Revelation 13 explained: Two Beasts and a Mark

The beast from the sea (vv. 1-4)

The dragon, named as Satan in 12:9, hands its power to a beast built from the lion, bear and leopard of Daniel 7, which there stood for empires. Its healed death wound seems to mimic the Lamb who was slain yet lives, and many scholars also hear an echo of the old rumor that the dead emperor Nero would return.

Boasting and war (vv. 5-8)

The beast insults God and is allowed to defeat God's people, but only for 42 months, the same limited span seen in chapters 11 and 12. In verse 8 the Greek can mean either that names were written in the Lamb's book from the world's beginning or that the Lamb was slain from the world's beginning, and the translations differ on this.

A call to endure (vv. 9-10)

Echoing Jeremiah 15:2, the NIV says those destined for captivity or death by the sword will meet it, so God's people must hold on faithfully. Ancient copies differ here, and the ASV instead reads a warning that whoever kills with the sword must be killed by it.

The beast from the land (vv. 11-15)

This second beast, later called the false prophet (16:13), has horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. Like Nebuchadnezzar's statue in Daniel 3, it demands worship of an image on pain of death, and many scholars link it to local leaders who promoted worship of the Roman emperor in the cities John wrote to, while others expect a future religious deceiver.

The mark (vv. 16-17)

The mark seems to mirror the seal God puts on his servants' foreheads (7:3). In that world slaves, soldiers and worshipers of a god were sometimes branded to show whom they belonged to, and while some Christians expect a literal future mark, many read it as loyalty in thought (forehead) and action (hand), which for early believers may have meant losing trade if they refused pagan worship.

The number 666 (v. 18)

Hebrew and Greek letters also served as numbers, and 'Nero Caesar' spelled in Hebrew adds up to 666, while some early copies read 616, which fits another spelling of the same name. Others see six, one short of seven (the number of completeness in this book), as a picture of something that always falls short, and no reading is certain.

Key verse: Revelation 13:10

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the beasts mainly picture the Roman Empire of John's own day, a chain of powers across later history, oppressive powers that return in every age, or a particular ruler still to come at the end.

Something to think about

What makes people willing to give their loyalty, even something like worship, to a powerful leader or system, and where do you notice that pull today?