Beast (Book of Revelation)

The Beasts in the Text

The beasts of the Book of Revelation appear as follows.

• The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit: It makes war against the two witnesses and kills them (Revelation 11:7).
• The beast from the sea: It has ten horns and seven heads; it resembles a leopard, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. Receiving authority from the dragon, it blasphemes God and makes war with the saints for forty-two months (Revelation 13:1–10).
• The beast from the earth: It has two horns like a lamb but speaks as a dragon. It causes people to worship the image of the first beast and to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. Its number is 666 (Revelation 13:11–18). Later it is called the "false prophet" (Revelation 16:13; 19:20).
• The scarlet beast: This is the beast on which the great whore sits. Its seven heads are explained as seven mountains and also as seven kings (Revelation 17:3, 9–10).
• Their end: The beast and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20; 20:10).

Terminology and Background

The Greek word translated "beast," thērion, means a savage wild animal. It is a different word from the one used for the "four beasts" (living creatures) around the throne (Revelation 4:6). Revelation belongs to the genre of apocalyptic literature, which conveys its message through symbols. The beast's appearance is understood to combine features of the four beasts rising from the sea in Daniel 7 (Daniel 7:1–8). At the time of writing, the Roman Empire demanded emperor worship, and this is frequently cited as the background for the scenes depicting worship of the beast.

Meaning in the Context of the Whole Bible

In Revelation, the dragon (Satan; Revelation 12:9) and the two beasts are portrayed as a counterfeit triad imitating the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, set in contrast to the Lamb of God, who was slain. The beast is often identified with the Antichrist, but the term "antichrist" appears only in 1 John and 2 John, not in Revelation. Connecting the beast with the Antichrist or with the "man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4) is a matter of interpretation.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• Preterism: Sees the beast as the first-century Roman Empire and its emperors, especially Nero. A well-known view explains 666 as the sum of the numerical values of "Nero Caesar" written in Hebrew letters, and some manuscripts give the number as 616.
• Historicism: Holds that Revelation presents the entire history of the church in sequence. During the Reformation, many Protestant interpreters linked the beast with the papacy.
• Futurism: Sees the beast as a person or world power that will actually appear just before the end. Dispensationalism explains this together with a seven-year Great Tribulation and the Rapture; in Korea, this approach has strongly influenced popular end-times preaching.
• Symbolic (idealist) interpretation: Views the beast as a symbol of the state power and false religion that in every age seek to usurp the place of God. This view is widespread among amillennial Reformed scholars (see Millennium).

In practice, many interpreters combine several of these perspectives.

In Korea, claims that barcodes, credit cards, or implanted microchips are the "mark of the beast" have at times spread through the internet and other channels. Such claims are additions not found directly in the text. Critics respond by pointing out that in the text, receiving the mark is described together with worshiping the beast and his image (Revelation 14:9–11).