And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
12. exerciseth ] Lit. doeth: the sense is, he does all that the Dragon has given the Beast power or authority to do.
before him ] The relation of the False Prophet to the Beast is nearly the same as that of Aaron to Moses, Exo 4:16; Exo 7:9 sqq., or even of a true Prophet to God, 1Ki 17:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him – The same amount of power; the same kind of power. This shows a remarkable relationship between these two beasts; and proves that it was intended to refer to the same power substantially, though manifested in a different form. In the fulfillment of this, we should naturally look for some government whose authority extended far, and which was absolute and arrogant in its character, for this is the power attributed to the first beast. See the notes on Rev 13:2-4, Rev 13:7-8. This description had a remarkable fulfillment in the papacy, considered as a spiritual dominion. The relation to the secular power is the same as would be indicated by these two beasts; the dominion was as widespread; the authority was as absolute and arrogant. In fact, on these points they have been identical. The one has sustained the other; either one would long since have fallen if it had not been upheld by the other. The papacy, considered as a spiritual domination, was in fact a new power starting up in the same place as the old Roman dominion, to give life to that as it was tending to decay, and to continue its ascendency over the world. These two things, the secular and the spiritual power, constituting the papacy in the proper sense of the term, are in fact but the continuance or the prolongation of the old Roman dominion – the fourth kingdom of Daniel – united so as to constitute in reality but one kingdom, and yet so distinct in their origin, and in their manifestations, as to be capable of separate contemplation and description, and thus properly represented by the two beasts that were shown in vision to John.
And causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast – That is, to respect, to reverence, to honor. The word worship here refers to civil respect, and not to religious adoration. See the notes on Rev 13:4. The meaning here, according to the interpretation proposed all along in this chapter, is, that the papacy, considered in its religious influence, or as a spiritual power – represented by the second beast – secured for the civil or secular power – represented by the first beast – the homage of the world. It was the means of keeping up that dominion, and of giving it its ascendency among the nations of the earth. The truth of this, as an historical fact, is well known. The Roman civil power would have long ago lost all its influence and been unknown, if it had not been for the papacy; and, in fact, all the influence which it has had since the irruption of the northern barbarians, and the changes which their invasion produced, can be traced to that new power which arose in the form of the papacy – represented in Daniel Dan 7:8 by the little horn. That new power gave life and energy to the declining influence of Rome, and brought the world again to respect and honor its authority.
Whose deadly wound was healed – See the notes on Rev 13:3. That is, was healed by the influence of this new power represented by the second beast. A state of things occurred, on the rise of that new power, as if a wound in the head, otherwise fatal, was healed. The striking applicability of this to the decaying Roman power – smitten as with a deadly wound by the blows inflicted by the northern hordes, and by internal dissensions – will occur to every one. It was as if a healing process had been imparted by some life-giving power, and, as a consequence, the Roman dominion – the prolongation of Daniels fourth kingdom – has continued to the present time. Other kingdoms passed away – the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian; Rome alone, of all the ancient empires, has prolonged its power over men. In all changes elsewhere, an influence has gone forth from the seven-hilled city as wide and as fearful as it was in the brightest days of the republic, the triumvirate, or the empire, and a large part of the world still listens reverently to the mandates which issue from the seat which so long gave law to mankind. The fact that it is so is to be traced solely to the influence of that power represented here by the second beast that appeared in vision to John – the papacy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him] In the preceding verse the two-horned beast was represented as rising out of the earth, that is, obtaining gradually more and more influence in the civil affairs of the Latin world. Here he it represented as having obtained the direction and management of all the power of the first beast or secular Latin empire before him, , in his presence. That the Romish hierarchy has had the extensive power here spoken of, is evident from history; for the civil power was in subjection to the ecclesiastical. The parochial clergy, one of the horns of the second beast, have had great secular jurisdiction over the whole Latin world. Two-thirds of the estates of Germany were given by the three Othos, who succeeded each other, to ecclesiastics; and in the other Latin monarchies the parochial clergy possessed great temporal power. Yet extraordinary as the power of the secular clergy was in all parts of the Latin world, it was but feeble when compared with that of the monastic orders which constituted another horn of the beast. The mendicant friars, the most considerable of the regular clergy, first made their appearance in the early part of the thirteenth century. These friars were divided by Gregory X., in a general council which he assembled at Lyons in 1272, into the four following societies or denominations, viz., the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Hermits of St. Augustine. “As the pontiffs,” observes Mosheim, “allowed these four