Revelation 13:1

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, etc.] The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, “and he stood”, etc. and so the Alexandrian copy; meaning the dragon, said to be wroth with the woman, and to go forth to make war with her seed, in the latter part of the preceding chapter, where some versions place this clause; and the Arabic version reads expressly, “and the serpent stood”, etc. And this is thought by some to be the better reading, because of the connection with what goes before, and because there is no mention of the name of John, nor of his being called or removed from heaven, where he was beholding sights, and continuing the account of them, (<660401>Revelation 4:1 12:1…”

“VISION OF THE BEAST THAT CAME OUT OF THE SEA: THE SECOND BEAST, OUT OF THE EARTH, EXERCISING THE POWER OF THE FIRST BEAST, AND CAUSING THE EARTH TO WORSHIP HIM. (Rev. 13:1-18) I stood--So B, Aleph, and Coptic read. But A, C, Vulgate, and Syriac, "He stood." Standing on the sand of the sea, HE gave his power to the beast that rose out of the sea. upon the sand of the sea--where the four winds were to be seen striving upon the great sea (Dan 7:2). beast--Greek, "wild beast." Man becomes "brutish" when he severs himself from God, the archetype and true ideal, in whose image he was first made, which ideal is realized by the man Christ Jesus. Hence, the world powers seeking their own glory, and…”

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea - The sand upon the shore of the sea. That is, he seemed to stand there, and then had a vision of a beast rising out of the waters. The reason of this representation may, perhaps, have been that among the ancients the sea was regarded as the appropriate place for the origin of huge and terrible monsters (Prof. Stuart, in loco). This vision strongly resembles that in Daniel 7:2 ff, where the prophet saw four beasts coming up in succession from the sea. See the notes on that place. In Daniel, the four winds of heaven are described as striving upon the great sea Dan 13:2, and the agitated ocean represents the nations in commotion, or in a state of disorder…”

“And I stood on the sand of the sea - This also was in the vision. And I saw - Soon after the woman flew away. A wild beast coming up - He comes up twice; first from the sea, then from the abyss. He comes from the sea before the seven phials; "the great whore" comes after them. O reader, this is a subject wherein we also are deeply concerned, and which must he treated, not as a point of curiosity, but as a solemn warning from God! The danger is near. Be armed both against force and fraud, even with the whole armour of God. Out of the sea - That is, Europe. So the three woes (the first being in Persia, the second about the Euphrates) move in a line from east to west. This beast is the Romish…”

“13:1-10 The first beast is the second member of the evil trinity (see study note on 12:18–13:18) and should probably be identified with Roman power (see “Four World Empires” Theme Note). 13:1 The beast emerges from the sea (symbolizing evil). Like the dragon, it has seven heads and ten horns (see 12:3). The crowns represent its political and military power (cp. 17:3, 7-11; Dan 7:7, 19-20) and indicate that Satan is the head of this beast’s empire.”

“upon: Jer 5:22 and saw: Rev 11:7, Rev 17:8; Dan 7:2, Dan 7:3 having: Rev 12:3, Rev 17:3, Rev 17:7-12, Rev 17:16; Dan 7:7, Dan 7:8, Dan 7:19, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:23, Dan 7:24 ten crowns: Rev 12:3 name: or, names blasphemy: Rev 13:5, Rev 13:6, Rev 17:3, Rev 17:5; Dan 7:25, Dan 11:36; Th2 2:3, Th2 2:4 Revelation 13:2”