Revelation 12:3

And there appeared another wonder in heaven - Represented as in heaven. See the notes on Rev 12:1. That is, he saw this as occurring at the time when the church was thus about to increase.

And behold a great red dragon - The word rendered “dragon” - δράκων drakōn - occurs, in the New Testament, only in the book of Revelation, where it is uniformly rendered as here - “dragon:” Rev 12:3-4, Rev 12:7,Rev 12:9, Rev 12:13, Rev 12:16-17; Rev 13:2, Rev 13:4,Rev 13:11; Rev 16:13; Rev 20:2. In all these places there is reference to the same thing. The word properly means “a large serpent”; and the allusion in the word commonly is to some serpent, perhaps such as the anaconda, that resides in a desert or wilderness. See a full account of the ideas that prevailed in ancient times respecting the dragon, in Bochart, Hieroz. lib. iii. cap. xiv., vol. ii. pp. 428-440. There was much that was fabulous respecting this monster, and many notions were attached to the dragon which did not exist in reality, and which were ascribed to it by the imagination at a time when natural history was little understood. The characteristics ascribed to the dragon, according to Bochart, are, that it was distinguished:

(a)For its vast size;

(b)That it had something like a beard or dew-lap;

(c)That it had three rows of teeth;

(d)That its color was black, red, yellow, or ashy;

(e)That it had a wide mouth;

(f)That in its breathing it not only drew in the air, but also birds that were flying over it; and,

(g)That its hiss was terrible.

Occasionally, also, feet and wings were attributed to the dragon, and sometimes a lofty crest. The dragon, according to Bochart, was supposed to inhabit waste places and solitudes (compare the notes on Isa 13:22), and it became, therefore, an object of great terror. It is probable that the original of this was a huge serpent, and that all the other circumstances were added by the imagination. The prevailing ideas in regard to it, however, should be borne in mind, in order to see the force and propriety of the use of the word by John. Two special characteristics are stated by John in the general description of the dragon: one is, its red color; the other, that it was great. In regard to the former, as above mentioned, the dragon was supposed to be black, red, yellow, or ashy. See the authorities referred to in Bochart, ut sup., pp. 435, 436. There was doubtless a reason why the one seen by John should be represented as red. As to the other characteristic - great - the idea is that it was a huge monster, and this would properly refer to some mighty, terrible power which would be properly symbolized by such a monster.

Having seven heads - It was not unusual to attribute many heads to monsters, especially to fabulous monsters, and these greatly increased the terror of the animal. “Thus Cerberus usually has three heads assigned to him; but Hesiod (Theog. 312) assigns him fifty, and Horace (Ode II. 13, 34) one hundred. So the Hydra of the Lake Lerna, killed by Hercules, had fifty heads (Virgil, Aen. vi. 576); and in Kiddushim, fol. 29, 2, rabbi Achse is said to have seen a demon like a dragon with seven heads” (Prof. Stuart, in loco). The seven heads would somehow denote power, or seats of power. Such a number of heads increase the terribleness, and, as it were, the vitality of the monster. What is here represented would be as terrible and formidable as such a monster; or such a monster would appropriately represent what was designed to be symbolized here. The number seven may be used here “as a perfect number,” or merely to heighten the terror of the image; but it is more natural to suppose that there would be something in what is here represented which would lay the foundation for the use of this number. There would be something either in the origin of the power; or in the union of various powers now combined in the one represented by the dragon; or in the seat of the power, which this would properly symbolize. Compare the notes on Dan 7:6.

And ten horns - Emblems of power, denoting that, in some respects, there were ten powers combined in this one. See the notes on Dan 7:7-8, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:24. There can be little doubt that John had those passages of Daniel in his eye, and perhaps as little that the reference is to the same thing. The meaning is, that, in some respects, there would be a tenfold origin or division of the power represented by the dragon.

And seven crowns upon his heads - Greek, “diadems.” See the notes on Rev 9:7. There is a reference here to some kingly power, and doubtless John had some kingdom or sovereignty in his eye that would be properly symbolized in this manner. The method in which these heads and horns were arranged on the dragon is not stated, and is not material. All that is necessary in the explanation is, that there was something in the power referred to that would be properly represented by the seven heads, and something by the ten horns.

In the application of this, it will be necessary to inquire what was properly symbolized by these representations, and to refer again to these particulars with this view:

(a) “The dragon.” This is explained in Rev 12:9 of this chapter: “And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” So again, Rev 20:2, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil.” Compare Bochart, Hieroz. ii. pp. 439, 440. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the reference here is to Satan, considered as the enemy of God, and the enemy of the peace of man, and especially as giving origin and form to some mighty power that would threaten the existence of the church.

(b) “Great.” This will well describe the power of Satan as originating the organizations that were engaged for so long a time in persecuting the church, and endeavoring to destroy it. It was a work of vast power, controlling kings and nations for ages, and could have been accomplished only by one to whom the appellation used here could be given.

(c) “Red.” This, too, is an appellation properly applied here to the dragon, or Satan, considered as the enemy of the church, and as originating this persecuting power, either:

(1)Because it well represents the bloody persecutions that would ensue, or.

(2)Because this would be the favorite color by which this power would be manifest. Compare Rev 17:3-4; Rev 18:12, Rev 18:16.

