13:10 If anyone is meant for captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword, 15
then by the sword he must be killed.
This 16 requires steadfast endurance 17 and faith from the saints.
13:11 Then 18 I saw another beast 19 coming up from the earth. He 20 had two horns like a lamb, 21 but 22 was speaking like a dragon. 13:12 He 23 exercised all the ruling authority 24 of the first beast on his behalf, 25 and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13:13 He 26 performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven in front of people 27 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 28 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 29 was empowered 30 to give life 31 to the image of the first beast 32 so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 13:16 He also caused 33 everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave 34 ) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 13:17 Thus no one was allowed to buy 35 or sell things 36 unless he bore 37 the mark of the beast – that is, his name or his number. 38 13:18 This calls for wisdom: 39 Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, 40 and his number is 666. 41
1 tn Grk “and there was given to him.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2 tn For the translation “proud words” (Grk “great things” or “important things”) see BDAG 624 s.v. μέγας 4.b.
3 tn Grk “to it was granted.”
4 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the permission granted to the beast.
6 tn Grk “he” (or “it”); the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tc The reading “and his dwelling place” does not occur in codex C, but its omission is probably due to scribal oversight since the phrase has the same ending as the phrase before it, i.e., they both end in “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou). This is similar to the mistake this scribe made in 12:14 with the omission of the reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou).
8 tn Grk “and it was given to him to go to war.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
9 tc Many
10 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
11 tn Grk “and people,” but καί (kai) has not been translated here or before the following term since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
12 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.
14 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”
15 tc Many
16 tn On ὧδε (Jwde) here, BDAG 1101 s.v. 2 states: “a ref. to a present event, object, or circumstance, in this case, at this point, on this occasion, under these circumstances…in this case moreover 1 Cor 4:2. ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν…Rv 13:18; cf. 17:9. ὧδέ ἐστιν ἡ ὑπομονή…13:10; 14:12.”
17 tn Or “perseverance.”
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
19 sn This second beast is identified in Rev 16:13 as “the false prophet.”
20 tn Grk “and it had,” a continuation of the preceding sentence. On the use of the pronoun “he” to refer to the second beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.
21 tn Or perhaps, “like a ram.” Here L&N 4.25 states, “In the one context in the NT, namely, Re 13:11, in which ἀρνίον refers literally to a sheep, it is used in a phrase referring to the horns of an ἀρνίον. In such a context the reference is undoubtedly to a ‘ram,’ that is to say, the adult male of sheep.” In spite of this most translations render the word “lamb” here to maintain the connection between this false lamb and the true Lamb of the Book of Revelation, Jesus Christ.
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
23 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
24 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.
25 tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”
26 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
27 tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both men and women.
28 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).
29 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”
31 tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.
32 tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.
33 tn Or “forced”; Grk “makes” (ποιεῖ, poiei).
34 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
35 tn Grk “and that no one be able to buy or sell.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Although the ἵνα (Jina) is left untranslated, the English conjunction “thus” is used to indicate that this is a result clause.
36 tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context. In the context of buying and selling, food could be primarily in view, but the more general “things” was used in the translation because the context is not specific.
37 tn Grk “except the one who had.”
38 tn Grk “his name or the number of his name.”
39 tn Grk “Here is wisdom.”
40 tn Grk “it is man’s number.” ExSyn 254 states “if ἀνθρώπου is generic, then the sense is, ‘It is [the] number of humankind.’ It is significant that this construction fits Apollonius’ Canon (i.e., both the head noun and the genitive are anarthrous), suggesting that if one of these nouns is definite, then the other is, too. Grammatically, those who contend that the sense is ‘it is [the] number of a man’ have the burden of proof on them (for they treat the head noun, ἀριθμός, as definite and the genitive, ἀνθρώπου, as indefinite – the rarest of all possibilities). In light of Johannine usage, we might also add Rev 16:18, where the Seer clearly uses the anarthrous ἄνθρωπος in a generic sense, meaning ‘humankind.’ The implications of this grammatical possibility, exegetically speaking, are simply that the number ‘666’ is the number that represents humankind. Of course, an individual is in view, but his number may be the number representing all of humankind. Thus the Seer might be suggesting here that the antichrist, who is the best representative of humanity without Christ (and the best counterfeit of a perfect man that his master, that old serpent, could muster), is still less than perfection (which would have been represented by the number seven).” See G. K. Beale, Revelation, [NIGTC], 723-24, who argues for the “generic” understanding of the noun; for an indefinite translation, see the ASV and ESV which both translate the clause as “it is the number of a man.”
sn The translation man’s number suggests that the beast’s number is symbolic of humanity in general, while the translation a man’s number suggests that it represents an individual.
41 tc A few