mendicant orders the liberty of travelling wherever they thought proper, of conversing with persons of all ranks, of instructing the youth and the multitude wherever they went; and as these monks exhibited, in their outward appearance and manner of life, more striking marks of gravity and holiness than were observable in the other monastic societies; they arose all at once to the very summit of fame, and were regarded with the utmost esteem and veneration throughout all the countries of Europe. The enthusiastic attachment to these sanctimonious beggars went so far that, as we learn from the most authentic records, several cities were divided, or cantoned out, into four parts, with a view to these four orders; the first part was assigned to the Dominicans, the second to the Franciscans, the third to the Carmelites, and the fourth to the Augustinians. The people were unwilling to receive the sacraments from any other hands than those of the mendicants, to whose churches they crowded to perform their devotions while living, and were extremely desirous to deposit there also their remains after death; all which occasioned grievous complaints among the ordinary priests, to whom the cure of souls was committed, and who considered themselves as the spiritual guides of the multitude. Nor did the influence and credit of the mendicants end here: for we find in the history of this (thirteenth century) and the succeeding ages, that they were employed, not only in spiritual matters, but also in temporal and political affairs of the greatest consequence; in composing the differences of princes, concluding treaties of peace, concerting alliances, presiding in cabinet councils, governing courts, levying taxes, and other occupations not only remote from, but absolutely inconsistent with, the monastic character and profession. We must not, however, imagine that all the mendicant friars attained to the same degree of reputation and authority; for the power of the Dominicans and Franciscans surpassed greatly that of the two other orders, and rendered them singularly conspicuous in the eyes of the world. During three centuries these two fraternities governed, with an almost universal and absolute sway, both state and Church, filled the most eminent posts, ecclesiastical and civil; taught in the universities and churches with an authority before which all opposition was silent; and maintained the pretended majesty and prerogatives of the Roman pontiffs against kings, princes, bishops, and heretics, with incredible ardour and equal success. The Dominicans and Franciscans were, before the Reformation, what the Jesuits have been since that happy and glorious period, the very soul of the hierarchy, the engines of state, the secret springs of all the motions of the one and the other, and the authors and directors of every great and important event in the religious and political world.” Thus the Romish hierarchy has exercised all the power of the first beast in his sight, both temporal and spiritual, and therefore, with such astonishing influence as this over secular princes, it was no difficult matter for him to cause:-
The earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.] That is, he causes the whole Latin world to submit to the authority of the Latin empire, with the revived western empire at its head, persuading them that such submission is beneficial to their spiritual interests, and absolutely necessary for their salvation. Here it is observable that both beasts have dominion over the same earth; for it is expressly said that the second beast causeth THE EARTH and them that dwelt therein, to worship the first beast; therefore it is, as Bishop Newton and others have observed, imperium in imperio, “an empire within an empire.” We have, consequently, the fullest evidence that the two beasts consist in the division of the great Latin empire, by the usurpation of the Latin clergy, into two distinct empires, the one secular, the other spiritual, and both united in one antichristian design, viz., to diffuse their most abominable system of idolatry over the whole earth, and to extend the sphere of their domination. Here we have also an illustration of that remarkable passage in Re 16:10, the kingdom of the beasts, i.e., the kingdom of the Latin kingdom; which is apparently a solecism, but in reality expressed with wonderful precision. The fifth vial is poured out upon the throne of the beast, and HIS KINGDOM is darkened, i.e., the Latin kingdom in subjection to the Latin kingdom or the secular Latin empire.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The power of the first beast was to speak great words and blasphemies, and to make war with, and overcome the saints, Rev 13:5,7. This power also should be exercised by the papacy, (according to this prophecy), and time hath witnessed the truth of it. And as, before he arrived at the height of power, he had persuaded the latter emperors to establish idolatry and superstition; so having now the power in his own hands, and being by the first beast made head of the church, he now vigorously causeth all under his power to obey the edicts, decrees, and commands of that nature, which those emperors had published; choosing rather to do this in the name of others, than from himself; that in case of the non-compliance of any, he might charge them with sedition or disobedience to the imperial laws, or dissenting from antiquity, &c. Hence he
causeth them to worship the first beast rather than himself.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. powerGreek,“authority.”
before him“in hispresence”; as ministering to, and upholding him. “Thenon-existence of the beast embraces the whole Germanic Christianperiod. The healing of the wound and return of the beast isrepresented [in regard to its final Antichristianmanifestation though including also, meanwhile, its healing andreturn under Popery, which is baptized heathenism] in that principlewhich, since 1789, has manifested itself in beast-like outbreaks”[AUBERLEN].
