Revelation 13:1

He stood (estaqh). First aorist passive indicative of isthmi (intransitive), as in Genesis 8:3 . "He stopped" on his way to war with the rest of the woman's seed. P Q read here estaqhn (I stood) when it has to be connected with chapter Revelation 13:1 ff. Upon the sand (epi thn ammon). The accusative case as in Revelation 7:1 ; Revelation 8:3 , etc. Ammo is an old word for sand, for innumerable multitude in Revelation 20:8 . Out of the sea (ek th qalassh). See Revelation 11:7 for "the beast coming up out of the abyss." The imagery comes from Daniel 7:3 . See also Revelation 17:8 . This "wild beast from the sea," as in Daniel 7:17 Daniel 7:23 , is a vast empire used in the interest of brute force. This beast, like the dragon ( Daniel 12:3 ), has ten horns and seven heads, but the horns are crowned, not the heads. The Roman Empire seems to be meant here ( Daniel 17:9 Daniel 17:12 ). On "diadems" (diadhmata) see Daniel 12:3 , only ten here, not seven as there. Names of blasphemy (onomata blasphmia). See Daniel 17:3 for this same phrase. The meaning is made plain by the blasphemous titles assumed by the Roman emperors in the first and second centuries, as shown by the inscriptions in Ephesus, which have qeo constantly applied to them.