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Revelation 13:14

in Revelation 13

Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him 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 who hath the stroke of the sword and lived.

KJV

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.

This verse in Revelation 13

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

the second beast performed great signs

on Revelation 13:13-14

Elijah called fire from heaven in 1 Kings 18:38 and 2 Kings 1:10, and the same kind of sign marks the two witnesses in 11:5-6. Here it serves deception, and the image the beast commands recalls Nebuchadnezzar's image in Daniel 3.

This site's exposition

make an image to the beast

Victorinus, writing on verse 13, expected a golden image of Antichrist set up in the temple at Jerusalem, with a fallen angel speaking from it. That joins the verse to Matthew 24:15. Albert Barnes reads the signs as pretended miracles, with 2 Thessalonians 2:9.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 550.

proposed

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 …

A commentator

Primasius of Hadrumetum

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 13:14-16 · Written before 560.

proposed

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 …

A commentator

Irenaeus

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 5 · Written before 202.

proposed

After this he likewise describes his armour-bearer, whom he also terms a false prophet: "He spake as a dragon, and exercised all the power of the first beast in his sight, and caused the earth, and those that dwell therein, to adore the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he shall perform great wonders, so that he can even cause fire to descend from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men, and he shall lead the inhabitants of the earth astray."

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Andreas of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 13:14-17 · Written before 614.

proposed

[The beast] deceives those who continually dwell upon the earth in their hearts. For those who possess their citizenship in heaven are not deceived by fake appearances, since they have been sufficiently fortified by the prediction of his coming.… It is reported that demons often …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

And he deceives those who dwell on the earth, etc. For his coming will be, as it is said, according to the working of Satan with all power, and signs, and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians II). It is often debated whether these are called signs …
4 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Revelation · Written before 735.

proposed

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 …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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.
And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles - Nothing could possibly be more descriptive of the papacy than this. It has been kept up by deception and delusion, and its pretended miracles have been, and are to this day, the means by which this is done. Anyone in the slightest degree acquainted with the pretended miracles practiced at Rome, will see the propriety of this description as applied to the papacy. The main fact here stated, that the papacy would endeavor to sustain itself by pretended miracles, is confirmed by an incidental remark of Mr. Gibbon, when speaking of the pontificate of Gregory the Great; he says: “The credulity or the prudence of Gregory was always disposed to confirm the truths of religion by the evidence of ghosts, miracles, and resurrections” (Decline and Fall, 3:210). Even within a month of the time that I am writing (October 5, 1850), intelligence has been received in this country of extraordinary privileges conferred on some city in Italy, because the eyes of a picture of the Virgin in that city have miraculously moved - greatly to the “confirmation of the faithful.” Such things are constantly occurring; and it is by these that the supremacy of the papacy has been and is sustained. The Breviary teems with examples of miracles performed by the saints. For instance: Francis Xavier turned a sufficient quantity of salt water into fresh to save the lives of five hundred travelers who were dying of thirst, enough being left to allow a large exportation to different parts of the world, where it performed astonishing cures. Raymond de Pennafort laid his cloak on the sea, and sailed from Majorca to Barcelona, a distance of a hundred and sixty miles, in six hours. Juliana lay on her death-bed; her stomach rejected all solid food, and in consequence she was prevented from receiving the eucharist. […]

The words behind it

35 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 13:8

    And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was…

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 1:19–20

      but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

    • Ephesians 1:4

      For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

    • Matthew 25:34

      Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

    • Revelation 17:8

      The 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…

    • Revelation 3:5

      Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His…

  • Through

    Revelation 19:20

    But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…

    it leads to

    • Revelation 20:10

      And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Revelation 12:9

    And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

    it leads to

    • Luke 10:18

      So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

    • John 12:31

      Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.

Where this verse is studied

About Revelation

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 13:14-17; Bede, Commentary on Revelation; Irenaeus, Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation; Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 13:14-16 and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.