Revelation 17:11
in Revelation 17The beast that was, and now is not, is an eighth king, who belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition.
KJV
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
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This verse in Revelation 17
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Victorinus of PettauCommentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John · Written before 304.
"And the beast which thou sawest is of the seven." Since before those kings Nero reigned. "And he is the eighth." He says only when this beast shall come, reckon it the eighth place, since in that is the completion. He added:- "And shall go into perdition." For that ten kings received royal power when he shall move from the east, he says. He shall be sent from the city of Rome with his armies. And Daniel sets forth the ten horns and the ten diadems.
This site's exposition
is an eighth king
The beast is an eighth king, who belongs to the other seven, matching Daniel's fourth beast and its little horn. Its end is fixed as destruction, the word used of Judas in John 17:12 and in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Primasius of HadrumetumCOMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17:11 · Written before 560.
proposed
Lest we should think him of a different kind, it adds that the one whom it calls the eighth is from the seven and goes to perdition. In this way it shows that he is of the same evil genus, and by going beyond the …
And he says that "the beast which was, and is not." And it "is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction." And he appointed the Devil first and last and a fellow counselor of the seven. For how would this one …
The Medieval Church2 voices
The "beast" is the antichrist. He is the "eighth" because he arises after the seven kingdoms for the deception and devastation of the earth. He is "from the seven" because he arises from one of these. For he will not come forth from a nation …
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, etc. The Antichrist, who is to rule at the end of the world, because of the unity of the same body of the wicked, of which he is the head, belongs to …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Yet this hinders not, but that the last Pope in this succession will be more eminently the antichrist, the man of sin, adding to that of his predecessors a peculiar degree of wickedness from the bottomless pit. This individual person, as Pope, is the seventh head of the beast; as the man of sin, he is the eighth, or the beast himself.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the beast that was, and is not - That is, the one power that was formerly mighty; that died away so that it might be said to be extinct; and yet Rev 17:8 that “still is,” or has a prolonged existence. It is evident that, by the “beast” here, there is some one power, dominion, empire, or rule, whose essential identity is preserved through all these changes, and to which it is proper to give the same name.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
beast that . . . is not--his beastly character being kept down by outward Christianization of the state until he starts up to life again as "the eighth" king, his "wound being healed" (Re 13:3), Antichrist manifested in fullest and most intense opposition to God. The "he" is emphatic in the Greek.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
And the beast, that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition - That is to say, the Latin kingdom that has already been, but is now no longer nominally in existence, shall immediately follow the dissolution of the seventh form of Latin government; and this dominion is called ογδοος, an eighth, because it succeeds to the seventh. Yet it is not an eighth head of the beast, because the beast has only seven heads; for to constitute a new head of the beast the form of government must not only differ in nature, but also in name. This head of the beast is, therefore, εκ των ἑπτα, One of the seven. Consequently the form of government represented by this head is the restoration of one of the preceding seven. The restored head can be therefore no other than the regal state of the Latins, or in other words the Latin kingdom, (Ἡ Λατινη βασιλεια), which followed the patriciate or seventh head of Latin government. But the beast in his eighth state, or under his first head restored, goeth into perdition. No other form of Latin government shall succeed; but the beast in his last or antichristian condition shall be taken together with the false prophet that wrought miracles in his sight, “and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” It is observable that the eighth Latin power is called by the angel the beast, and also one of his heads. […]
The words behind it
21 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θηρίον | therion | beast | G2342 → | 46 times |
| ὃ | ho | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἦν | en | was | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔστιν, | estin | is, | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αὐτὸς | autos | himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὄγδοός | ogdoos | an eighth | G3590 → | |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐκ | ek | of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τῶν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἑπτά | hepta | seven | G2033 → | 86 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| ἀπώλειαν | apoleian | destruction | G684 → | |
| ὑπάγει. | hupagei | goes. | G5217 → | 79 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
θηρίονbeast
therionG2342 →46 times
ὃwhich
hoG3739 →1405 times
ἦνwas
enG1510 →2333 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔστιν,is,
estinG1510 →2333 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αὐτὸςhimself
autosG846 →5565 times
ὄγδοόςan eighth
ogdoosG3590 →
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐκof
ekG1537 →911 times
τῶνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἑπτάseven
heptaG2033 →86 times
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἀπώλειανdestruction
apoleianG684 →
ὑπάγει.goes.
hupageiG5217 →79 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 17:8The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose…
it leads to
- Revelation 11:7
When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.
- Revelation 3:10
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the…
- Revelation 9:1–2
Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
- Revelation 19:15–21
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath…
- Revelation 14:8–20
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Revelation 11:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Revelation
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17:11; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation; Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 17:11 and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.