Revelation 13:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Revelation 13:14
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
to (properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
τοὺςtous
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative plural masculine
dwell
κατοικοῦνταςkatoikountas
G2730
to house permanently · verb — present active participle, accusative plural masculine
on
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
earth
γῆςgēs
G1093
soil · noun — genitive singular feminine
by
διὰdia
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the…
Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the…
Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation o…
2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewi…
Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous thi…
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Revelation 13:3-4 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Revelation 13:11-12 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Revelation 13:11–end
Those who think the first beast signifies Rome pagan by this second beast would understand Rome papal, which promotes idolatry and tyranny, but in a more soft and lamb-like manner: those that understand the first beast of the secular power of the papacy take the second to intend its spiritual and ecclesiastical powers, which act under the disguise of religion and charity to the souls of men. Here observe,
I. The form and shape of this second beast: He had two horns like a lamb, but a mouth that spoke like the dragon. All agree that this must be some great impostor, who, under a pretence of religion, shall deceive the souls of men. The papists would have it to be Apollonius Tyranaeus; but Dr.…
deceiveth them that dwell on the earth--the earthly-minded, but not the elect. Even a miracle is not enough to warrant belief in a professed revelation unless that revelation be in harmony with God's already revealed will.
by the means of those miracles--rather as Greek, "on account of (because of; in consequence of) those miracles."
which he had power to do--Greek, "which were given him to do."
in the sight of the beast--"before him" (Rev 13:12).
which--A, B, and C read, "who"; marking, perhaps, a personal Antichrist.
had--So B and ANDREAS read. But A, C, and Vulgate read, "hath."
Adam Clarke on Revelation 13:14
Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live - The image of the beast must designate a person who represents in himself the whole power of the Latin empire, therefore it cannot be the emperor; for though he was, according to his own account, supremum caput Christianitatis, the supreme head of Christendom, yet he was only the chief of the Germanic confederation, and consequently was only sovereign of the principal power of the Latin empire. The image of the beast must be the supreme ruler of the Latin empire, and as it is through the influence of the false prophet that this image is made for the first beast,…
Saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, etc. That is, to be like him and thus to make an image to him, as another version says: As it has the wound of the sword and lived. That is, they should say they have died and risen with the Antichrist by that falsehood, just as he claims to constitute himself as God and mediator between himself and his followers, unlike our Lord Jesus Christ, who has no other mediator between himself and his followers.
And deceives, it says, those who dwell upon the earth by the signs. For he makes signs indeed, but by charming the eyes of those who see, just as the magicians also did before Pharaoh; for they were directed by one and the same deceiving demon, both those and this one. And it says well that he makes the signs in the presence of the beast. For since he will erect an image for it, which he will also force all to worship, he will perform the signs supposedly by it, as deifying the image, because indeed from it he has the power to do these things.
It is as though he had said that the deception had succeeded to such an extent that the earthly, led astray by the wonders of the beast, gave their full miserable assent to the beast and by a mutual devotion encouraged each other to make an image of the beast in the fraudulence of their hearts. And so they believe that there is no room for doubt but are convinced by the evidence of the fire that [the beast] is indeed the Christ, although the devil is in the antichrist and the same malignant spirit has taken the form of the Spirit and, with divine permission, lays down such seductive snares.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Miracles Through Evil Agents · Deceive the ungodly — Deceive the ungodly
Miraculous Gifts Of The Holy Spirit · Counterfeited by Antichrist — Counterfeited by Antichrist
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
G1223
through (in very wide applications · preposition
those
τῆςtēs
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — genitive singular feminine
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
wound
πληγὴνplēgēn
G4127
a stroke · noun — accusative singular feminine
sword
μαχαίρηςmachairēs
G3162
a knife · noun — genitive singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
live
ἔζησεν.ezēsen
G2198
to live (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
John Gill on Revelation 13:14
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth,.... The Complutensian edition, and two of Stephens's copies, read "mine", instead of "them"; creatures of God, and professors of Christ, carnal and unregenerate men; not the elect of God, and true believers in Christ, these cannot be deceived by the signs and wonders of false Christs and false prophets; antichrist's deceivableness of unrighteousness only operates in them that perish:
by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; the secular power of the Papacy encouraging, confirming, and giving a sanction to those lying miracles, and obliging all to believe them, and come into the things, doctrines, or practic…
he was allowed. . . . He was then permitted: God never relinquishes ultimate authority. These creatures of evil have been allowed to rebel against God, but they are not in control.
