Revelation 12:3

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven, etc.] 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 (<661209>Revelation 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…”

“appeared--"was seen." wonder--Greek, "semeion," "sign." red--So A and Vulgate read. But B, C, and Coptic read, "of fire." In either case, the color of the dragon implies his fiery rage as a murderer from the beginning. His representative, the beast, corresponds, having seven heads and ten horns (the number of horns on the fourth beast of Dan 7:7; Rev 13:1). But there, ten crowns are on the ten horns (for before the end, the fourth empire is divided into ten kingdoms); here, seven crowns (rather, "diadems," Greek, "diademata," not stephanoi, "wreaths") are upon his seven heads. In Dan 7:4-7 the Antichristian powers up to Christ's second coming are represented by four beasts, which have among…”

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven - Represented as in heaven. See the notes on Revelation 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” - δράκων drakōn - occurs, in the New Testament, only in the book of Revelation, where it is uniformly rendered as here - “dragon:” Revelation 12:3-4, Revelation 12:7,Revelation 12:9, Revelation 12:13, Revelation 12:16-17; Revelation 13:2, Revelation 13:4,Revelation 13:11; Revelation 16:13; Revelation 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…”

“And behold a great red dragon - His fiery - red colour denoting his disposition. Having seven heads - Implying vast wisdom. And ten horns - Perhaps on the seventh head; emblems of mighty power and strength, which he still retained. And seven diadems on his heads - Not properly crowns, but costly bindings, such as kings anciently wore; for, though fallen, he was a great potentate still, even "the prince of this world." Revelation 12:4”

“12:3-4 The large red dragon represents Satan (see 12:9). • seven heads and ten horns: The numbers represent a mixture of divine and created powers (see 17:7-14). • The historic battle between evil and the people of God is staged in cosmic dimensions (see Gen 3:1-7, 14-15; Job 1:9-12). • Herod’s desire to kill Jesus embodied Satan’s attempt to devour her baby after it was born (see Matt 2:7-8, 16).”

“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 Revelation 12:4”