And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
3. dragon ] The word in classical Greek means simply “serpent,” though perhaps it was always specially applied to the larger or more formidable kinds. But in St John’s time the conception seems to have been familiar of a half-mythical kind of serpent, to which the name was appropriated: it had not gone so far as the medival type of “dragon,” with legs and wings, but the dragon was supposed to “stand” (see the next verse), hardly perhaps “on his rear,” as Milton imagines the Serpent of Eden to have done, before the curse of Gen 3:14, but erect from the middle upwards; see Verg. n. II. 206 8. Whether this dragon bore visibly on him the primval curse or no, there is an undoubted reference to the story of the Fall in this picture of the woman, the man, and the serpent. In Psa 74:13-14 (14, 15); Job 26:13; Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9, we seem to find references to a “war in heaven,” either past or future, like that which follows here.
seven heads ] Probably the vision avails itself of the imagery furnished by popular mythology: very likely Syria and Palestine had tales of seven-headed serpents, like the hydra of Lerna, or the cobras of modern Indian stories.
and ten horns ] The only illustration of these is, that the beast of chaps. 13, 17 and of Daniel 7 has the like. But we must remember that the dragon is the archetype, not a copy, of the beast: and therefore the meaning here is probably more general: all unsanctified power is embodied in him (cf. St Luk 4:6), as all the power of holiness in the Lamb (chap. Rev 5:6).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And there appeared another wonder in heaven – Represented as in heaven. See the notes on Rev 12:1. That is, he saw this as occurring at the time when the church was thus about to increase.
And behold a great red dragon – The word rendered dragon – drakon – occurs, in the New Testament, only in the book of Revelation, where it is uniformly rendered as here – dragon: Rev 12:3-4, Rev 12:7,Rev 12:9, Rev 12:13, Rev 12:16-17; Rev 13:2, Rev 13:4,Rev 13:11; Rev 16:13; Rev 20:2. In all these places there is reference to the same thing. The word properly means a large serpent; and the allusion in the word commonly is to some serpent, perhaps such as the anaconda, that resides in a desert or wilderness. See a full account of the ideas that prevailed in ancient times respecting the dragon, in Bochart, Hieroz. lib. iii. cap. xiv., vol. ii. pp. 428-440. There was much that was fabulous respecting this monster, and many notions were attached to the dragon which did not exist in reality, and which were ascribed to it by the imagination at a time when natural history was little understood. The characteristics ascribed to the dragon, according to Bochart, are, that it was distinguished:
(a)For its vast size;
(b)That it had something like a beard or dew-lap;
(c)That it had three rows of teeth;
(d)That its color was black, red, yellow, or ashy;
(e)That it had a wide mouth;
(f)That in its breathing it not only drew in the air, but also birds that were flying over it; and,
(g)That its hiss was terrible.
Occasionally, also, feet and wings were attributed to the dragon, and sometimes a lofty crest. The dragon, according to Bochart, was supposed to inhabit waste places and solitudes (compare the notes on Isa 13:22), and it became, therefore, an object of great terror. It is probable that the original of this was a huge serpent, and that all the other circumstances were added by the imagination. The prevailing ideas in regard to it, however, should be borne in mind, in order to see the force and propriety of the use of the word by John. Two special characteristics are stated by John in the general description of the dragon: one is, its red color; the other, that it was great. In regard to the former, as above mentioned, the dragon was supposed to be black, red, yellow, or ashy. See the authorities referred to in Bochart, ut sup., pp. 435, 436. There was doubtless a reason why the one seen by John should be represented as red. As to the other characteristic – great – the idea is that it was a huge monster, and this would properly refer to some mighty, terrible power which would be properly symbolized by such a monster.
Having seven heads – It was not unusual to attribute many heads to monsters, especially to fabulous monsters, and these greatly increased the terror of the animal. Thus Cerberus usually has three heads assigned to him; but Hesiod (Theog. 312) assigns him fifty, and Horace (Ode II. 13, 34) one hundred. So the Hydra of the Lake Lerna, killed by Hercules, had fifty heads (Virgil, Aen. vi. 576); and in Kiddushim, fol. 29, 2, rabbi Achse is said to have seen a demon like a dragon with seven heads (Prof. Stuart, in loco). The seven heads would somehow denote power, or seats of power. Such a number of heads increase the terribleness, and, as it were, the vitality of the monster. What is here represented would be as terrible and formidable as such a monster; or such a monster would appropriately represent what was designed to be symbolized here. The number seven may be used here as a perfect number, or merely to heighten the terror of the image; but it is more natural to suppose that there would be something in what is here represented which would lay the foundation for the use of this number. There would be something either in the origin of the power; or in the union of various powers now combined in the one represented by the dragon; or in the seat of the power, which this would properly symbolize. Compare the notes on Dan 7:6.
And ten horns – Emblems of power, denoting that, in some respects, there were ten powers combined in this one. See the notes on Dan 7:7-8, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:24. There can be little doubt that John had those passages of Daniel in his eye, and perhaps as little that the reference is to the same thing. The meaning is, that, in some respects, there would be a tenfold origin or division of the power represented by the dragon.
And seven crowns upon his heads – Greek, diadems. See the notes on Rev 9:7. There is a reference here to some kingly power, and doubtless John had some kingdom or sovereignty in his eye that would be properly symbolized in this manner. The method in which these heads and horns were arranged on the dragon is not stated, and is not material. All that is necessary in the explanation is, that there was something in the power referred to that would be properly represented by the seven heads, and something by the ten horns.
In the application of this, it will be necessary to inquire what was properly symbolized by these representations, and to refer again to these particulars with this view:
(a) The dragon. This is explained in Rev 12:9 of this chapter: And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. So again, Rev 20:2, And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil. Compare Bochart, Hieroz. ii. pp. 439, 440. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the reference here is to Satan, considered as the enemy of God, and the enemy of the peace of man, and especially as giving origin and form to some mighty power that would threaten the existence of the church.
(b) Great. This will well describe the power of Satan as originating the organizations that were engaged for so long a time in persecuting the church, and endeavoring to destroy it. It was a work of vast power, controlling kings and nations for ages, and could have been accomplished only by one to whom the appellation used here could be given.
(c) Red. This, too, is an appellation properly applied here to the dragon, or Satan, considered as the enemy of the church, and as originating this persecuting power, either:
(1)Because it well represents the bloody persecutions that would ensue, or.
(2)Because this would be the favorite color by which this power would be manifest. Compare Rev 17:3-4; Rev 18:12, Rev 18:16.
(d) The seven heads. There was, doubtless, as above remarked, something significant in these heads, as referring to the power designed to be represented. On the supposition that this refers to Rome, or to the power of Satan as manifested by Roman persecution, there can be no difficulty in the application; and, indeed, it is such an image as the writer would naturally use on the supposition that it had such a designed reference. Rome was built, as is well known, on seven hills (compare the notes on Rev 10:3), and was called the seven-hilled city (Septicollis), from having been originally built on seven hills, though subsequently three hills were added, making the whole number ten. See Eschenburg, Manual of Classical Literature, p. 1, section 53. Thus, Ovid:
Sed quae de septem totum circumspicit orbem.
Montibus, imperii Romae Deumque locus.
Horace:
Dis quibus septem placuere colles.
Propertius:
Septem urbs alta jugis, toti quae praesidet orbi.
Tertullian: I appeal to the citizens of Rome, the populace that dwell on the seven hills (Apol. 35). And again, Jerome to Marcella, when urging her to quit Rome for Bethlehem: Read what is said in the Apocalypse of the seven hills, etc. The situation of the city, if that was destined to he represented by the dragon, would naturally suggest the idea of the seven-headed monster. Compare the notes on Rev. 13. The explanation which is here given of the meaning of the seven heads is, in fact, one that is given in the Book of Revelation itself, and there can be no danger of error in this part of the interpretation. See Rev 17:9; The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth, Compare Rev 12:18.
