Revelation 12:4

12:4 Now ¹  the dragon’s ²  tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then ³  the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

Revelation 12:9

12:9 So ⁴  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

Revelation 12:17

12:17 So ⁵  the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, ⁶  those who keep ⁷  God’s commandments and hold to ⁸  the testimony about Jesus. ⁹  (12:18) And the dragon ¹⁰  stood ¹¹  on the sand ¹²  of the seashore. ¹³ 

Revelation 13:2

13:2 Now ¹⁴  the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The ¹⁵  dragon gave the beast ¹⁶  his power, his throne, and great authority to rule. ¹⁷ 

Revelation 13:4

13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority ¹⁸  to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?” ¹⁹ 

Revelation 16:13

16:13 Then ²⁰  I saw three unclean spirits ²¹  that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Revelation 17:3-4

17:3 So ²²  he carried me away in the Spirit ²³  to a wilderness, ²⁴  and there ²⁵  I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 Now ²⁶  the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, ²⁷  and adorned with gold, ²⁸  precious stones, and pearls. She held ²⁹  in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. ³⁰ 

Revelation 20:2

20:2 He ³¹  seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years.

Isaiah 27:1

27:1 At that time ³²  the Lord will punish

with his destructive, ³³  great, and powerful sword

Leviathan the fast-moving ³⁴  serpent,

Leviathan the squirming serpent;

he will kill the sea monster. ³⁵ 

Isaiah 51:9

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ³⁶ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ³⁷  the Proud One? ³⁸ 

Did you not ³⁹  wound the sea monster? ⁴⁰ 

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate that this remark is virtually parenthetical.

² tn Grk “its”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the woman’s escape.

⁶ tn Grk “her seed” (an idiom for offspring, children, or descendants).

⁷ tn Or “who obey.”

⁸ tn Grk “and having.”

⁹ tn Grk “the testimony of Jesus,” which may involve a subjective genitive (“Jesus’ testimony”) or, more likely, an objective genitive (“testimony about Jesus”).

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the dragon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tc Grk ἐστάθη (estaqh, “he stood”). The reading followed by the translation is attested by the better mss (Ì⁴⁷ א A C 1854 2344 2351 pc lat sy^h) while the majority of mss (051 Ï vg^mss sy^ph co) have the reading ἐστάθην (estaqhn, “I stood”). Thus, the majority of mss make the narrator, rather than the dragon of 12:17, the subject of the verb. The first person reading is most likely an assimilation to the following verb in 13:1, “I saw.” The reading “I stood” was introduced either by accident or to produce a smoother flow, giving the narrator a vantage point on the sea’s edge from which to observe the beast rising out of the sea in 13:1. But almost everywhere else in the book, the phrase καὶ εἶδον (kai eidon, “and I saw”) marks a transition to a new vision, without reference to the narrator’s activity. On both external and internal grounds, it is best to adopt the third person reading, “he stood.”

¹² tn Or “sandy beach” (L&N 1.64).

¹³ sn The standard critical texts of the Greek NT, NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, both include this sentence as 12:18, as do the RSV and NRSV. Other modern translations like the NASB and NIV include the sentence at the beginning of 13:1; in these versions chap. 12 has only 17 verses.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the following description of the beast.

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁶ tn Grk “gave it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn For the translation “authority to rule” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

¹⁸ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.

¹⁹ tn On the use of the masculine pronoun to refer to the beast, see the note on the word “It” in 13:1.

²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

²¹ sn According to the next verse, these three unclean spirits are spirits of demons.

²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

²³ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

²⁴ tn Or “desert.”

²⁵ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.

²⁷ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

²⁸ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

²⁹ tn Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

³⁰ tc Several mss (including 1611 1854 2053 Ï^K pc) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneia" th" gh") instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other mss (א sy^h** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneia" aujth" kai th" gh"). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 al}. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (auths would have been read as thsghs), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.

³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

³² tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

³³ tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”

³⁴ tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”

³⁵ tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)

³⁶ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

³⁷ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

³⁸ tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

³⁹ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

⁴⁰ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.