(d) “The seven heads.” There was, doubtless, as above remarked, something significant in these heads, as referring to the power designed to be represented. On the supposition that this refers to Rome, or to the power of Satan as manifested by Roman persecution, there can be no difficulty in the application; and, indeed, it is such an image as the writer would naturally use on the supposition that it had such a designed reference. Rome was built, as is well known, on seven hills (compare the notes on Rev 10:3), and was called the seven-hilled city (Septicollis), from having been originally built on seven hills, though subsequently three hills were added, making the whole number ten. See Eschenburg, Manual of Classical Literature, p. 1, section 53. Thus, Ovid:

“Sed quae de septem totum circumspicit orbem.

Montibus, imperii Romae Deumque locus.”

Horace:

“Dis quibus septem placuere colles.”

Propertius:

“Septem urbs alta jugis, toti quae praesidet orbi.”

Tertullian: “I appeal to the citizens of Rome, the populace that dwell on the seven hills” (Apol. 35). And again, Jerome to Marcella, when urging her to quit Rome for Bethlehem: “Read what is said in the Apocalypse of the seven hills,” etc. The situation of the city, if that was destined to he represented by the dragon, would naturally suggest the idea of the seven-headed monster. Compare the notes on Rev. 13. The explanation which is here given of the meaning of the “seven heads” is, in fact, one that is given in the Book of Revelation itself, and there can be no danger of error in this part of the interpretation. See Rev 17:9; “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth,” Compare Rev 12:18.

(e) “The ten horns.” These were emblems of power, denoting that in reference to that power there were, in some respects, ten sources. The same thing is referred to here which is in Dan 7:7-8, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:24. See the notes on Dan 7:24, where this subject is fully considered. The creature that John saw was indeed a monster, and we are not to expect entire congruity in the details. It is sufficient that the main idea is preserved, and that would be, if the reference was to Rome considered as the place where the energy of Satan, as opposed to God and the church, was centered.

(f) “The seven crowns.” This would merely denote that kingly or royal authority was claimed.

The “general” interpretation which refers this vision to Rome may receive confirmation from the fact that the dragon was at one time the Roman standard, as is represented by the annexed engraving from Montfaucon. Ammianus Marcellinus (Joh 16:10) thus describes this standard: “The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat, and the wind blew through it; and it hissed as if in a rage, with its tail floating in several folds through the air.” He elsewhere often gives it the epithet of “purpureus” - purple-red: “purpureum signum draconis, etc.” With this the description of Claudian well agrees also:

“Hi volucres tollent aquilas; hi picta draconum.

Colla levant: multumque tumet per nubila serpens,

Iratus stimulante noto, vivitque receptis.

Flatibus, et vario mentitur sibila flatu.”

The dragon was first used as an ensign near the close of the second century of the Christian era, and it was not until the third century that its use had become common; and the reference here, according to this fact, would be to that period of the Roman power when this had become a common standard, and when the applicability of this image would be readily understood. It is simply Rome that is referred to - Rome, the great agent of accomplishing the purposes of Satan toward the church. The eagle was the common Roman ensign in the time of the republic, and in the earlier periods of the empire; but in later periods the dragon became also a standard as common and as well known as the eagle. “In the third century it had become almost as notorious among Roman ensigns as the eagle itself; and is in the fourth century noted by Prudentius, Vegetius, Chrysostom, Ammianus, etc.; in the fifth, by Claudian and others” (Elliott).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Rev_12:3-4

A great red dragon.

The great war

A contest here is waging which enlists and engages the mightiest powers that exist. It is the great and far-reaching conflict between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, between right and usurpation, between the kingdom of God and the empire of Satan, between heaven and hell--the great war of a divided universe, coming to final issue upon this little world of ours! It is largely silent and invisible. Though raging round us every hour, we perceive so little of it, that many doubt its reality. But its very hiddenness is evidence of its awful greatness. The little broils and disputes of a neighbourhood are loud, and thrust themselves on every ear, because they are confined to a level and limit within easy observation and comprehension; but this conflict we can only know by Divine revelation, because it encompasses so much of eternity, and pertains to spiritual potencies under and behind the outward ongoing of things. But, whether conscious of it or not, such a mighty strife exists, and we ourselves are all parties to it, and combatants in it. If not of the glorious woman, we are of the seven-headed and ten-horned dragon, at war with her, her seed, and her God. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)