(e) The ten horns. These were emblems of power, denoting that in reference to that power there were, in some respects, ten sources. The same thing is referred to here which is in Dan 7:7-8, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:24. See the notes on Dan 7:24, where this subject is fully considered. The creature that John saw was indeed a monster, and we are not to expect entire congruity in the details. It is sufficient that the main idea is preserved, and that would be, if the reference was to Rome considered as the place where the energy of Satan, as opposed to God and the church, was centered.
(f) The seven crowns. This would merely denote that kingly or royal authority was claimed.
The general interpretation which refers this vision to Rome may receive confirmation from the fact that the dragon was at one time the Roman standard, as is represented by the annexed engraving from Montfaucon. Ammianus Marcellinus (Joh 16:10) thus describes this standard: The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat, and the wind blew through it; and it hissed as if in a rage, with its tail floating in several folds through the air. He elsewhere often gives it the epithet of purpureus – purple-red: purpureum signum draconis, etc. With this the description of Claudian well agrees also:
Hi volucres tollent aquilas; hi picta draconum.
Colla levant: multumque tumet per nubila serpens,
Iratus stimulante noto, vivitque receptis.
Flatibus, et vario mentitur sibila flatu.
The dragon was first used as an ensign near the close of the second century of the Christian era, and it was not until the third century that its use had become common; and the reference here, according to this fact, would be to that period of the Roman power when this had become a common standard, and when the applicability of this image would be readily understood. It is simply Rome that is referred to – Rome, the great agent of accomplishing the purposes of Satan toward the church. The eagle was the common Roman ensign in the time of the republic, and in the earlier periods of the empire; but in later periods the dragon became also a standard as common and as well known as the eagle. In the third century it had become almost as notorious among Roman ensigns as the eagle itself; and is in the fourth century noted by Prudentius, Vegetius, Chrysostom, Ammianus, etc.; in the fifth, by Claudian and others (Elliott).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 12:3-4
A great red dragon.
The great war
A contest here is waging which enlists and engages the mightiest powers that exist. It is the great and far-reaching conflict between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, between right and usurpation, between the kingdom of God and the empire of Satan, between heaven and hell–the great war of a divided universe, coming to final issue upon this little world of ours! It is largely silent and invisible. Though raging round us every hour, we perceive so little of it, that many doubt its reality. But its very hiddenness is evidence of its awful greatness. The little broils and disputes of a neighbourhood are loud, and thrust themselves on every ear, because they are confined to a level and limit within easy observation and comprehension; but this conflict we can only know by Divine revelation, because it encompasses so much of eternity, and pertains to spiritual potencies under and behind the outward ongoing of things. But, whether conscious of it or not, such a mighty strife exists, and we ourselves are all parties to it, and combatants in it. If not of the glorious woman, we are of the seven-headed and ten-horned dragon, at war with her, her seed, and her God. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
The dragon foiled and the Church preserved
Ever since wrong commenced, there has been a bitter antagonism between it and right. Though varying with varied circumstances, all moral wrong and all falsehood have their deep origin in selfishness. This monster-evil displays itself in ten thousand ways, but in essence it is always the same, the substitute of mans individual will for the will of God. Every new unfolding of truth and goodness from heaven finds the state of society previously formed by selfishness and mystery ready to assail it, and if possible to destroy. Thus was it when the Lord Himself came upon the earth. He ushered into the world new doctrines of love and light. The serpent, then, in His case, stood ready to devour, and at length nailed Him to the Cross, crying, Crucify Him! crucify Him! The great dragon is, then, a pretended religion, which is, however, nothing but disguised selfishness. Let us look at each of these features in detail. The serpent, as being the form on earth which corresponds to self-love in its disorderly state, when we call it selfishness, is felt to be truly so instinctively by us all, and is so used throughout the Divine Word. The great business of all religion is to conquer this serpent in every one of us. Unless selfishness is overcome, there can be no progress made. We cannot of ourselves destroy our serpents, but the Lord will give us power to do so. He says (Luk 10:19). By the help of Him, then, who conquered all the efforts of the powers of darkness, and sanctified His own human nature that He might give us power to purify ours, we can obtain the victory over self-love in all its unhappy forms. From being proud we can become truly humble; from being hard and stern we can become gentle and considerate; from being cold and stately we can become warm and happy. We can tread on the serpent of self-love and the scorpion of malignant falsehood, and deprive them of that life by which all things die around them, and fill their places with that heavenly life which is the source of every blessedness. The great and terrible figure before us, then, is indicative of a system which, though prepared to soar, and having much power and much adornment, yet is deeply grounded in selfishness, and would be ready with all its might to oppose the new Church and its heavenly doctrines. It was a serpent, but a serpent with wings–a dragon. Wings are the means by which birds soar, and they correspond to those general truths by means of which mens thoughts soar. But the wings of the dragon are false principles of religion, by which there is an imitation of truth, but only an imitation. There is a flying upwards, but it is only the flying of a serpent. That is to say, it is a system of pretended truth respecting God, and heaven and eternal things, but altogether, in its interior character, selfish. It would be constructed with great ingenuity and skill, indicated by its having seven heads. It would have much power of persuasiveness and apparent truth intimated by its ten horns, and would make a great display of heavenly wisdom, misapplied. The heads are seven, to signify, as that number ever does, completeness, and a relation to holy things; but as they are heads of the dragon, they represent that completed, but perverted, ingenuity by which a false religion satisfies its deluded adherents. Horns are the emblems of power. Horned animals push, and exert their power by means of their horns. The crowns, or diadems, as the Greek word more properly expresses, are literally fillets or bands for the head, beautified with precious stones. They represent, therefore, a display of numerous heavenly truths of considerable brilliancy, for these are spiritual precious stones, but decorating principles inwardly false, nothing but dragons heads. Every religion lives by its real or supposed power of meeting the demands of the soul for inward peace and everlasting happiness. True religion is genuine, pure, healthful, and wears the glorious beauties of heavenly knowledge gracefully. False religion is inwardly corrupt, but decorates herself with many heavenly excellences to charm by outward show, and to hide its interior iniquity. Such, then, is the system before us; secretly the same selfishness which has been the groundwork in every age of all the misery which has afflicted the whole world; but having an apparent air of great intelligence, great plausibility, great power, and an abundant use of the holy truths of the Word, ready, however, to oppose the Lords bride, the New Jerusalem, and devour her manly and genuine doctrine. Selfishness has decorated itself with the appearance of religion, but by its fruits we may know it. It can fly abroad, and show itself as soaring to heaven, but it is only a flying serpent. (J. Bailey, Ph. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C.
