Add parallel Print Page Options

The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss[a] and then go to destruction. The[b] inhabitants of the earth—all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world—will be astounded when they see that[c] the beast was, and is not, but is to come.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 17:8 tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”
  2. Revelation 17:8 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  3. Revelation 17:8 tn Some translations take the ὅτι (hoti) here as causal: “because he was, and is not, but is to come” (so NIV, NRSV), but it is much more likely that the subject of the ὅτι clause has been assimilated into the main clause: “when they see the beast, that he was…” = “when they see that the beast was” (so BDAG 732 s.v. ὅτι 1.f, where Rev 17:8 is listed).

The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit[a] and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 17:8 Or the abyss, or the underworld.