The dragon foiled and the Church preserved

Ever since wrong commenced, there has been a bitter antagonism between it and right. Though varying with varied circumstances, all moral wrong and all falsehood have their deep origin in selfishness. This monster-evil displays itself in ten thousand ways, but in essence it is always the same, the substitute of mans individual will for the will of God. Every new unfolding of truth and goodness from heaven finds the state of society previously formed by selfishness and mystery ready to assail it, and if possible to destroy. Thus was it when the Lord Himself came upon the earth. He ushered into the world new doctrines of love and light. The serpent, then, in His case, stood ready to devour, and at length nailed Him to the Cross, crying, Crucify Him! crucify Him! The great dragon is, then, a pretended religion, which is, however, nothing but disguised selfishness. Let us look at each of these features in detail. The serpent, as being the form on earth which corresponds to self-love in its disorderly state, when we call it selfishness, is felt to be truly so instinctively by us all, and is so used throughout the Divine Word. The great business of all religion is to conquer this serpent in every one of us. Unless selfishness is overcome, there can be no progress made. We cannot of ourselves destroy our serpents, but the Lord will give us power to do so. He says (Luk_10:19). By the help of Him, then, who conquered all the efforts of the powers of darkness, and sanctified His own human nature that He might give us power to purify ours, we can obtain the victory over self-love in all its unhappy forms. From being proud we can become truly humble; from being hard and stern we can become gentle and considerate; from being cold and stately we can become warm and happy. We can tread on the serpent of self-love and the scorpion of malignant falsehood, and deprive them of that life by which all things die around them, and fill their places with that heavenly life which is the source of every blessedness. The great and terrible figure before us, then, is indicative of a system which, though prepared to soar, and having much power and much adornment, yet is deeply grounded in selfishness, and would be ready with all its might to oppose the new Church and its heavenly doctrines. It was a serpent, but a serpent with wings--a dragon. Wings are the means by which birds soar, and they correspond to those general truths by means of which mens thoughts soar. But the wings of the dragon are false principles of religion, by which there is an imitation of truth, but only an imitation. There is a flying upwards, but it is only the flying of a serpent. That is to say, it is a system of pretended truth respecting God, and heaven and eternal things, but altogether, in its interior character, selfish. It would be constructed with great ingenuity and skill, indicated by its having seven heads. It would have much power of persuasiveness and apparent truth intimated by its ten horns, and would make a great display of heavenly wisdom, misapplied. The heads are seven, to signify, as that number ever does, completeness, and a relation to holy things; but as they are heads of the dragon, they represent that completed, but perverted, ingenuity by which a false religion satisfies its deluded adherents. Horns are the emblems of power. Horned animals push, and exert their power by means of their horns. The crowns, or diadems, as the Greek word more properly expresses, are literally fillets or bands for the head, beautified with precious stones. They represent, therefore, a display of numerous heavenly truths of considerable brilliancy, for these are spiritual precious stones, but decorating principles inwardly false, nothing but dragons heads. Every religion lives by its real or supposed power of meeting the demands of the soul for inward peace and everlasting happiness. True religion is genuine, pure, healthful, and wears the glorious beauties of heavenly knowledge gracefully. False religion is inwardly corrupt, but decorates herself with many heavenly excellences to charm by outward show, and to hide its interior iniquity. Such, then, is the system before us; secretly the same selfishness which has been the groundwork in every age of all the misery which has afflicted the whole world; but having an apparent air of great intelligence, great plausibility, great power, and an abundant use of the holy truths of the Word, ready, however, to oppose the Lords bride, the New Jerusalem, and devour her manly and genuine doctrine. Selfishness has decorated itself with the appearance of religion, but by its fruits we may know it. It can fly abroad, and show itself as soaring to heaven, but it is only a flying serpent. (J. Bailey, Ph. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:3-4 The large red dragon represents Satan (see 12:9). • seven heads and ten horns: The numbers represent a mixture of divine and created powers (see 17:7-14). • The historic battle between evil and the people of God is staged in cosmic dimensions (see Gen 3:1-7, 14-15; Job 1:9-12). • Herod’s desire to kill Jesus embodied Satan’s attempt to devour her baby after it was born (see Matt 2:7-8, 16).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 12:3. Πυῤῥὸς) Others read πυρὸς,[123] which the ancients formed from πῦρ, as though John should say, μέγαν πυρὸς δράκοντα. But πυρὸς is written for πυῤῥὸς, ch. Rev 6:4. See Apparat. pp. 805, 820. [Ed. ii., pp. 524, 544.] The colour represents the fiery spirit of the dragon.—κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ, seven heads) such as even history commemorates; and in this very city (Hamburgh) the skeleton of such a dragon with seven heads was formerly shown.—Joh. Diet. Winckler. Disquisition, p. 162.

[123] A Vulg. read πυῤῥός. BCh Memph. πυρός.—E.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_12:3-4. By another sign now becoming visible, the mortal enemy of the woman and her child, i.e., the devil, is described to the seer. The idea of the devil (cf. Rev_12:9) as a δράκων[3035] is based upon Genesis 3,[3036] to which the connection of ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας with ὁ ὅφις ὁ αρχ., Rev_12:9, and the interchange of the expressions ὁ δράκων and ὁ ὄφις, Rev_12:13; Rev_12:15, clearly refers. The great size of the dragon may be inferred from his dreadful power;[3037] he appears to be fiery red, either because fire[3038] is the symbol of destruction and corruption,[3039] or because he is the ἈΝΘΡΩΠΟΚΤΌΝΟς ἈΠʼ ἈΡΧῆς,[3040] and also is intent upon the murder of the child of the woman, as well as the murder of all believers;[3041] in favor of the last is especially the circumstance that the representation of the devil is given with concrete distinctness, viz., with respect to the Romish secular power which is drunken with the blood of the martyrs.[3042] The objection that ΠΥῤῬΟς is not blood-red[3043] is not pertinent.[3044]

ἜΧΩΝ ΚΕΦΑΛᾺς

ἙΠΤᾺ-G0- ΔΙΑΔΉΜΑΤΑ-G0-. The two questions as to in what manner the ten horns on the seven diademed heads should be regarded as distributed, and what is the proper meaning and reference of these heads, horns, and diadems, inseparably cohere, but are not to be answered from the context of ch. 12 alone, but only from ch. 13 compared with ch. 17. Upon a mere conjecture depend the views of Vitr., that the middle head (i.e., Diocletian) bore all the ten horns (i.e., governed ten provinces); and of De Wette, that three heads had double horns. The opinion also of Bengel, received by Hengstenb., Ebrard, etc., that one of the heads, viz., the seventh, bore all ten horns, cannot be derived from Rev_17:12.