which dwell thereintheearthly-minded. The Church becomes the harlot: the world’spolitical power, the Antichristian beast; the world’s wisdomand civilization, the false prophet. Christ’s three officesare thus perverted: the first beast is the false kingship; theharlot, the false priesthood; the second beast, the falseprophet. The beast is the bodily, the false prophet theintellectual, the harlot the spiritual power ofAntichristianity [AUBERLEN].The Old-Testament Church stood under the power of the beast,the heathen world power: the Middle-Ages Church under that ofthe harlot: in modern times the false prophet predominates.But in the last days all these God-opposed powers which havesucceeded each other shall co-operate, and raise each other tothe most terrible and intense power of their nature: the falseprophet causes men to worship the beast, and the beast carries theharlot. These three forms of apostasy are reducible to two: theapostate Church and the apostate world, pseudo-Christianityand Antichristianity, the harlot and the beast; for the falseprophet is also a beast; and the two beasts, as differentmanifestations of the same beast-like principle, stand incontradistinction to the harlot, and are finally judged together,whereas separate judgment falls on the harlot [AUBERLEN].
deadly woundGreek,“wound of death.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,…. Sitting in the same seat, having the same power and authority from the dragon, making war with the saints by preaching and writing against them, by anathemas, excommunications, and bulls, and so overcame and silenced them, or delivered them over to the secular arm to be put to death, ruling over the consciences of men in a tyrannical way, in all nations, kindreds, and tongues, in the empire; and all this before, in the presence, and under the influence of the secular power, of the Papacy, signified by the first beast, and with his good liking, and for his credit and support:
and causeth the earth, and them that dwell therein; the Roman empire, and the inhabitants of it, especially the carnal and earthly part of them:
to worship the first beast; to be subject to the temporal power of the Papacy, or to submit to the pope as a temporal lord, to give homage and tribute to him, and the like, in order to support his worldly power and grandeur; and this was caused or brought about by his emissaries, his spiritual vassals, his legates, cardinals, priests, c. by their exhortations, persuasions, and commands, delivered both in writing and preaching:
whose deadly wound was healed which deadly wound was given the Roman empire under its sixth head, the emperors, when they ceased, and was healed by the pope, the seventh head, being set as a temporal monarch over the ten kingdoms in it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He exerciseth (). Present active dramatic present of . In his sight ( ). In the eye of the first beast who gets his authority from the dragon (13:2). The second beast carries on the succession of authority from the dragon and the first beast. It has been a common Protestant interpretation since the Reformation of Luther to see in the first beast Pagan Rome and in the second beast Papal Rome. There is undoubted verisimilitude in this interpretation, but it is more than doubtful if any such view comes within the horizon of the imagery here. Ramsay takes the first beast to be the power of imperial Rome and the second beast to be the provincial power which imitated Rome in the persecutions.
To worship the first beast ( ). Sub-final clause with after seen in John 11:37; Col 4:16; Rev 3:9, usually with the subjunctive, but here with the future indicative as in 3:9. Note the accusative after as in verse 8. Here the death-stroke of one of the heads (verse 3) is ascribed to the beast. Clearly the delegated authority of the provincial priests of the emperor-worship is rigorously enforced, if this is the correct interpretation.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And he exerciseth all the power,” (kai poiei pasan ten eksousian) “And he (the second beast, the one arising out of the earth) does, or exercises, all the jurisdictional power or authority,”
2) “Of the first beast before him,” (tou protou theriou enopion autou) “Of the first (in order) beast before him,” or in the presence of him, Rev 13:1-2.
3) “And causeth the earth and them that dwell therein,” (kai poiei ten gen kai tous en aute katoikountas) “And he makes (or causes)the earth, that is those who dwell in it,” he influences the world, except those who were already redeemed, Rev 13:7-8.
4) “To worship the first beast,”(hina proskunesousin to therion to proton) “To worship, to do obeisance to the first (of the two) beasts, the one preceding him,” the one world government as a purported source of physical, emotional, and spiritual provision for every need, Rev 13:1-4.
