Rev 11:7; Rev 17:8). Compare the seven evil spirits taken into the temporarily dispossessed, and the last state worse than the first, Mat 12:43-45. A new and worse heathenism breaks in upon the Christianized world, more devilish than the old one of the first heads of the beast. The latter was an apostasy only from the general revelation of God in nature and conscience; but this new one is from God's revelation of love in His Son. It culminates in Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition (compare Rev 17:11); Th2 2:3; compare Ti2 3:1-4, the very characteristics of old heathenism (Rom 1:29-32) [AUBERLEN]. More than one wound seems to me to be meant, for example, that under Constantine (when the pagan worship of the emperor's image gave way to Christianity), followed by the healing, when image worship and the other papal errors were introduced into the Church; again, that at the Reformation, followed by the lethargic form of godliness without the power, and about to end in the last great apostasy, which I identify with the second beast (Rev 13:11), Antichrist, the same seventh world power in another form. wondered after--followed with wondering gaze.