With respect to the meaning of the heads, etc., only a few among the older allegorists have misjudged that since the seven heads, ten horns, and ten diadems are common to the dragon and the beast furnished with power from the same, ch. 13, the interpretation there given by John himself must regulate the explanation also of ch. 12 The devil manifestly appears as the proper author, working in the deepest foundation of every antichristian being, in such form as corresponds to the form of the beast, i.e., of the antichristian power actually entering this earthly world, and serving the dragon as an instrument. Without any support, therefore, are all such expositions as that of Tirinus, who understands the seven heads of the dragon as the seven deadly sins.[3045] But De Wettes proposition also to explain the heads as an emblem of sagacity, and the horns of power, and the numbers seven and ten as the well-known mystical numbers without precise significance, in no way satisfies the analogy of ch. 13; the numbers also maintain their definite application in ch. 13. (and ch 11), and, therefore, cannot be taken in similar indefiniteness as that of the ΤῸ ΤΡΊΤΟΝ Τ. ἈΣΤ. directly afterwards in Rev_12:4. It is[3046] the antichristian secular power of the Roman Empire which is beheld in ch. 13 under the form of the seven-headed and ten-horned beast;[3047] and, besides, the precise number of heads, horns, and diadems was based upon the historical relations of that empire;[3048] according to this is to be understood the analogous and, as it were, archetypal appearance of the dragon working by means of that secular power.[3049] Erroneous, therefore, are all the explanations which, instead of the concrete reference to the Roman Empire, either introduce extraneous specialties,[3050] or keep to indefinite generality.[3051] The latter applies especially also against Hofm.,[3052] Hengstenb., and Ebrard, who by a false explanation of properly adduced passages, Rev_17:9 and ch. 13, and by an incorrect comparison of the ten horns of the dragon with the ten (still future) kings, Rev_17:12, understand the seven dragon-heads of the seven phases of the godless secular power; but the ten horns, which (improperly) are regarded as on the seven heads, of the tenfold division of that ultimate secular power. Among the older allegorists, Calov. has correctly received the reference as made to Rome, but perverted it by not explaining the seven crowned dragon-heads from the relations of the imperial succession,[3053] but by regarding them as designations of the seven forms of government received in the entire history of Rome.[3054] The corresponding original form of the dragon must also be understood according to the standard, derived from chs. 13 and 17, of the beast in the service of the dragon, through which the Roman secular government with its emperors is symbolized. The ten horns correspond to ten personal rulers, who as emperors stand within the horizon of the prophet as possessors of the Roman Empire: (1) Augustus, (2) Tiberius, (3) Caligula, (4) Claudius, (5) Nero, (6) Galba, (7) Otho, (8) Vitellius, (9) Vespasian, (10) Titus. Thus also in Rev_13:1 the ten horns of the beast, each of which bears a diadem, are meant; but in other respects the same fundamental view in chs. 13 and 17 is not applied and carried out with entire uniformity. The idea that one of the seven heads is mortally wounded, but again healed, applies indeed to the beast of ch. 13, but not to the dragon; and both descriptions, chs. 12 and 13, are distinguished from the statement of ch. 17 especially by the fact that in the former a genuine emperor, the last possessor of the Roman Empire, and ten kings still to come, who are distinguished throughout from those indicated by the ten horns of chs. 12 and 13, come within the sphere of the prophecy; while, on the other hand, ch. 17 makes no further reference to that which is designated in ch. 13 by the mortal wound of the one head, than by the inequality, common to all three chapters, between the number ten of the horns and seven of the heads. The seven heads are expressly designated as seven kings, i.e., emperors; John also says that the sixth is present.[3055] This peculiar relation between the number ten of the emperors and seven of the emperors, can only have the meaning which is indicated in another way also by the healed mortal wound, viz., that only with seven wearers of the diadem is the actual and true possession of the government found,according to which a horn is to be regarded as on each of the seven heads of the dragon (and of the beast, Rev_13:1),[3056]while three among the ten wearers of the diadem, viz., the three chiefs, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, by their rebellion possessed only an uncertain and, as it were, unsettled imperial power.[3057] The three horns, which recall these three usurpers, are on one of the seven heads neither in the dragon nor the beast. Where they are to be regarded, is not to be inferred in the same way from the idea of the forms of the dragon and the beast as the position of the seven (crowned, Rev_13:1) horns on the seven (crowned, Rev_12:3) heads; if John himself had had a precise view of the position of those three horns, he might have regarded themcorresponding to the historical conditionas between the fifth and the sixth crowned heads.