Verse 3. There appeared another wonder-a great red dragon] The dragon here is a symbol, not of the Roman empire in general, but of the HEATHEN Roman empire. This great pagan power must have, therefore, been thus represented from the religion which it supported. But what is a dragon? An entirely fabulous beast of antiquity, consequently, in this respect, a most proper emblem of the heathen worship, which consisted in paying adoration to numerous imaginary beings, termed gods, goddesses, c. The very foundation of the heathen religious system is mostly built upon fable and it is very difficult to trace many of their superstitions to any authentic original; and even those which appear to derive their origin from the sacred writings are so disguised in fable as literally to bear no more resemblance to the truth than the dragon of the ancients does to any animal with which we are acquainted. But it may be asked why the Spirit of God should represent the heathen Roman empire as a dragon, rather than by anger other of the fabulous animals with which the mythology of the ancient Romans abounded. The answer is as follows; In the eighth chapter of the Prophet Daniel, God has represented the kingdom of the Greeks by a he-goat, for no other apparent reason than this, that it was the national military standard of the Grecian monarchy; we may therefore expect that the pagan Roman empire is called a DRAGON on a similar account. In confirmation of this point it is very remarkable that the dragon was the principal standard of the Romans next to the eagle, in the second, third, fourth, and fifth centuries of the Christian era. Of this we have abundant evidence in the writings of both heathens and Christians. Arrian is the earliest writer who has mentioned that dragons were used as military standards among the Romans. See his Tactics, c. 51. Hence Schwebelius supposes that this standard was introduced after Trajan’s conquest of the Daci. See Vegetius de Re Militari a Schwebelio, p. 191, Argentorati, 1806; and Graevii Thesaur., Antiq. Roman., tom. x., col. 1529. Vegetius, who flourished about A.D. 386, says, lib. ii. c. 13: Primum signum totius legionis est aquila, quam aquilifer portal. DRACONES etiam per singulas cohortes a draconariis feruntur ad praelium. “The first standard of the whole legion is the eagle, which the aquilifer carries. DRAGONS are also borne to battle by the Draconarii.” As a legion consisted of ten cohorts, there were therefore ten draconarii to one aquilifer; hence, from the great number of draconarii in an army, the word signarii or signiferi, standard-bearers, came at last to mean the carriers of the dragon standards only, the others retaining the name of aquiliferi.-See Veget., lib. ii. c. 7, and his commentators. The heathen Roman empire is called a RED dragon; and accordingly we find from the testimony of ancient writers that the dragon standards of the Romans were painted red. We read in Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xvi., c. 12, of PURPUREUM signum draconis, “the purple standard of the dragon.” See also Claudianus in Rufinum, lib. ii., l. 177, 178. Pitiscus, in his Lexicon Antiq. Rom., and Ducange, in his Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis, sub voc. Draco, have considered this subject at great length, especially the latter writer, who has made several quotations from Claudianus, Sidonius, Prudentius, and others, in which not only the standard, but also the image of the dragon itself, is stated to be of a red or purple colour. Of what has been said above respecting the dragon, this is then the sum: a huge fabulous beast is shown to St. John, by which some GREAT PAGAN power is symbolically represented; and the RED dragon is selected from among the numerous imaginary animals which the fancies of mankind have created to show that this great pagan power is the heathen ROMAN empire.
Having seven heads] As the dragon is an emblem of the heathen Roman power, its heads must denote heathen forms of government.-See Clarke on Re 17:10, where the heads of the beast are explained in a similar way. These were exactly seven, and are enumerated by Tacitus (Annal., lib. i., in principio) in words to the following effect: “The city of Rome was originally governed by kings. L. Brutus instituted liberty and the consulate. The dictatorship was only occasionally appointed; neither did the decemviral power last above two years; and the consular power of the military tribunes was not of long continuance. Neither had Cinna nor Sylla a long domination: the power of Pompey and Crassus was also soon absorbed in that of Caesar; and the arms of Lepidus and Antony finally yielded to those of Augustus.” From this passage it is evident to every person well acquainted with the Roman history, that the seven forms of government in the heathen Roman world were, 1. The regal power; 2. The consulate; 3. The dictatorship; 4. The decemvirate; 5. The consular power of the military tribunes; 6. The triumvirate; and, 7. The imperial government.
It is singular that commentators in general, in their citation of this passage, have taken no notice of the triumvirate, a form of government evidently as distinct from any of the others as kings are from consuls, or consuls from emperors. For the triumvirate consisted in the division of the Roman republic into three parts, each governed by an officer possessed with consular authority in his own province; and all three united together in the regulation of the whole Roman state. Consequently, it differed entirely from the imperial power, which was the entire conversion of the Roman state from a republic to a monarchy.
And ten horns] That these ten horns signify as many kingdoms is evident from the seventh chapter of Daniel, where the angel, speaking of the fourth beast, says, that “the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise;” and in this view of the passage many commentators are agreed, who also admit that the ten kingdoms are to be met with “amid the broken pieces of the Roman empire.” And it is evident that nothing less than the dismemberment of the Roman empire, and its division into ten independent kingdoms, can be intended by the angel’s interpretation just quoted. If, therefore, the ten horns of Daniel’s fourth beast point out as many kingdoms, for the very same reason must the horns of the dragon have a similar meaning. But the Roman empire was not divided into several independent kingdoms till a considerable time after it became Christian. In what sense then can it be said that the different kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided by the barbarous nations are horns of the dragon? They were so because it was the Roman monarchy, in its seventh DRACONIC form of government, which was dismembered by the barbarians. For though the Roman empire was not completely dismembered till the fifth century, it is well known that the depression of the heathen idolatry, and the advancement of Christianity to the throne, elected not the least change in the form of government: the Romans continued still to be under subjection to the imperial power; and, consequently, when the heathen barbarous nations divided the Roman empire among themselves, they might very properly be denominated horns of the dragon, as it was by means of their incursions that the imperial power, FOUNDED by the heathen Caesars, was abolished. Machiavel and Bishop Lloyd enumerate the horns of the dragon thus: 1. The kingdom of the Huns; 9. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths; 3 The kingdom of the Visigoths; 4. The kingdom of the Franks; 5. The kingdom of the Vandals; 6. The kingdom of the Sueves and Alans; 7. The kingdom of the Burgundians; 8. The kingdom of the Heruli, Rugii, Scyrri, and other tribes which composed the Italian kingdom of Odoacer; 9. The kingdom of the Saxons; and 10. The kingdom of the Lombards.
And seven crowns upon his head.] In the seven Roman forms of government already enumerated, heathenism has been the crowning or dominant religion.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; there appeared to John, being yet in his vision, another amazing sight, which was a sign or type of something differing from what it appeared like.
And behold a great red dragon: see Rev 12:7,9,17. Most judicious interpreters, by the great red dragon, understand the Roman emperors that first persecuted: the Christian church, of which Claudius was the first; yet some understand it of the devil, the old serpent; but the most and best interpreters understand it of the pagan emperors, by whom the devil did this work, called a great dragon, because of the vastness of that empire; a red dragon, for their cruelty against the Christians.
Having seven heads; the Holy Ghost, Rev 17:9, hath expounded these seven heads, by seven mountains. The
ten horns are thought to signify the ten provinces belonging to that empire, the governors of which ruled like ten kings. It is expounded by
ten kings, Rev 17:12. Strabo tells us, that Augustus Caesar divided the whole empire into twenty provinces; ten of which, being more quiet, he gave to the people to govern, the other ten he reserved to his own government. The seven crowns are expounded by seven kings, Rev 17:10, of which we shall speak more when we come so far.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. appeared“was seen.”
wonderGreek,“semeion,” “sign.”
