^12:17So⁴⁷ the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children,⁴⁸ those who keep⁴⁹ God’s commandments and hold to⁵⁰ the testimony about Jesus.⁵¹^12:18And the dragon⁵² stood⁵³ on the sand⁵⁴ of the seashore.⁵⁵

The Two Beasts

^13:1Then¹ I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It² had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns,³ and on its heads a blasphemous name.⁴

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Footnotes

47 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the woman’s escape.
48 Grk “her seed” (an idiom for offspring, children, or descendants).
49 Or “who obey.”
50 Grk “and having.”
51 Grk “the testimony of Jesus,” which may involve a subjective genitive (“Jesus’ testimony”) or, more likely, an objective genitive (“testimony about Jesus”).
52 Grk “he”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
53 Grk ἐστάθη (estathē, “he stood”). The reading followed by the translation is attested by the better (𝔓47 א A C 1854 2344 2351 lat syh) while the majority of (051 𝔐 vgmss syph co) have the reading ἐστάθην (estathēn, “I stood”). Thus, the majority of make the narrator, rather than the dragon of 12:17, the subject of the verb. The first person reading is most likely an assimilation to the following verb in 13:1, “I saw.” The reading “I stood” was introduced either by accident or to produce a smoother flow, giving the narrator a vantage point on the sea’s edge from which to observe the beast rising out of the sea in 13:1. But almost everywhere else in the book, the phrase καὶ εἶδον (kai eidon, “and I saw”) marks a transition to a new vision, without reference to the narrator’s activity. On both external and internal grounds, it is best to adopt the third person reading, “he stood.”
54 Or “sandy beach” (L&N 1.64).
55 The standard critical texts of the Greek NT, and , both include this sentence as 12:18, as do the and . Other modern translations like the and include the sentence at the beginning of 13:1; in these versions chap. 12 has only 17 verses.
1 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
2 Grk “having” (a continuation of the previous sentence). All of the pronouns referring to this beast (along with the second beast appearing in 13:11) could be translated as “it” because the word for beast (θηρίον, thērion) is neuter gender in Greek and all the pronouns related to it are parsed as neuter in the Gramcord/Accordance database. Nevertheless, most interpreters would agree that the beast ultimately represents a human ruler, so beginning at the end of v. 4 the masculine pronouns (“he,” “him,” etc.) are used to refer to the first beast as well as the second beast appearing in 13:11.
3 For the translation of διάδημα (diadēma) as “diadem crown” see L&N 6.196. Diadem crowns were a type of crown used as a symbol of the highest ruling authority in a given area, and thus often associated with kingship.
4 Several (A 051 1611 1854 2053 2344 2351 𝔐K) read the plural ὀνόματα (onomata, “[blasphemous] names”), while the singular ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) has somewhat better support (𝔓47 א C 1006 1841 2329 𝔐A). The plural reading seems motivated by the fact that what is written is written “on its heads.” In the least, it is a clarifying reading. puts the plural in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity. Whether this means a single name on all seven heads or seven names, one on each head, is not clear.