Revelation 13:3 - The Beast from the Sea (2024)

Verse (Click for Chapter)

New International Version
One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.New Living Translation
I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast.English Standard Version
One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.Berean Standard Bible
One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast.Berean Literal Bible
And one of its heads was as having been slain to death. And its wound of death was healed, and the whole earth marveled after the beast.King James Bible
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.New King James Version
And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.New American Standard Bible
I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;NASB 1995
I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;NASB 1977
And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;Legacy Standard Bible
And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain fatally, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled and followed after the beast.Amplified Bible
I saw one of his heads which seemed to have a fatal wound, but his fatal wound was healed; and the entire earth followed after the beast in amazement.Christian Standard Bible
One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.Holman Christian Standard Bible
One of his heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but his fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.American Standard Version
And I saw one of his heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast;Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And one of its heads was as if it had been crushed to death and its mortal wound was healed, and all The Earth marveled after The Beast.Contemporary English Version
One of its heads seemed to have been fatally wounded, but now it was well. Everyone on earth marveled at this beast, Douay-Rheims Bible
And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to death: and his death's wound was healed. And all the earth was in admiration after the beast. English Revised Version
And I saw one of his heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast;GOD'S WORD® Translation
One of the beast's heads looked like it had a fatal wound, but its fatal wound was healed. All the people of the world were amazed and followed the beast.Good News Translation
One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. International Standard Version
One of the beast's heads looked like it had sustained a mortal wound, but its fatal wound was healed. Rapt with amazement, the whole world followed the beast. Literal Standard Version
And I saw one of its heads as slain to death, and its deadly wound was healed, and all the earth wondered after the beast,Majority Standard Bible
One of the heads of the beast appeared to be mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast.New American Bible
I saw that one of its heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed. Fascinated, the whole world followed after the beast.NET Bible
One of the beast's heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement;New Revised Standard Version
One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast.New Heart English Bible
One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.Webster's Bible Translation
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.Weymouth New Testament
I saw that one of his heads seemed to have been mortally wounded; but his mortal wound was healed, and the whole world was amazed and followed him.World English Bible
One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast. Young's Literal Translation
And I saw one of its heads as slain to death, and its deadly stroke was healed, and all the earth did wonder after the beast,Additional Translations ...

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) And I saw . . .--Translate, And (I saw) one from among his heads as if having been slain [the expression is the same as that applied to the Lamb in Revelation 5:6 : the wound marks are there when the vision rises] unto death; and the stroke of his death was healed. When the wild beast rose from the sea, the seer saw the deadly wound on the head: the wound was really unto death; the beast which had waged war against the true kingdom of righteousness and faith has received his death-blow. This is the historical point from which the vision starts. This being so, the death-blow is that which has just been dealt: the seed of the woman has bruised the serpent's head. The blow which casts down the dragon inflicts a deadly wound upon the wild beast, which is his agent. When Christ overthrew the wicked one He gave the death-blow to the world-power--to all systems founded on passion, or self-sufficiency, or inhumanity. But the death-blow is apparently healed. What is this but telling the Church of Christ that the fruits of Christ's victory will not be seen without delay? The world-power is smitten unto death; but the actual death does not follow immediately. The power of evil, contrary to all expectation, rises with new vigour. This revived power showed itself, with more or less force, in the way in which the spirit of the wild beast broke forth when Christianity seemed to have put fetters on the Roman empire.

(3, 4) And all the world wondered . . .--Literally, And the whole earth wondered after the wild beast, and worshipped the dragon, because he gave the authority and worshipped the wild beast, saying, Who is like unto the wild beast? and who is able to war with him? The healing of the death-blow causes wonder to all. Their wonder leads to worship. The spirit of the wild beast is adored wherever worldliness prevails. There is nothing so successful as success, and the homage of men is more often paid to power than to principle. "Who is like unto the beast?" The words are a parody, and a blasphemous parody, on the ascription of praise to God which the name Michael imported. (See Revelation 12:7; comp. Psalms 112, Micah 7:18.) "Who is like unto God?" is the legend of the saints: the opposing cry is, "Who is like unto the beast?"

"Can you not hear the words coming across the centuries from the lips of two Roman youths talking with each other, as they lounge together in the Forum?" (Maurice.) Can we not hear the echo of the words in the Champs Elysees, in Piccadilly, in the Broadway, or Unter Den Linden, from the lips of young men who have taken fashion, rank, wealth, world-power in any shape, as their god?

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and one of his heads as though it had been slain unto death; and his death stroke was healed. The writer wishes to express the coexistence of two mutually antagonistic qualities. The head had received a fatal wound, and yet the beast continued to exist and exert his power. There may be a contrast and a comparison intended between the Lamb, as it had been slain, worshipped by his adoring followers, and the beast, usurping the honour due to Christ, imitating him even in the respect of having been slain, and exacting homage from those who "wondered after the beast." But the "head smitten unto death" must still possess some special significance of its own. What that is we are not plainly told; but it seems reasonable to refer it to the blow dealt to the power of Satan by the death and resurrection of Christ. It almost seemed at first as though the power of the world must succumb to the influence of the life and death of our Lord, and for a time great progress was made in the increase of the number of believers (cf. Acts 2:41, 47). But the power of the world was not yet destroyed; it continued to exist in spite of the seemingly fatal wound. Some see in this account a reference to the destruction of the Roman pagan empire, and the establishment of the Christian empire. Others believe the blow to be that administered by Michael, when Satan was ejected from heaven. Others refer the wounded head to different individuals; e.g. Nero. That one head is wounded out of the seven probably denotes the partial nature of the wound as visible to an observer. And all the world wondered after the beast; the whole earth wondered after the beast. The pregnant construction. That earth, for which the advent of the dragon meant woe (Revelation 12:12), wondered at, and followed after the beast. The sense of earth must here be restricted to the followers of the world, as opposed to the followers of God. Parallel Commentaries ...

Greek

One
μίαν (mian)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1520: One. (including the neuter Hen); a primary numeral; one.

of
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

the
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

heads
κεφαλῶν (kephalōn)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 2776: From the primary kapto; the head, literally or figuratively.

of [the beast]
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

appeared
ὡς (hōs)
Adverb
Strong's 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner.

to be fatally wounded.
ἐσφαγμένην (esphagmenēn)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4969: To slay, kill by violence, slaughter, wound mortally. A primary verb; to butcher or to slaughter, or, to maim.

[But]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

mortal
θανάτου (thanatou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2288: Death, physical or spiritual. From thnesko; death.

wound
πληγὴ (plēgē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4127: A blow, stripe, wound; an affliction, plague. From plesso; a stroke; by implication, a wound; figuratively, a calamity.

was healed,
ἐθεραπεύθη (etherapeuthē)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2323: From the same as therapon; to wait upon menially, i.e. to adore, or to relieve.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
(hē)
Article - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

whole
ὅλη (holē)
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3650: All, the whole, entire, complete. A primary word; 'whole' or 'all', i.e. Complete, especially as noun or adverb.

world
γῆ (gē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093: Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.

was astonished
ἐθαυμάσθη (ethaumasthē)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2296: (a) intrans: I wonder, marvel, (b) trans: I wonder at, admire. From thauma; to wonder; by implication, to admire.

[and] followed
ὀπίσω (opisō)
Preposition
Strong's 3694: Behind, after; back, backwards. From the same as opisthen with enclitic of direction; to the back, i.e. Aback.

the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

beast.
θηρίου (thēriou)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 2342: Properly: a wild beast, hence: any animal; met: a brute. Diminutive from the same as thera; a dangerous animal.

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Revelation 13:3 - The Beast from the Sea (2024)
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