redSo A and Vulgateread. But B, C, and Coptic read, “of fire.” Ineither case, the color of the dragon implies his fiery rage asa murderer from the beginning. His representative, thebeast, corresponds, having seven heads and ten horns (thenumber of horns on the fourth beast of Dan 7:7;Rev 13:1). But there, tencrowns are on the ten horns (for before the end, the fourthempire is divided into ten kingdoms); here, sevencrowns (rather, “diadems,” Greek, “diademata,“not stephanoi, “wreaths”) are upon his sevenheads. In Da 7:4-7the Antichristian powers up to Christ’s second coming are representedby four beasts, which have among them seven heads, that is,the first, second, and fourth beasts having one head each, thethird, four heads. His universal dominion as prince of thisfallen world is implied by the seven diadems (contrast the”many diadems on Christ’s head,” Re19:12, when coming to destroy him and his), the caricature of theseven Spirits of God. His worldly instruments of power aremarked by the ten horns, ten being the number of the world. Itmarks his self-contradictions that he and the beast bear both thenumber seven (the divine number) and ten (the worldnumber).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there appeared another wonder in heaven,…. Or “sign”; which represents the woman, or the church’s adversary, Satan; not that he was in heaven, in the third heaven, the place of glory and happiness, for out of that he had been cast long ago; but in his great power and authority here on, earth, particularly in the Roman empire, where the church was labouring to bring forth her man child:
and behold a great red dragon; the devil, as it is explained in
Re 12:9; though not he in person, but the Heathen Roman empire, or the Heathen Roman emperors, acted, influenced, directed, and presided over by him; so Pharaoh king of Egypt, and other cruel and persecuting monarchs and states, are called dragons in Scripture,
Isa 27:1; all which places the Targum interprets of
, “a king”, and particularly of Pharaoh king of Egypt; who is like to a great and mighty dragon: and the Roman Pagan empire, as under the influence of Satan, the god of this world, is fitly compared to a “dragon”, for its policy and cunning in circumventing and ensnaring the professors of Christianity; and for its cruelty and inhumanity in persecuting of them; and for its poison of idolatry, will worship, and superstition: and it may be called a “great” one, for its strength and power, which lay in its immense treasure and riches, in numbers of men, in powerful armies, in strong cities, castles, c. and for its large extent and jurisdiction and a “red” one, because of the blood of the saints shed in it, by which it became of this colour; suitable to the character and bloody practices of the old serpent the devil, by whom it was influenced, who was a murderer from the beginning; and agreeably to one of the names by which the Jews x frequently call the Roman empire Edom, the name Esau had from the red pottage he sold his birthright for, and who himself was born red, Ge 25:29; it seems there were red dragons; Homer y says of the dragon, that it is red upon its back:
having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads; the “seven heads” of the Roman empire either design the seven mountains, or hills, on which Rome, the metropolis of the empire, was built, as the seven heads of the beast on which the woman drunk with the blood of the saints sat, are explained in Re 17:9; or rather the seven forms of government which successively should obtain in the empire, as kings, consuls, decemvirs, dictators, tribunes, emperors, and popes; hence these heads are said to have “seven crowns” upon them, as expressive of the imperial power and dignity which were in them, and exercised by them: Mr. Daubuz thinks seven capital cities in the Roman empire are meant, as Rome, Carthage, Aege, Antiochia, Augustodunum, Alexandria, and Constantinople; and nothing is more common than to call chief cities the heads of the countries they belong unto, as Damascus the head of Syria, and Samaria the head of Ephraim, Isa 7:8. Pliny z calls Babylon the head of Chaldea; and Cornelius Nepos says a of Thebes, that it was the head of all Greece; and Syracuse is by Florus b called the head of Sicily, as Rome is in Livy c, and other writers, the head of the world: and by the “ten horns” are meant either the ten kingdoms which should hereafter arise out of the Roman empire, and whose kings should give their kingdoms to the beast; or the ten Roman emperors, the persecutors of the Christians; or rather the ten provinces, or jurisdictions, which the empire was divided into while Pagan: Brightman out of Strabo has shown, that in the times of Augustus Caesar the Roman empire was distributed into two parts, the one was more immediately under the care of the emperor, and the other was governed by deputies; and each were divided into ten provinces; that which the emperor held consisted of Africa, France, Britain, Germany, Dacia with Mysia and Thracia, Cappadocia, Armenia, Syria, Palestine with Judea and Egypt, in all ten; and that part which was governed by deputies were the outermost Spain, and the isles by it, the innermost Spain, c. Sardinia with Corsica, Sicily, Illyricum with Epirus, Macedonia, Achaia, Crete with Cyreniaca, Cyprus, Bithynia with Propontis so that the Roman Pagan empire, as under the dominion of Satan, is manifestly designed by the dragon thus described. The Jews d speak of ten horns which the Israelites had, which when they sinned were taken from them, as it is written, La 2:3, and were given to the nations of the world, according to Da 7:20; “and of the ten horns that were in his head”, &c.
x Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. in voce . y Iliad. 2. l. 308. z Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 26. a In Vita Epaminond. l. 15. c. 10. b Hist. Roman. l. 2. c. 6. c Hist. l. 21. c. 30. d Echa Rabbati, fol. 53. 2, 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Another sign ( ). “A second tableau following close upon the first and inseparable from it” (Swete).
And behold ( ). As often (Rev 4:1; Rev 6:2; Rev 6:5; Rev 6:8, etc.).
A great red dragon ( ). Homer uses this old word (probably from , to see clearly) for a great monster with three heads coiled like a serpent that ate poisonous herbs. The word occurs also in Hesiod, Pindar, Eschylus. The Babylonians feared a seven-headed hydra and Typhon was the Egyptian dragon who persecuted Osiris. One wonders if these and the Chinese dragons are not race memories of conflicts with the diplodocus and like monsters before their disappearance. Charles notes in the O.T. this monster as the chief enemy of God under such title as Rahab (Isa 51:9; Job 26:12), Behemoth (Job 40:15-24), Leviathan (Isa 27:1), the Serpent (Am 9:2ff.). In Ps 74:13 we read of “the heads of the dragons.” On (red) see 6:4. Here (12:9) and in 20:2 the great dragon is identified with Satan. See Da 7 for many of the items here, like the ten horns (Da 7:7) and hurling the stars (Da 8:10). The word occurs in the Apocalypse alone in the N.T.
Seven diadems ( ). Old word from (to bind around), the blue band marked with white with which Persian kings used to bind on the tiara, so a royal crown in contrast with (chaplet or wreath like the Latin corona as in 2:10), in N.T. only here, Rev 13:1; Rev 19:12. If Christ as Conqueror has “many diadems,” it is not strange that Satan should wear seven (ten in 13:1).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Red [] . See on ch. Rev 6:4.
Dragon [] . Satan. See ver. 9. The word is found only in Revelation. In the Septuagint, of the serpent into which Moses ‘ rod was changed. In Isa 27:1; Eze 29:3, of the crocodile or leviathan of Job 41:1. In Jer 51:34, of a dragon.
Crowns [] . The Kingly crown, not the chaplet [] . See on ch. Rev 2:10
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
B) Satan, the Great Dragon v. 3, 4
1) “And there appeared another wonder in heaven,” (kai ophthe allo semeion en to ourano) “and there was seen (yet) another sign in heaven,” a wonder symbol or sign, of something that was and was yet to be.
2) “And behold a great red dragon,” (kai idou drakon megas purros) “and behold a great red (fiery-like) dragon; the chief, ruler, inflamed-leader of fallen angels, of demons or demon spirits, the Devil himself, Rev 12:4; Rev 12:7; Rev 12:9; Rev 12:13; Rev 12:16-17; Rev 13:2; Rev 13:4; Rev 13:11; Rev 20:2; Jud 1:6; Rev 20:10.
3) “Having seven heads and ten horns,” (echon kephalas hepta kai kepata deka) “having or bearing seven heads and ten horns.” He became (took upon him the form) of the scarlet beast on whom the great whore was to ride, Rev 17:3-7. The seven heads and the ten horns signify complete Satanic domination and control of all Gentile world powers.
