Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 1. I saw a beast coming out of the sea. By this first boast several understand antichrist, as Saint Irenaeus l. v. c. xxviii. and Saint Gregory l. xxxi. Moral. c. xli. But this is not certain. By the other beast [1] coming up out of the earth, (verse 11) many understand antichrist’s false prophet, some famous impostor and magician in antichrist’s time, who will do great wonders and signs. The seven heads and ten horns, may again signify a great number of kings and princes, who shall be overcome by antichrist, and submit themselves to him. The dragon, or devil, gives that great power to antichrist, signified by the different parts of the beast, some like to a leopard, others to a bear, and others to a lion. The head wounded to death and cured, is either antichrist himself or some one of those heads or kings, cured by the devil and diabolical arts after a mortal wound. Witham.—This first beast, with seven heads and ten horns, is probably the whole company of infidels, enemies and persecutors of the people of God, from the beginning to the end of the world. The seven heads are seven kings, that is, seven principal kingdoms or empires; which have exercised, or shall exercise, tyrannical power over the people of God: of these, five were then fallen, that is the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, and Grecian monarchies: one was present, that is the empire of Rome: and the seventh and the chiefest was to come, that is the great antichrist and his empire. The ten horns may be understood of ten lesser persecutors. Challoner.
NU reads he stood