καὶ ἡ οὐρὰ, κ.τ.λ. By a highly dramatic stroke John portrays the track of the dragon, as by moving his dreadful tail hither and thither, he tore away a large (the third, Rev_8:7 sq.) part of the stars of heaven, and cast them down to earth. An undoubted adumbration of this description is Dan_8:10, where a horn that grew up to heaven cast down the stars. But in John the dragon appears ἘΝ Τῷ ΟὐΡΑΝῷ, like the woman, Rev_12:1; the more readily suggested, therefore, is the conception, that while in an eager rage he lashes about his tail, it casts down from heaven the stars which it strikes.[3058] An attempt at false allegorizing lies in this feature of the description, in the fact that the seven heads, etc., have certainly a precise figurative reference; but the circumstance already that the numerical statement ΤῸ ΤΡΊΤΟΝ, Rev_12:4, is to be taken only schematically, while the numbers Rev_12:3 are to be taken with literal accuracy, gives the description another character. The allegorical explanations offered[3059] could be only arbitrary and fluctuating, because they depend entirely upon the error that they seek for a definitely ascribed prophetic thought, where the text gives only the expressive feature of a poetical description; a feature, however, which is important and characteristic in the entire presentation of the dragon, because thereby, in a way corresponding to the nature of dragons[3060] and the visionary locality (ἐν τ. οὐρανῷ), the rage and eagerness of the devil appearing as a dragon are made visible.

The dragon has in view, above all things, the child who is about to be born of the woman; he puts himself[3061] before the travailing woman, in order that, when she have given birth, he may devour the child.

[3035] Cf Kidduschim, p. 29, 2 b.; Wetst.: A demon appeared to him in the form of a dragon having seven heads.

[3036] Cf. 2Co_11:3.

[3037] Cf. Rev_12:4 : κ. ἡ οὐρὰ, κ.τ.λ..

[3038] Cf. Rev_9:17 sqq.

[3039] Ebrard.

[3040] Joh_8:44.

[3041] Vict., N. de Lyra, C. a Lap., Aret., De Wette, Hengstenb., etc.

[3042] Cf. Rev_17:4; Rev_17:6.

[3043] Ebrard.

[3044] Cf. on Rev_6:4.

[3045] The pride of the lion, the greed of the tiger, the luxury of the bear, the gluttony of the wolf, the enmity of the serpent, the wrath of the viper, the indolence of the ass.

[3046] Cf. already Vict.

[3047] Cf. Dan_7:7.

[3048] Cf. Rev_13:1, Rev_17:9 sqq.

[3049] Cf. Grot., Wetst., Ew.

[3050] N. de Lyra: Khosroo, the Persian king, hostile to Christianity, is the seventh head; the six others are vassal kings, the ten horns, divisions of the army. Cf. also Coccej., Beng., etc.

[3051] Beda: The devil armed with the power of the earthly kingdom. The seven heads = all his kings; the ten horns = the whole kingdom.

[3052] The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes; the dragon has seven heads as a sign that his power is not indivisible; but the number of the powers into which his kingdom is dispersed is that of divine possibility. But his horns, i.e., the instruments of his strength, are ten, according to the number of human possibility. Weiss: U. Erf., ii. p. 349.

[3053] Cf. Rev_17:10, Rev_13:3.

[3054] 1. Kings. 2. Consuls. 3. Decemviri. 4. Military tribunes. 5. Dictators. 6. Cæsars. 7. Odoacer, or even the Roman pontiffs.

[3055] Rev_17:10.

[3056] The diadems are found, with the dragon, on the heads; with the beast, on the horns; corresponding in the one place to the number seven of actual emperors, and in the other to the number ten of all possessors of the government.

[3057] Cf. Sueton., Vesp., i.

[3058] Cf. Eichh., Ew.

[3059] Cf., e.g., Beda: It indicates the strength and malice of the enemy, who by deceitful arts, as though with his tail, cast down an innumerable part of angels or men. Aret.: The tail is the end of timethe Papacy, for to this the Roman Empire at length degenerated. Vitr.: The devil, through the emperors of Rome, persecutors of the faith, caused the teachers of the gospel to be disturbed. In like manner, Grot., who refers the οὑρά to Simon Magus, who led astray the third part, not only of Christian people, but also of the people. Calov., Beng., Stern, etc.: The victory of earthly rulers. Ebrard, etc.: The seduction of the angels. The best still, De Wette: Violence perpetrated in the kingdom of light.

[3060] Dragons have their power, not in their teeth, but in their tails (Solin, 30, in Wetst.).

[3061] Concerning the natural presupposition lying in the ἕστηκεν, cf. Plin., H. N., viii. Revelation 3 : It propels its body, not by manifold bending, as do other serpents, but by walking high and erect, in the midst (Wetst.).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 12:3 . πυρρός , Vergil’s serpents which attack Laokoon have blood-red crests, and Homer’s dragon has a blood-red back, but here the trait ( cf. above) is reproduced from the red colour of Typhon, the Egyptian dragon who persecuted Osiris (Plut. de Iside , 30 33). The seven heads are taken from the seven-headed hydra or mušmaḥḥu of Babylonian mythology. The devil’s deputy in Rev 13:1 (= the composite mušruššu of Babylonia) has the same equipment of horns and heads, but the diadems adorn his horns. Here, to John’s mind at any rate ( cf. Rev 12:9 ), the dragon is not equivalent to any contemporary pagan power like Pompey (Ps. Sol. 2:29) or the king of Babylon.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thereby to withstand those seven Churches spoken of, that is the Catholic Church, and that with kingly furniture and tyrannical magnificence: signified by the crowns set upon his heads, and if the same without controversy belonged unto him by proper right: as also he boasted unto Christ, Matt. 4:9. See after, upon Rev. 13:1.