4) “And seven crown upon his heads,” (kai epi tas kephalas autou hepta diademata) “and there were upon the (seven) heads seven diadems.” Seven crowns or diadems signify the complete, kingly administrative Gentile rulership and domination of world governments that shall be in the power of this dragon beast, the antichrist, perhaps devil incarnated, Joh 5:43; Rev 13:15-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(3) And there appeared . . .Better, And another sign was seen in the heaven; and behold a great red dragon. This, too, is a sign, and has a meaning. The dragon stands for some dread and hostile power. The dragon is that fabulous monster of whom ancient poets told, as large in size, coiled like a snake, blood red in colour . . . insatiable in voracity, and ever athirst for human blooda fit emblem of him whom our Lord declared to be a murderer from the beginning; for the dragon is intended here to describe him who, in Rev. 12:9, is also said to be that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan. The red colour is the colour of flame and blood, and the symbol of destruction and slaughter. The dragon is the emblem of the evil spirit, the devil, the perpetual antagonist of good, the persecutor of the Church in all ages (comp. Psa. 74:13): just as the dragon is sometimes employed to represent the Egyptian power, the ancient foe of Israel (Isa. 51:9; Eze. 29:3).
Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns (diadems) upon his heads.This is the further description of the dragon. He is one, yet diverse; one, as an evil spirit; diverse, in the varieties of his power. The woman is hut one: but her foe is multiform; she has one trust to keep, one work to do, and can but fulfil it in her Masters way: evil is bound by no law, regards no scruple, and exerts its power through any channel and by every means. Is there not also an assumption of divine similitude here in the use of the number seven? It is at least the representation of the great and world-wide power which he exercises as the prince of this world, whose kingdom is in much a parody of the true kingdom. The whole description should be compared with the account given of the beast in Rev. 17:3; Rev. 17:7; Rev. 17:10; Rev. 17:12. There the seven heads are explained as seven kings, and the heads here are crowned; the ten horns are also explained as ten kings. The sevenfold kingship and the tenfold power of the world are thus described as belonging to the dragon. The picture here, as the picture of the wild beast in Revelation 17, represents, as concentrated into a single hostile form, all the varying forces and successive empires which have opposed or oppressed the people of God, and sought to destroy their efforts for good: for all evil has its root in a spirit at enmity with God. Hence the dragon appears armed with all the insignia of those sovereignties and powers which have been animated by this spirit.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Dragon Name and shape allude to the Edenic serpent. With this primitive serpent the present dragon is very expressly identified in Rev 12:9, and again re-identified in Rev 20:2. He is the personal Satan, Rev 12:9, arrayed in the skin of the Roman empire. So Rome’s great predecessor, Egypt, Eze 29:3, is a dragon: “I am against thee, Pharaoh, the great dragon that liest in the midst of its rivers.” Probably the physical reference is to the crocodile. In the second and third centuries of our era the dragon was adopted as a Roman ensign, and is thus described by Ammianus Marcellinus: “The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat, and the wind blew through it; and it hissed, as if in a rage, with its tail floating in several folds through the air.” Elliott.
Red Fire-coloured, not blood-coloured; yet indicating both his slaughterous character and his hellish origin. The seven heads subsequently referred, physically, to the seven hills of Rome, (Rev 17:9,) and politically to the seven great empires of which Rome is the sixth and seventh. Notes Rev 17:10. It is clear that the dragon is here symbol of Roman paganism, as the woman is symbol of the Christianity that paganism would destroy. The ten horns refer, perhaps, basally, to the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire immediately fell, analogous to the ten toes of Daniel’s image, and ultimately to the universality of modern nations. Notes Rev 17:12-14. It is a remarkable inconsistency in Alford that he admits the symbolism of the woman as the Christian Church, and yet ignores that of her antagonist, the dragon, as heading the antichurch of antichrist. And yet it is notable how antithetically our seer places before us the two in position in Rev 12:1-4, before he proceeds to narrate the action.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And there was another sign in heaven, and behold, a great red monster having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.’
This is the second sign in heaven.
‘A great red monster’. In ancient myths monsters were often seen as fighting with gods in a way that was thought to influence the world. Such ideas were taken up in the Old Testament to depict the enemies of Israel. In Isa 27:1 the prophet describes ‘the Leviathan, the swift serpent, the Leviathan, the crooked serpent, and — the monster that is in the sea’, speaking of the swift river Tigris, the winding river Euphrates and Egypt, in depicting the punishment coming on Assyria and Egypt (this picture is taken from the Baal myths which speak of ‘Lotan the writhing serpent — the twisted serpent, the accursed one with seven heads’. The monster is thus a great serpent-like creature).
In Psa 74:13-14 the dividing of the Reed Sea at the Exodus is described as ‘breaking the heads of the dragons in the waters, breaking the heads of Leviathan in pieces’. The same event is described in Isa 51:9 as cutting Rahab in pieces and slaying the monster (compare Isa 30:7; Eze 29:3; Eze 32:2; Psa 89:10). Thus Egypt is seen as Leviathan and Rahab, both legendary monsters. Babylon is similarly spoken of (Jer 51:34). (The same terms can be used of the crocodile (Job 41:1 on) and the whale (Psa 104:26)).
Thus the terms signify awesome enemies of the people of God and are here taken up by John to depict the greatest Enemy of all (Mat 13:39; Luk 10:19).
The seven diadems are probably in contrast with the crown of the woman. The former were worn by kings of the nations, the latter is the crown of the victor. However He Who is the Word of God will have many diadems for He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19:12 with 16).
‘Red’ – a fiery red, used of the red horse which takes peace from the earth (Rev 6:4). Thus it speaks of the opposite of the Prince of peace. It is a creature of blood.
‘Seven heads and ten horns’- see Dan 7:7 for ten horns where they represent ten kings (Dan 7:24). The idea of the many headed monster comes from Psa 74:13-14 (seven headed in Canaanite mythology, see above). In Revelation 17 the seven heads are ‘seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings’ (Rev 17:9-10). Seven is the number of heavenly completeness and this therefore shows the monster to be the world ruler (Joh 12:31; Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11) whose power is behind those who rule on earth. Indeed the Lord did not dispute his claim to be able to give Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them (Mat 4:8-9; Luk 4:5-6). He also has ten horns, but their rule is far in the future. All earthly rulership to be described in Revelation has its source in the monster.
Babylon was depicted as a ‘destroying mountain’ (Jer 51:25). Compare the ‘mount of destruction’ in 2Ki 23:13, and the mountain that represented the destruction of earthly kingdoms by the heavenly kingdom in Dan 2:35 with 44. Thus mountains are symbolic of destructive power.
So the battle lines are drawn up, the woman, the faithful wife of the Lord, against the great monster; the patriarchs and the people of God against Satan (Rev 12:9), and against those mighty ones, instruments of destruction, whom he empowers.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 12:3-4 . By another sign now becoming visible, the mortal enemy of the woman and her child, i.e., the devil, is described to the seer. The idea of the devil (cf. Rev 12:9 ) as a [3035] is based upon Gen 3 , [3036] to which the connection of with ., Rev 12:9 , and the interchange of the expressions and , Rev 12:13 ; Rev 12:15 , clearly refers. The great size of the dragon may be inferred from his dreadful power; [3037] he appears to be fiery red , either “because fire [3038] is the symbol of destruction and corruption,” [3039] or “because he is the ,” [3040] and also “is intent upon the murder of the child of the woman, as well as the murder of all believers;” [3041] in favor of the last is especially the circumstance that the representation of the devil is given with concrete distinctness, viz., with respect to the Romish secular power which is drunken with the blood of the martyrs. [3042] The objection that is not blood-red [3043] is not pertinent. [3044]
-G0- -G0- . The two questions as to in what manner the ten horns on the seven diademed heads should be regarded as distributed, and what is the proper meaning and reference of these heads, horns, and diadems, inseparably cohere, but are not to be answered from the context of ch. 12 alone, but only from ch. 13 compared with ch. 17. Upon a mere conjecture depend the views of Vitr., that the middle head (i.e., Diocletian) bore all the ten horns (i.e., governed ten provinces); and of De Wette, that three heads had double horns. The opinion also of Bengel, received by Hengstenb., Ebrard, etc., that one of the heads, viz., the seventh, bore all ten horns, cannot be derived from Rev 17:12 .
