1And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars,
2and being with child, she cries out, in labor and in agony to give birth.
3And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery-red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems,
4And his tail drags a third of the stars of heaven, and it cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place there prepared by God, so that they might nourish her there for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Down from Heaven
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels waging war against the dragon. And the dragon waged war, and his angels,
8and they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven.
9And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
11And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even unto death.
12For this reason rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has come down to you having great fury, knowing that he has but a short time.’
The Dragon Pursues the Woman
13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished there for a time and times and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent.
15And the serpent cast water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might make her swept away by the river.
16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had cast out of his mouth.
17And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus; and he stood upon the sand of the sea.
Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.
The Woman and the Dragon
quotationPsalms 2:9— The male child who will shepherd/rule the nations with an iron rod quotes Psalm 2's promise to the Messianic king.
parallelRevelation 19:15— The ruling of nations with an iron rod is repeated of Christ the returning warrior.
parallelRevelation 12:14— The woman's flight to the wilderness for 1260 days is restated as a time, times, and half a time within the same chapter.
parallelRevelation 13:1— The dragon of the preceding chapter shares the same seven heads and ten horns as the sea-beast it empowers.
allusionDaniel 7:7— The dragon with ten horns echoes Daniel's fourth beast with ten horns.
allusionDaniel 8:10— The dragon's tail casting a third of the stars to earth echoes Daniel's little horn casting stars down.
allusionGenesis 37:9— The imagery of sun, moon, and stars bowing/associated with a person echoes Joseph's dream of the sun, moon, and eleven stars.
allusionIsaiah 66:7— The woman in labor and agony to give birth echoes Isaiah's imagery of Zion bringing forth a child.
echoed inPsalms 2:1— The male child destined to rule the nations 'with a rod of iron' quotes this verse.
Satan Thrown Down from Heaven
allusionDaniel 12:1— Michael as the angelic prince who does battle echoes Daniel's Michael the great prince who stands for God's people.
allusionGenesis 3:1— The dragon identified as the ancient serpent recalls the serpent of Eden who deceived.
allusionRevelation 7:14— Conquering by the blood of the Lamb echoes the robes made white in the blood of the Lamb.
echoed inRevelation 20:1— Identical fourfold identification of the dragon as the ancient serpent, Devil, and Satan.
allusionZechariah 3:1— Satan standing to accuse God's people before God echoes Zechariah's vision of Satan accusing the high priest.
thematicDaniel 10:1— The motif of Michael waging angelic warfare against opposing spiritual powers recurs in Revelation's war in heaven.
thematicIsaiah 26:1— The eschatological defeat of the serpent/dragon developed further in apocalyptic imagery.
thematicJob 1:9— Satan as the accuser who charges God's people echoes his role as accuser in the heavenly court in Job.
The Dragon Pursues the Woman
parallelRevelation 12:1— The woman's flight to the wilderness for 1260 days is restated as a time, times, and half a time within the same chapter.
allusionDaniel 7:25— The period 'a time and times and half a time' quotes Daniel's designation of the time of oppression.
echoed inDaniel 7:15— Revelation borrows the exact phrase 'a time, times, and half a time' for the period of persecution.
echoed inDaniel 12:5— The period 'a time, times, and a half' recurs as the eschatological measure in Revelation.
allusionExodus 19:4— The eagle's wings given to carry the woman to safety echoes God bearing Israel on eagles' wings.
allusionGenesis 3:15— The dragon's war against the woman's offspring echoes the enmity set between the serpent and the woman's seed.
thematicRevelation 1:9— Those who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus defines the faithful witnesses described elsewhere in Revelation.