That is the devil or Satan (as is declared verse 9,) mighty, angry, and full of wrath.

More than are the horns of the Lamb, or than the Churches are: so well furnished doth the tyrant brag himself to be, unto all manner of mischief.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

appeared--"was seen."

wonder--Greek, "semeion," "sign."

red--So A and Vulgate read. But B, C, and Coptic read, "of fire." In either case, the color of the dragon implies his fiery rage as a murderer from the beginning. His representative, the beast, corresponds, having seven heads and ten horns (the number of horns on the fourth beast of Dan 7:7; Rev 13:1). But there, ten crowns are on the ten horns (for before the end, the fourth empire is divided into ten kingdoms); here, seven crowns (rather, "diadems," Greek, "diademata," not stephanoi, "wreaths") are upon his seven heads. In Dan 7:4-7 the Antichristian powers up to Christ's second coming are represented by four beasts, which have among them seven heads, that is, the first, second, and fourth beasts having one head each, the third, four heads. His universal dominion as prince of this fallen world is implied by the seven diadems (contrast the "many diadems on Christ's head," Rev 19:12, when coming to destroy him and his), the caricature of the seven Spirits of God. His worldly instruments of power are marked by the ten horns, ten being the number of the world. It marks his self-contradictions that he and the beast bear both the number seven (the divine number) and ten (the world number).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

NOTES ON CHAP. XII., BY J. E. C.

Verse 3. There appeared another wonder-a great red dragon] The dragon here is a symbol, not of the Roman empire in general, but of the HEATHEN Roman empire. This great pagan power must have, therefore, been thus represented from the religion which it supported. But what is a dragon? An entirely fabulous beast of antiquity, consequently, in this respect, a most proper emblem of the heathen worship, which consisted in paying adoration to numerous imaginary beings, termed gods, goddesses, c. The very foundation of the heathen religious system is mostly built upon fable and it is very difficult to trace many of their superstitions to any authentic original; and even those which appear to derive their origin from the sacred writings are so disguised in fable as literally to bear no more resemblance to the truth than the dragon of the ancients does to any animal with which we are acquainted. But it may be asked why the Spirit of God should represent the heathen Roman empire as a dragon, rather than by anger other of the fabulous animals with which the mythology of the ancient Romans abounded. The answer is as follows; In the eighth chapter of the Prophet Daniel, God has represented the kingdom of the Greeks by a he-goat, for no other apparent reason than this, that it was the national military standard of the Grecian monarchy; we may therefore expect that the pagan Roman empire is called a DRAGON on a similar account. In confirmation of this point it is very remarkable that the dragon was the principal standard of the Romans next to the eagle, in the second, third, fourth, and fifth centuries of the Christian era. Of this we have abundant evidence in the writings of both heathens and Christians. Arrian is the earliest writer who has mentioned that dragons were used as military standards among the Romans. See his Tactics, c. 51. Hence Schwebelius supposes that this standard was introduced after Trajan's conquest of the Daci. See Vegetius de Re Militari a Schwebelio, p. 191, Argentorati, 1806; and Graevii Thesaur., Antiq. Roman., tom. x., col. 1529. Vegetius, who flourished about A.D. 386, says, lib. ii. c. 13: Primum signum totius legionis est aquila, quam aquilifer portal. DRACONES etiam per singulas cohortes a draconariis feruntur ad praelium. "The first standard of the whole legion is the eagle, which the aquilifer carries. DRAGONS are also borne to battle by the Draconarii." As a legion consisted of ten cohorts, there were therefore ten draconarii to one aquilifer; hence, from the great number of draconarii in an army, the word signarii or signiferi, standard-bearers, came at last to mean the carriers of the dragon standards only, the others retaining the name of aquiliferi.-See Veget., lib. ii. c. 7, and his commentators. The heathen Roman empire is called a RED dragon; and accordingly we find from the testimony of ancient writers that the dragon standards of the Romans were painted red. We read in Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xvi., c. 12, of PURPUREUM signum draconis, "the purple standard of the dragon." See also Claudianus in Rufinum, lib. ii., l. 177, 178. Pitiscus, in his Lexicon Antiq. Rom., and Ducange, in his Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis, sub voc. Draco, have considered this subject at great length, especially the latter writer, who has made several quotations from Claudianus, Sidonius, Prudentius, and others, in which not only the standard, but also the image of the dragon itself, is stated to be of a red or purple colour. Of what has been said above respecting the dragon, this is then the sum: a huge fabulous beast is shown to St. John, by which some GREAT PAGAN power is symbolically represented; and the RED dragon is selected from among the numerous imaginary animals which the fancies of mankind have created to show that this great pagan power is the heathen ROMAN empire.