With respect to the meaning of the heads, etc., only a few among the older allegorists have misjudged that since the seven heads, ten horns, and ten diadems are common to the dragon and the beast furnished with power from the same, ch. 13, the interpretation there given by John himself must regulate the explanation also of ch. 12 The devil manifestly appears as the proper author, working in the deepest foundation of every antichristian being, in such form as corresponds to the form of the beast, i.e., of the antichristian power actually entering this earthly world, and serving the dragon as an instrument. Without any support, therefore, are all such expositions as that of Tirinus, who understands the seven heads of the dragon as the seven deadly sins. [3045] But De Wette’s proposition also to explain the heads as an emblem of sagacity, and the horns of power, and the numbers seven and ten as the well-known mystical numbers without precise significance, in no way satisfies the analogy of ch. 13; the numbers also maintain their definite application in ch. 13. (and ch 11), and, therefore, cannot be taken in similar indefiniteness as that of the . . directly afterwards in Rev 12:4 . It is [3046] the antichristian secular power of the Roman Empire which is beheld in ch. 13 under the form of the seven-headed and ten-horned beast; [3047] and, besides, the precise number of heads, horns, and diadems was based upon the historical relations of that empire; [3048] according to this is to be understood the analogous and, as it were, archetypal appearance of the dragon working by means of that secular power. [3049] Erroneous, therefore, are all the explanations which, instead of the concrete reference to the Roman Empire, either introduce extraneous specialties, [3050] or keep to indefinite generality. [3051] The latter applies especially also against Hofm., [3052] Hengstenb., and Ebrard, who by a false explanation of properly adduced passages, Rev 17:9 and ch. 13, and by an incorrect comparison of the ten horns of the dragon with the ten (still future) kings, Rev 17:12 , understand the seven dragon-heads of the seven phases of the godless secular power; but the ten horns, which (improperly) are regarded as on the seven heads, of the tenfold division of that ultimate secular power. Among the older allegorists, Calov. has correctly received the reference as made to Rome, but perverted it by not explaining the seven crowned dragon-heads from the relations of the imperial succession, [3053] but by regarding them as designations of the seven forms of government received in the entire history of Rome. [3054] The corresponding original form of the dragon must also be understood according to the standard, derived from chs. 13 and 17, of the beast in the service of the dragon, through which the Roman secular government with its emperors is symbolized. The ten horns correspond to ten personal rulers, who as emperors stand within the horizon of the prophet as possessors of the Roman Empire: (1) Augustus, (2) Tiberius, (3) Caligula, (4) Claudius, (5) Nero, (6) Galba, (7) Otho, (8) Vitellius, (9) Vespasian, (10) Titus. Thus also in Rev 13:1 the ten horns of the beast, each of which bears a diadem, are meant; but in other respects the same fundamental view in chs. 13 and 17 is not applied and carried out with entire uniformity. The idea that one of the seven heads is mortally wounded, but again healed, applies indeed to the beast of ch. 13, but not to the dragon; and both descriptions, chs. 12 and 13, are distinguished from the statement of ch. 17 especially by the fact that in the former a genuine emperor, the last possessor of the Roman Empire, and ten kings still to come, who are distinguished throughout from those indicated by the ten horns of chs. 12 and 13, come within the sphere of the prophecy; while, on the other hand, ch. 17 makes no further reference to that which is designated in ch. 13 by the mortal wound of the one head, than by the inequality, common to all three chapters, between the number ten of the horns and seven of the heads . The seven heads are expressly designated as seven kings, i.e., emperors; John also says that the sixth is present. [3055] This peculiar relation between the number “ten” of the emperors and “seven” of the emperors, can only have the meaning which is indicated in another way also by the healed mortal wound, viz., that only with seven wearers of the diadem is the actual and true possession of the government found, according to which a horn is to be regarded as on each of the seven heads of the dragon (and of the beast, Rev 13:1 ), [3056] while three among the ten wearers of the diadem, viz., the three chiefs, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, by their rebellion possessed only an “uncertain and, as it were, unsettled imperial power.” [3057] The three horns, which recall these three usurpers, are on one of the seven heads neither in the dragon nor the beast. Where they are to be regarded, is not to be inferred in the same way from the idea of the forms of the dragon and the beast as the position of the seven (crowned, Rev 13:1 ) horns on the seven (crowned, Rev 12:3 ) heads; if John himself had had a precise view of the position of those three horns, he might have regarded them corresponding to the historical condition as between the fifth and the sixth crowned heads.
, . . . By a highly dramatic stroke John portrays the track of the dragon, as by moving his dreadful tail hither and thither, he tore away a large (the third, Rev 8:7 sq.) part of the stars of heaven, and cast them down to earth. An undoubted adumbration of this description is Dan 8:10 , where a horn that grew up to heaven cast down the stars. But in John the dragon appears , like the woman, Rev 12:1 ; the more readily suggested, therefore, is the conception, that while in an eager rage he lashes about his tail, it casts down from heaven the stars which it strikes. [3058] An attempt at false allegorizing lies in this feature of the description, in the fact that the seven heads, etc., have certainly a precise figurative reference; but the circumstance already that the numerical statement , Rev 12:4 , is to be taken only schematically, while the numbers Rev 12:3 are to be taken with literal accuracy, gives the description another character. The allegorical explanations offered [3059] could be only arbitrary and fluctuating, because they depend entirely upon the error that they seek for a definitely ascribed prophetic thought, where the text gives only the expressive feature of a poetical description; a feature, however, which is important and characteristic in the entire presentation of the dragon, because thereby, in a way corresponding to the nature of dragons [3060] and the visionary locality ( . ), the rage and eagerness of the devil appearing as a dragon are made visible.
The dragon has in view, above all things, the child who is about to be born of the woman; he puts himself [3061] before the travailing woman, in order that, when she have given birth, he may devour the child.
[3035] Cf Kidduschim, p. 29, 2 b.; Wetst.: “A demon appeared to him in the form of a dragon having seven heads.”
[3036] Cf. 2Co 11:3 .
[3037] Cf. Rev 12:4 : . , . . ..
[3038] Cf. Rev 9:17 sqq.
[3039] Ebrard.
[3040] Joh 8:44 .
[3041] Vict., N. de Lyra, C. a Lap., Aret., De Wette, Hengstenb., etc.
[3042] Cf. Rev 17:4 ; Rev 17:6 .
[3043] Ebrard.
[3044] Cf. on Rev 6:4 .
[3045] “The pride of the lion, the greed of the tiger, the luxury of the bear, the gluttony of the wolf, the enmity of the serpent, the wrath of the viper, the indolence of the ass.”
[3046] Cf. already Vict.
[3047] Cf. Dan 7:7 .
[3048] Cf. Rev 13:1 , Rev 17:9 sqq.
[3049] Cf. Grot., Wetst., Ew.
[3050] N. de Lyra: “Khosroo, the Persian king, hostile to Christianity, is the seventh head; the six others are vassal kings, the ten horns, divisions of the army.” Cf. also Coccej., Beng., etc.
[3051] Beda: “The devil armed with the power of the earthly kingdom. The seven heads = all his kings; the ten horns = the whole kingdom.”
