Revelation 13:3-4

13:3 One of the beast’s ¹  heads appeared to have been killed, ²  but the lethal wound had been healed. ³  And the whole world followed ⁴  the beast in amazement; 13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority ⁵  to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” ⁶ 

Revelation 13:14-15

13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told ⁷  those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 13:15 The second beast ⁸  was empowered ⁹  to give life ¹⁰  to the image of the first beast ¹¹  so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

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¹ tn Grk “one of its heads”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Grk “killed to death,” an expression emphatic in its redundancy. The phrase behind this translation is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον (Jw" ejsfagmenon). The particle ὡς is used in Greek generally for comparison, and in Revelation it is used often to describe the appearance of what the author saw. In this instance, the appearance of the beast’s head did not match reality, because the next phrase shows that in fact it did not die. This text does not affirm that the beast died and was resurrected, but some draw this conclusion because of the only other use of the phrase, which refers to Jesus in 5:6.

³ tn The phrase τοῦ θανάτου (tou qanatou) can be translated as an attributive genitive (“deathly wound”) or an objective genitive (the wound which caused death) and the final αὐτοῦ (autou) is either possessive or reference/respect.

⁴ tn On the phrase “the whole world followed the beast in amazement,” BDAG 445 s.v. θαυμάζω 2 states, “wonder, be amazed…Rv 17:8. In pregnant constr. ἐθαυμάσθη ὅλη ἡ γῆ ὀπίσω τ. θηρίου the whole world followed the beast, full of wonder 13:3 (here wonder becomes worship: cp. Ael. Aristid. 13 p. 290 D.; 39 p. 747 of Dionysus and Heracles, οἳ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Sir 7:29; Jos., Ant. 3, 65. – The act. is also found in this sense: Cebes 2, 3 θ. τινά = ‘admire’ or ‘venerate’ someone; Epict. 1, 17, 19 θ. τὸν θεόν).”

⁵ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

⁶ tn On the use of the masculine pronoun to refer to the beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.

⁷ tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.

sn He told followed by an infinitive (“to make an image…”) is sufficiently ambiguous in Greek that it could be taken as “he ordered” (so NIV) or “he persuaded” (so REB).

⁸ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”

¹⁰ tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.

¹¹ tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.