1And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns ten diadems, and on its heads names of blasphemy.
2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
3And one of its heads seemed as if slain to death, and its death-wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast,
4and they worshiped the dragon because he had given the authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to make war with it?”
5And it was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months.
6And it opened its mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
7And it was given to it to make war with the saints and to conquer them, and authority was given to it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.
8And all who dwell on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
10If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he goes; if anyone is to kill with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
The Beast from the Earth
11And I saw another beast rising up out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb, and it spoke like a dragon.
12And it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence. And it makes the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first beast, whose death-wound was healed.
13And it performs great signs, so that it even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the sight of men.
14And it deceives those who dwell on the earth by the signs that it was given to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image for the beast that has the wound of the sword and yet lived.
15And it was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause all who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16And it makes all — the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves — that they should be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
17and that no one might be able to buy or sell except the one who has the mark: the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18Here is wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is a man’s number; and its number is six hundred sixty-six.
Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.
The Beast from the Sea
parallelRevelation 12:3— The dragon of the preceding chapter shares the same seven heads and ten horns as the sea-beast it empowers.
parallelRevelation 2:7— The call to hear repeats the refrain used in the letters to the seven churches.
parallelRevelation 17:1— The same beast with seven heads and ten horns and blasphemous names appears in Revelation 13.
parallelRevelation 21:9— Those written in the Lamb's book of life parallels the same book referenced earlier in Revelation.
allusionDaniel 7:2— The beast rising from the sea with horns combines the four beasts of Daniel's vision (leopard, bear, lion) into one composite creature.
allusionDaniel 7:4— The leopard, bear, and lion imagery is drawn directly from Daniel's four beasts.
allusionDaniel 7:8— The mouth speaking great things and blasphemies echoes Daniel's little horn with a mouth speaking great things.
allusionDaniel 7:25— The forty-two months of the beast's authority corresponds to Daniel's 'time, times and half a time' allotted to the horn that wears out the saints.
allusionDaniel 7:21— The beast making war with the saints and conquering them echoes Daniel's horn making war against and prevailing over the saints.
echoed inDaniel 7:1— The beast from the sea in Revelation combines features of Daniel's four beasts (lion, bear, leopard) rising from the sea.
echoed inDaniel 7:15— The 'time, times, and half a time' period during which the beast prevails is reflected in Revelation's forty-two months.
echoed inDaniel 11:36— The beast uttering blasphemies against God echoes this king speaking astonishing things against the God of gods.
allusionJeremiah 15:2— The formula of captivity and sword echoes Jeremiah's oracle of appointed fates.
echoed inJeremiah 15:1— The formulaic assignment to death, sword, and captivity is echoed in Revelation's captivity-and-sword saying.
thematicPsalms 69:28— The book of life in which the saved are written draws on the OT motif of the divine register of the living.
thematicRevelation 20:15— Both develop the motif of the book of life determining one's fate.
The Beast from the Earth
allusion1 Kings 18:38— The false prophet calling fire down from heaven parodies Elijah's genuine miracle on Mount Carmel.
allusionDaniel 3:5— Compelling worship of an image on pain of death echoes Nebuchadnezzar's golden image which all were forced to worship or be killed.
allusionDeuteronomy 6:8— The mark on the hand and forehead inverts the command to bind God's words as a sign on the hand and forehead.
echoed inRevelation 19:11— The false prophet's signs, the mark of the beast, and worship of its image refer back to the second beast in Revelation 13.
echoed inRevelation 20:4— Reference to those who did not receive the mark of the beast on forehead and hand echoes the beast's mark described earlier.
thematicRevelation 7:3— The mark on hand or forehead parodies the sealing of God's servants on their foreheads.