[3052] “The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes; the dragon has seven heads as a sign that his power is not indivisible; but the number of the powers into which his kingdom is dispersed is that of divine possibility. But his horns, i.e., the instruments of his strength, are ten, according to the number of human possibility.” Weiss: U. Erf. , ii. p. 349.
[3053] Cf. Rev 17:10 , Rev 13:3 .
[3054] 1Ki 2 . Consuls. 3. Decemviri. 4. Military tribunes. 5. Dictators. 6. Csars. 7. Odoacer, or even the Roman pontiffs.
[3055] Rev 17:10 .
[3056] The diadems are found, with the dragon, on the heads; with the beast, on the horns; corresponding in the one place to the number seven of actual emperors, and in the other to the number ten of all possessors of the government.
[3057] Cf. Sueton., Vesp. , i.
[3058] Cf. Eichh., Ew.
[3059] Cf., e.g., Beda: “It indicates the strength and malice of the enemy, who by deceitful arts, as though with his tail, cast down an innumerable part of angels or men.” Aret.: “The tail is the end of time the Papacy, for to this the Roman Empire at length degenerated.” Vitr.: “The devil, through the emperors of Rome, persecutors of the faith, caused the teachers of the gospel to be disturbed.” In like manner, Grot., who refers the to Simon Magus, who led astray the third part, not only of Christian people, but also of the people. Calov., Beng., Stern, etc.: “The victory of earthly rulers.” Ebrard, etc.: “The seduction of the angels.” The best still, De Wette: “Violence perpetrated in the kingdom of light.”
[3060] “Dragons have their power, not in their teeth, but in their tails” (Solin, 30, in Wetst.).
[3061] Concerning the natural presupposition lying in the , cf. Plin., H. N. , viii. Revelation 3 : “It propels its body, not by manifold bending, as do other serpents, but by walking high and erect, in the midst” (Wetst.).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Ver. 3. Another wonder in heaven ] That is, in the Church, which is called heaven; for, 1. Its original is from heaven, Joh 1:13
2. Its tendency to heaven, Heb 11:14 ; Heb 3:1-19 . Its conversation in heaven, Phi 3:20 ; Phi 4:1-23 . Its dependence upon heaven,Jas 1:17Jas 1:17 .
A great red dragon ] A dragon the devil is called for his sharp-sightedness (the dragon hath a very quick eye, and is said to sleep with open eyes, Mr Arrowsmith), as also for his mischievousness to mankind; and lastly for his serpentine subtilty, Gen 3:1 . a The comfort is, that as the devil is a lion, so is Christ; there is courage for courage. And as the devil is a serpent, so Christ compares himself to the brazen serpent; there is wisdom for wisdom. A great dragon the devil is, as being god of the world; and red all over with the blood of souls, which he hath swallowed down, as St Peter hath it, 1Pe 5:8 . It noteth him also to be a fiery dragon, fiery red, full of wrath and rancour.
Seven heads ] To plot, and ten horns to push men into the pit of hell.
Seven crowns upon his head ] Pretended authority for what he did against the Church. It passed in France in manner of a proverb, that the modern Council (of Trent) had more authority than that of the apostles, because their own pleasure was a sufficient ground for the decrees, without admitting the Holy Ghost. That Popish council was carried with such infinite guile and craft, that the Papists themselves will even smile in the triumphs of their own wits (when they hear it but mentioned) as at a master stratagem. By these seven crowns some understand the supremacy of the Roman empire, prevailing against the Church.
a . . Scalig.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 12:3 . , Vergil’s serpents which attack Laokoon have blood-red crests, and Homer’s dragon has a blood-red back, but here the trait ( cf. above) is reproduced from the red colour of Typhon, the Egyptian dragon who persecuted Osiris (Plut. de Iside , 30 33). The seven heads are taken from the seven-headed hydra or mumau of Babylonian mythology. The devil’s deputy in Rev 13:1 (= the composite muruu of Babylonia) has the same equipment of horns and heads, but the diadems adorn his horns. Here, to John’s mind at any rate ( cf. Rev 12:9 ), the dragon is not equivalent to any contemporary pagan power like Pompey (Ps. Sol. 2:29) or the king of Babylon.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
another. App-124.
behold. App-133.
dragon. Greek. drakon. First of thirteen occurances in Rev. only. (App-10and App-197) See Rev 12:9.
seven heads . . . heads. “Signs” of universality of earthly power.
crowns. Greek. diadema. Only here, Rev 13:1; Rev 19:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 12:3. ) Others read ,[123] which the ancients formed from , as though John should say, . But is written for , ch. Rev 6:4. See Apparat. pp. 805, 820. [Ed. ii., pp. 524, 544.] The colour represents the fiery spirit of the dragon.- , seven heads) such as even history commemorates; and in this very city (Hamburgh) the skeleton of such a dragon with seven heads was formerly shown.-Joh. Diet. Winckler. Disquisition, p. 162.
[123] A Vulg. read . BCh Memph. .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
wonder: or, sign, Rev 12:1
a great: Rev 12:4, Rev 12:9, Rev 12:17, Rev 13:2, Rev 13:4, Rev 16:13, Rev 17:3, Rev 17:4, Rev 20:2, Isa 27:1, Isa 51:9
seven heads: Rev 13:1, Rev 13:3, Rev 17:9, Rev 17:10
ten: Rev 17:3, Rev 17:7, Rev 17:12, Rev 17:16, Isa 9:15, Dan 2:42, Dan 7:7, Dan 7:8, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:24
seven crowns: Rev 13:1
Reciprocal: Eze 23:42 – bracelets Eze 29:3 – the great Dan 2:41 – the feet Dan 7:21 – General Nah 2:3 – made Zec 6:2 – red Rev 6:4 – horse Rev 12:7 – the dragon Rev 13:11 – and he spake Rev 19:12 – on his
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 12:3. When a birth is expected in a family the members thereof are generally hovering near, impatiently waiting for the happy event. But in the case of this woman there is a being waiting near who is not friendly toward the event. This being is called a great red dragon. He is called Satan in other places and that is because he works through agencies that belong to this world. The dragon of our verse, then, is Rome. Some commentators designate that it means Pagan Rome but I do not believe it is to be restricted to that. However, since both Pagan and Papal Rome had their headquarters in the city of Rome, it will not make any difference as far as this verse is concerned, which angle of the subject we take. The description of the dragon in this verse agrees with the government of Rome with the leading European kingdoms that were connected with it and formed a part of the institution as a whole. The seven heads are so numbered because the city of Rome literally has seven hills on which it is situated. But those seven hills are not important except as symbols of something else not literal or at least not material. They represent the sevenfold power of that mighty institution in opposing the works of God. The ten horns are the same that Daniel saw (Dan 7:7), and they correspond to the ten toes of the giant image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 3.
THE GREAT RED DRAGON (Rev 12:3-6)
Trustworthy authorities cite the fact that the original word here rendered dragon appears in the New Testament only in Revelation. In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) the same word is rendered serpent, in Exo 7:9; and leviathan in Job 41:1; and dragon in Jer 51:34. In Isa 27:1 the prophet referred to leviathan as “that crooked serpent,” which apparently connects with the serpent of Gen 3:1 in Eden. In the Septuagint text serpent in Isa 27:1, is rendered dragon, and in both Hebrew and Greek texts it is made the symbol of Babylon, the power hostile to the people of God. In Eze 29:3 dragon in the Septuagint was made the emblem of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the bitter enemy of God’s people Israel.
In this chapter of Revelation the names Satan, Devil, Serpent and Dragon were used interchangeably, and evidently personified the persecuting powers hostile to the church; that is, Nero and his successors, in whom the persecutions and the persecutors were personified.
(1) The dragon with multiple heads and horns–Rev 12:3-4.