5) Whose deadly wound was healed, (hou etherapeuthe he plege tou thanatou auton)’Whose stroke of death (death wound) had been healed,” had been therapeutically healed. This seems to allude to, refer to, a one-world Gentile government formerly and lastly administered by the Roman Empire whose chief object of worship was idolatry and materialism.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(12) And he exerciseth . . .Better, And he works, or exercises (literally, does), all the authority (or, power) of the first wild beast in his presence. It will be seen by this that we must not look upon the second wild beast as a successor, but rather as a supporter, of the first. The intellectual force of an earthly wisdom is practically subservient to the spirit of unmitigated worldliness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(12, 13) And causeth the earth . . .Literally, and he makes the earth and them that dwell in it that they shall worship the first wild beast, the stroke of whose death was healed; and he does signs great, so that he even makes fire to descend out of the heaven to the earth in the sight of men. This descent of fire is the counterpart of the work of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:5), and of Elijah in Old Testament days. It is one of the features of that deceivableness of unrighteousness which misleads man. There is a holy fire which inspires the lips and hearts of the holy; there is an unhallowed fire, a fire of mere power, which the worldly spirit is tempted to worship.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Exerciseth all the power of the first beast As the spiritual empire inherited all the power of the secular empire, so the clergy exerciseth all the power of the spiritual empire.
To worship To bow before in religious reverence.
Whose deadly wound was healed That is, the clergy require this homage to be paid, not to the empire preceding the spiritual empire, but to the spiritual empire itself; which was the restored empire after the deadly wound ing.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he exercises all the authority of the first wild beast in his sight. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first wild beast whose death stroke was healed.’
Initially the false prophet exalts Caligula. But the second wild beast continues to exalt the Roman beast as emperor replaces emperor, and has the authority of Rome behind him. ‘He’ is the proclaimer of the Emperor’s divinity and the religious enforcer of his worship. Later Domitian will demand to be called ‘dominus et deus noster’, ‘our Lord and God’, and the second beast, the officials, priests and seers in charge of Emperor worship, will enforce it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 13:12 . The second beast is expressly designated as standing in the relation of servitude to the first: the entire given, he puts in operation, and that, too, , i. e., beneath the eyes of the first beast, as its lord. [3358]
. Cf. Rev 3:9 .
., . . . This was indicated already (Rev 13:4 ) as the cause of the astonishing adoration.
[3358] Cf. Rev 13:14 ; Rev 8:2 ; 1Ki 10:8 ; Num 3:6 . De Wette, Hengstenb.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Ver. 12. And he exerciseth ] The power of speaking blasphemies, of waging wars, of ruling over kindreds, tongues, and nations, &c., notwithstanding his wounded head, which is after a sort cured by the sedulity and subtilty of the Jesuits, and other the pope’s emissaries. The first beast, saith Forbes, is the kingdom of Rome under the Pontificality; the second beast is the Pontificality wonderfully quickening the wounded beast to that estate; both are one and the same, except in consideration, as I have said.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
before him = in his sight.
causeth. Occurs eight times in connection with this “false prophet”. See App-197.
therein = in (Gr. en) it.
to worship = in order that (Greek. hina) they shall worship (App-137.) The texts read future tense.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 13:12. -) There is a mixture of tenses, as Rev 13:15, and ch. Rev 11:9-10, with Annot. in the Apparatus, p. 818 [Ed. ii. p. 541].- , the earth and them which dwell therein) A remarkable expression; for in Rev 13:14, and in other places, it is said, , those that dwell on the earth. I see no difference of meaning, except that here in Rev 13:12, a sudden universality of worship is implied, perhaps to be promulgated by some edict.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
causeth: Rev 13:3, Rev 13:14-17, Rev 17:10, Rev 17:11, 2Th 2:4
Reciprocal: Jer 27:15 – that I Dan 11:32 – corrupt Dan 11:38 – a god Rev 13:4 – and they Rev 14:15 – harvest Rev 17:8 – the beast that was Rev 20:4 – and which
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 13:12. Exerciseth all the power of the first beast is commented upon in the remarks at verse 5. Causeth . . . to worship the first beast. Papal Rome was composed of church and state, and the two parts of that institution supported each other. The pope instructed his subjects that they must obey the orders of the state in all matters of conduct, even including their religious activities. Whose deadly wound was healed. (See the comments at verse 3.) The pope had a grateful remembrance of that episode in the affairs of state. Had the wound not been healed and the state had gone down, he would not then have the powerful support of the government to back him up in his wicked control over the lives of his people. So it is not strange that he directed them to worship that beast. That could not mean any formal ceremonies, the beast was not in existence in reality any way. It means for them to pay homage to the memory of the beast.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 12.
2. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed–Rev 13:12. The salient points in the description of the land beast in verses eleven through eighteen, verse by verse, may be outlined in brief as follows:
Verse 11: He was from the earth, or land, not from the sea–denoting the local persecutors of Palestine. He was a false prophet visualized as a lamb in appearance, but speaking as the dragon. The two horns of the lamb represented two notorious rulers which Josephus mentioned (in Antiquities, Book XX 11, 1; and Wars, Book II, Chapters 14-15) as being sent by Nero, the emperor, into Palestine as his representatives. This beast appeared as guileless as a lamb, but as a false prophet he possessed the infernal spirit of the sea-beast, and deceived the land–the people of Palestine–into the worship of the sea beast, the emperor.
Verse 12: He was a mere satellite of the sea beast, whose wound of rebellion and civil war within the tenkingdom empire was healed by the sheer power of force. This power brought all kingdoms and provinces under submission to the Roman head. The second beast as a servile and menial instrument of the first beast, enforced his will, exercising an authority not his own, but was derived solely from the superior beast number one, the Roman emperor. In this subservience the land beast in obedience to sea beast, “causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast”–the emperor. The earth referred to the provincial governments; and them that dwell therein had reference to the people who were under their political rule. The grievous blow inflicted on the empire by civil wars was referred to as a deadly wound on the sea-beast which had been healed by his conquering power; and this brought the kings, governors, and people into submission to worship the emperor.
[Continue to comments on next verses for the rest of the descriptions]
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 13:12. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast before him. The words before him are to be connected with exerciseth; and they are again a travesty of that before God which we find predicated of the Son, of the Spirit, and of the saints (chaps, Rev 3:5, Rev 1:4, Rev 7:15, etc.). This second beast is before the first, in his presence, sustained by him, ministering to him, doing his pleasure (comp. chap. Rev 8:2, where the seven angels are described as standing before God).
And he maketh the earth . . . whose death-stroke was healed. The word worship leads us directly to the thought of religious service, and therefore to that of the religious persuasion by which it is secured.The description of the first beast given in these words is highly importantwhose death-stroke, or the stroke of whose death, was healed. We have here an unmistakeable description of the first beast, not as he appeared in the earlier stages of his manifestation under the first five heads, but as he appeared under the sixth, after he had been slain and had risen to life. Let us allow that St. John gave credit to the rumour that Nero would return, could he have supposed that he had returned?
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
13:12 {17} And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein {18} to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
(17) The history of the acts of this beast contains in sum three things, hypocrisy, the witness of miracles and tyranny: of which the first is noted in this verse, the second in the three verses following: the third in the sixteenth and seventeenth verses. His hypocrisy is most full of lies, by which he abuses both the former beast and the whole world: in that though he has by his cunning, as it were by line, made of the former beast a most miserable skeleton or anatomy, usurped all his authority to himself and most impudently exercises the same in the sight and view of him: yet he carries himself so as if he honoured him with most high honour, and did truly cause him to be reverenced by all men.
(18) For to this beast of Rome, which of civil Empire is made an ecclesiastical hierarchy, are given divine honours, and divine authority so far, as he is believed to be above the scriptures, which the gloss upon the Decretals declares by this devilish verse. “Articulos solvit, synodumque facit generalem” That is, “He changes the Articles of faith, and gives authority to general Councils.”
Which is spoken of the papal power. So the beast is by birth, foundation, feat, and finally substance, one: only the Pope has altered the form and manner of it, being himself the head both of that tyrannical empire, and also of the false prophets: for the empire has he taken to himself, and to it added this cunning device. Now these words, “whose deadly wound was cured” are put here for distinction sake, as also sometimes afterwards: that even at that time the godly readers of this prophecy might by this sign be brought to see the thing as present: as if it were said, that they might adore this very empire that now is, whose head we have seen in our own memory to have been cut off, and to be cured again.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The second beast will represent the first beast by acting as his prophet (Rev 19:20; Rev 20:10; cf. Exo 7:1). Compare the ministries of Moses and Aaron (Exo 4:16; Exo 7:9), and the Lord and Elijah (1Ki 17:1). He will be his effective agent in directing the persecution of believers. He will lead the worship of the first beast evidently as the leader of a worldwide religious movement. This is a satanic counterfeit of the Holy Spirit’s ministry of pointing people to Christ. The reference to the first beast’s fatal wound being healed also highlights the comparison with Christ who rose from the dead. Believers worship Christ because He rose from the dead (cf. Act 17:30-31), and unbelievers will worship the beast because he did a similar thing (cf. Rev 13:14). Here some type of personal rejuvenation seems to be in view, not just the revitalization of a nation (cf. Rev 13:3).