1. And there appeared another wonder in heaven. This wonder was referred to as another sign. The other wonder, of verse 1, was the sign of the glory of the church in the symbolic ornaments of splendor with which the woman was adorned before the imperial world.
In this reference, of verse 3, the sign was in the same heaven mentioned by Christ in Luk 10:18 : “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” It meant his dominion of diabolical influence. The church is called the “kingdom of heaven” because it is the reign of heaven in the hearts of men, and which designates its divine realm. Jesus said to Pilate, “Now is my kingdom not from hence.” The word “hence” means here–his kingdom is here but not from here; it is from heaven. The word “heaven” referred to its heavenly origin and character. The word “now” referred to its immediate establishment in the world. But the heaven of Satan, from which he fell (Luk 10:18), meant the realm of his diabolical influence, and referred to the political authorities, governments and powers of the whole Roman world. It was the sign of an appalling persecution of unprecedented fury, beginning with the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, which was soon to burst upon the church; and the sign of this chapter was comparable to the signs of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, thirteenth chapter of Mark, and twenty-first chapter of Luke, all of which contain the Lord’s description of the events of the same period.
2. A great red dragon–Rev 12:3. The dragon referred to Satan, the antagonist of the church, personified in the active persecutor–Nero and his successors–as representative of all that was opposed to Christ and the church. The flame-coloured description of the red dragon was the type of the destruction of war and the bloodshed of martyrdom. As in chapter six the colors of the horses corresponded with the mission of the riders. The horses were symbols of war and the red horse signified bloodshed. So it was here–the red dragon signified the murderous character of these minions of Satan–the Roman and heathen persecuting powers.
3. Having seven heads and ten horns–Rev 12:3. As in chapter 5, verse 6, the seven eyes of the Lamb represented the perfection of wisdom, so the seven heads of this verse indicated the perfection or completeness of the universal rule and government of Rome, the seven-hilled city of the Caesars, to which the number seven in this reference may have been an allusion. But it was an evident symbol of the complete power of the ruling Roman emperor. The ten horns represented the unified universal power of the Roman emperor through the ten tributaries of the Roman government–all of which were in complete subjugation to the Caesars of Rome’s seven hills on the throne of which at this time sat Nero Caesar, the ruling emperor. The ten horns, therefore, denoted the ten kingdoms over which the emperor ruled.
4. And seven crowns upon his heads–Rev 12:3. The seven diadems upon his heads show the regal glory of this dragon. It should be noted that the diadems were not the crown of stars which was upon the woman’s head, indicating the divine glory of the church; but here they were crowns of diabolical power and assumed glory. It is not an exaggeration that the great antagonist of Christ and the church in that era of greatest crisis should appear in symbols of pomp and power.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 12:3. And there appeared another sign in heaven. In every respect this second sign is the counterpart or opposite of the first; and, like it, it is described in three particulars. The first has relation to the object seen.
And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. The dragon is great in power. He is red with the colour of blood because he kills men (chap. Rev 17:3; Rev 17:6; Joh 8:44; 1Jn 3:12). He has seven heads and ten horns, a figure by which is indicated his rule over all the kingdoms of this world as well as the force with which he rules them. The diadems, it may be further noticed, are not crowns like that of the woman. They are rather bands or fillets round the head. Even in the greatest lustre of his might the dragon is not a conqueror.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The church was described before: her arch-enemy, the devil, is described now: he is called a dragon for his subtility, a great dragon for his power, a red dragon for his fiery curelty. His seven heads denote his manifold subtilities, and mischievous contrivances, his devices and wicked imaginations against the church; his ten horns denote his vast power and great strength, both in himself and his members; also the number and power of his agents, who serve as horns to push and hurt the church.
His seven crowns upon his head denote his regal power, which he holds by usurpation, and his many victories and conquests which he obtains in the world, yet over none but those who are willingly overcome by him.
The whole of the description represents Satan as a powerful, subtle, cruel, victorious adversary. All which properties he discovers in the assault he makes upon the ministers of the church, called stars of heaven, which he endeavours to cast down to the earth; that is, to hinder their shining in the firmament of the church.
Hence learn, 1. What a mighty enemy the church has, fierce and fiery, red and bloody, full of craft and cruelty, of power and policy; and how deplorable her condition would by, if the Lord himself was not on her side.
Learen, 2. Who is prime author of all that curelty and bloodshed against the church of God, even the red dragon with its heads and horns, his ministers and agents: the greatest monarchs upon earth, if they gore and hurt the church, are the base heads and horns of this monstrous dragon.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 9 tells us the dragon is Satan. The seven heads could represent wisdom, vitality or, as in the case of the woman in scarlet, mountains. ( Rev 17:9 ) The ten horns could be power of kings. ( Rev 17:12 ) These crowns are the crowns of kings and not the victory crowns of the saints, the woman in white or Christ. ( Rev 2:10 ; Rev 3:11 ; Rev 6:2 ; Rev 12:1 ; Rev 14:14 ) His swinging tail drags down stars out of heaven, which would certainly show his power. It may also refer to Satan’s leading good angels astray in rebellion against God. ( 2Pe 2:4 ; Jud 1:6 ) Hailey also notes a parallel with Daniel’s vision, in which the stars that were cast down were part of the holy host of people. ( Dan 8:10 ; Dan 8:24 ) Certainly, Satan tried to destroy Jesus just as soon as he was delivered from Mary’s womb. ( Mat 2:1-23 ) However, the text here portrays Christ as being caught up right after he was born. (verse 5) We conclude Christ’s life, from the Divine perspective in the Revelation particularly, is but a moment. Thus, all the efforts of Satan to stop Jesus while he was on earth must be in view. The dragon may have thought the battle won at the cross, but God raised him and took him up to rule on his throne, thus the victory goes to Christ. (Compare Act 2:22-36 ) The rod of iron is mentioned in Psa 2:9 as something Jesus would use to defeat his enemies. (Also Rev 2:27 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; {4} and behold a great red dragon, having {5} seven heads and ten {6} horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
(4) That is the devil or Satan, see Rev 12:9 , mighty, angry and full of wrath.
(5) By this to withstand those seven churches spoken of, that is, the catholic church, and that with kingly objects and tyrannical magnificence: signified by the crowns set on his heads, as if they belonged to him by the proper right, without controversy: as also he boasted to Christ; See Mat 4:9 Rev 13:1 .
(6) More than the horns of the Lamb, or than the churches are: so well equipped does the tyrant brag himself to be, to do all manner of wickedness.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The second "sign" John saw was the "dragon" whom God identified in Rev 12:9; Rev 20:2 as Satan. "Dragon" (Gr. drakon) occurs 12 times in the New Testament and only in the Book of Revelation. In every instance it refers to Satan (Rev 12:3-4; Rev 12:7; Rev 12:9; Rev 12:13; Rev 12:16-17; Rev 13:2; Rev 13:4; Rev 13:11; Rev 16:13; Rev 20:2). A dragon symbolizes a powerful, aggressive, deadly foe. His red color suggests bloodshed. [Note: Newell, p. 172; Moses Stuart, A Commentary on the Apocalypse, p. 621; Lange, p. 246; Scott, p. 337.] His seven heads and ten horns probably represent seven nations and ten rulers (Rev 17:12). Ten kings will rule under his authority, but when Antichrist rises to preeminence among them he will subdue three of them, leaving only seven (Dan 7:7-8; Dan 7:20; Dan 7:24; Rev 13:1). The seven royal crowns (Gr. diadema) picture the political authority of these seven rulers during the Great Tribulation.
A less literal interpretation regards the ten horns as simply symbolic of the dragon’s mighty strength.