Having seven heads] As the dragon is an emblem of the heathen Roman power, its heads must denote heathen forms of government.-See Clarke on Re 17:10, where the heads of the beast are explained in a similar way. These were exactly seven, and are enumerated by Tacitus (Annal., lib. i., in principio) in words to the following effect: "The city of Rome was originally governed by kings. L. Brutus instituted liberty and the consulate. The dictatorship was only occasionally appointed; neither did the decemviral power last above two years; and the consular power of the military tribunes was not of long continuance. Neither had Cinna nor Sylla a long domination: the power of Pompey and Crassus was also soon absorbed in that of Caesar; and the arms of Lepidus and Antony finally yielded to those of Augustus." From this passage it is evident to every person well acquainted with the Roman history, that the seven forms of government in the heathen Roman world were, 1. The regal power; 2. The consulate; 3. The dictatorship; 4. The decemvirate; 5. The consular power of the military tribunes; 6. The triumvirate; and, 7. The imperial government.

It is singular that commentators in general, in their citation of this passage, have taken no notice of the triumvirate, a form of government evidently as distinct from any of the others as kings are from consuls, or consuls from emperors. For the triumvirate consisted in the division of the Roman republic into three parts, each governed by an officer possessed with consular authority in his own province; and all three united together in the regulation of the whole Roman state. Consequently, it differed entirely from the imperial power, which was the entire conversion of the Roman state from a republic to a monarchy.

And ten horns] That these ten horns signify as many kingdoms is evident from the seventh chapter of Daniel, where the angel, speaking of the fourth beast, says, that "the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise;" and in this view of the passage many commentators are agreed, who also admit that the ten kingdoms are to be met with "amid the broken pieces of the Roman empire." And it is evident that nothing less than the dismemberment of the Roman empire, and its division into ten independent kingdoms, can be intended by the angel's interpretation just quoted. If, therefore, the ten horns of Daniel's fourth beast point out as many kingdoms, for the very same reason must the horns of the dragon have a similar meaning. But the Roman empire was not divided into several independent kingdoms till a considerable time after it became Christian. In what sense then can it be said that the different kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided by the barbarous nations are horns of the dragon? They were so because it was the Roman monarchy, in its seventh DRACONIC form of government, which was dismembered by the barbarians. For though the Roman empire was not completely dismembered till the fifth century, it is well known that the depression of the heathen idolatry, and the advancement of Christianity to the throne, elected not the least change in the form of government: the Romans continued still to be under subjection to the imperial power; and, consequently, when the heathen barbarous nations divided the Roman empire among themselves, they might very properly be denominated horns of the dragon, as it was by means of their incursions that the imperial power, FOUNDED by the heathen Caesars, was abolished. Machiavel and Bishop Lloyd enumerate the horns of the dragon thus: 1. The kingdom of the Huns; 9. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths; 3 The kingdom of the Visigoths; 4. The kingdom of the Franks; 5. The kingdom of the Vandals; 6. The kingdom of the Sueves and Alans; 7. The kingdom of the Burgundians; 8. The kingdom of the Heruli, Rugii, Scyrri, and other tribes which composed the Italian kingdom of Odoacer; 9. The kingdom of the Saxons; and 10. The kingdom of the Lombards.

And seven crowns upon his head.] In the seven Roman forms of government already enumerated, heathenism has been the crowning or dominant religion.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) And there appeared . . .—Better, And another sign was seen in the heaven; and behold a great red dragon. This, too, is a sign, and has a meaning. The dragon stands for some dread and hostile power. “The dragon is that fabulous monster of whom ancient poets told, as large in size, coiled like a snake, blood red in colour . . . insatiable in voracity, and ever athirst for human blood”—a fit emblem of him whom our Lord declared to be a murderer from the beginning; for the dragon is intended here to describe him who, in Rev_12:9, is also said to be that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan. The red colour is the colour of flame and blood, and the symbol of destruction and slaughter. The dragon is the emblem of the evil spirit, the devil, the perpetual antagonist of good, the persecutor of the Church in all ages (comp. Psa_74:13): just as the dragon is sometimes employed to represent the Egyptian power, the ancient foe of Israel (Isa_51:9; Eze_29:3).

Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns (diadems) upon his heads.—This is the further description of the dragon. He is one, yet diverse; one, as an evil spirit; diverse, in the varieties of his power. The woman is hut one: but her foe is multiform; she has one trust to keep, one work to do, and can but fulfil it in her Master’s way: evil is bound by no law, regards no scruple, and exerts its power through any channel and by every means. Is there not also an assumption of divine similitude here in the use of the number seven? It is at least the representation of the great and world-wide power which he exercises as the prince of this world, whose kingdom is in much a parody of the true kingdom. The whole description should be compared with the account given of the beast in Rev_17:3; Rev_17:7; Rev_17:10; Rev_17:12. There the seven heads are explained as seven kings, and the heads here are crowned; the ten horns are also explained as ten kings. The sevenfold kingship and the tenfold power of the world are thus described as belonging to the dragon. The picture here, as the picture of the wild beast in Revelation 17, represents, as concentrated into a single hostile form, all the varying forces and successive empires which have opposed or oppressed the people of God, and sought to destroy their efforts for good: for all evil has its root in a spirit at enmity with God. Hence the dragon appears armed with all the insignia of those sovereignties and powers which have been animated by this spirit.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. dragon] The word in classical Greek means simply “serpent,” though perhaps it was always specially applied to the larger or more formidable kinds. But in St John’s time the conception seems to have been familiar of a half-mythical kind of serpent, to which the name was appropriated: it had not gone so far as the mediæval type of “dragon,” with legs and wings, but the dragon was supposed to “stand” (see the next verse), hardly perhaps “on his rear,” as Milton imagines the Serpent of Eden to have done, before the curse of Gen_3:14, but erect from the middle upwards; see Verg. Æn. II. 206–8. Whether this dragon bore visibly on him the primæval curse or no, there is an undoubted reference to the story of the Fall in this picture of the woman, the man, and the serpent. In Psa_74:13-14 (14, 15); Job_26:13; Isa_27:1; Isa_51:9, we seem to find references to a “war in heaven,” either past or future, like that which follows here.

seven heads] Probably the vision avails itself of the imagery furnished by popular mythology: very likely Syria and Palestine had tales of seven-headed serpents, like the hydra of Lerna, or the cobras of modern Indian stories.

and ten horns] The only illustration of these is, that the beast of chaps. 13, 17 and of Daniel 7 has the like. But we must remember that the dragon is the archetype, not a copy, of the beast: and therefore the meaning here is probably more general: all unsanctified power is embodied in him (cf. St Luk_4:6), as all the power of holiness in the Lamb (chap. Rev_5:6).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven,.... Or "sign"; which represents the woman, or the church's adversary, Satan; not that he was in heaven, in the third heaven, the place of glory and happiness, for out of that he had been cast long ago; but in his great power and authority here on, earth, particularly in the Roman empire, where the church was labouring to bring forth her man child:

and behold a great red dragon; the devil, as it is explained in Rev 12:9; though not he in person, but the Heathen Roman empire, or the Heathen Roman emperors, acted, influenced, directed, and presided over by him; so Pharaoh king of Egypt, and other cruel and persecuting monarchs and states, are called dragons in Scripture, Isa 27:1; all which places the Targum interprets of "a king", and particularly of Pharaoh king of Egypt; who is like to a great and mighty dragon: and the Roman Pagan empire, as under the influence of Satan, the god of this world, is fitly compared to a "dragon", for its policy and cunning in circumventing and ensnaring the professors of Christianity; and for its cruelty and inhumanity in persecuting of them; and for its poison of idolatry, will worship, and superstition: and it may be called a "great" one, for its strength and power, which lay in its immense treasure and riches, in numbers of men, in powerful armies, in strong cities, castles, &c. and for its large extent and jurisdiction; and a "red" one, because of the blood of the saints shed in it, by which it became of this colour; suitable to the character and bloody practices of the old serpent the devil, by whom it was influenced, who was a murderer from the beginning; and agreeably to one of the names by which the Jews (x) frequently call the Roman empire Edom, the name Esau had from the red pottage he sold his birthright for, and who himself was born red, Gen 25:29; it seems there were red dragons; Homer (y) says of the dragon, that it is red upon its back:

having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads; the "seven heads" of the Roman empire either design the seven mountains, or hills, on which Rome, the metropolis of the empire, was built, as the seven heads of the beast on which the woman drunk with the blood of the saints sat, are explained in Rev 17:9; or rather the seven forms of government which successively should obtain in the empire, as kings, consuls, decemvirs, dictators, tribunes, emperors, and popes; hence these heads are said to have "seven crowns" upon them, as expressive of the imperial power and dignity which were in them, and exercised by them: Mr. Daubuz thinks seven capital cities in the Roman empire are meant, as Rome, Carthage, Aege, Antiochia, Augustodunum, Alexandria, and Constantinople; and nothing is more common than to call chief cities the heads of the countries they belong unto, as Damascus the head of Syria, and Samaria the head of Ephraim, Isa 7:8. Pliny (z) calls Babylon the head of Chaldea; and Cornelius Nepos says (a) of Thebes, that it was the head of all Greece; and Syracuse is by Florus (b) called the head of Sicily, as Rome is in Livy (c), and other writers, the head of the world: and by the "ten horns" are meant either the ten kingdoms which should hereafter arise out of the Roman empire, and whose kings should give their kingdoms to the beast; or the ten Roman emperors, the persecutors of the Christians; or rather the ten provinces, or jurisdictions, which the empire was divided into while Pagan: Brightman out of Strabo has shown, that in the times of Augustus Caesar the Roman empire was distributed into two parts, the one was more immediately under the care of the emperor, and the other was governed by deputies; and each were divided into ten provinces; that which the emperor held consisted of Africa, France, Britain, Germany, Dacia with Mysia and Thracia, Cappadocia, Armenia, Syria, Palestine with Judea and Egypt, in all ten; and that part which was governed by deputies were the outermost Spain, and the isles by it, the innermost Spain, &c. Sardinia with Corsica, Sicily, Illyricum with Epirus, Macedonia, Achaia, Crete with Cyreniaca, Cyprus, Bithynia with Propontis; so that the Roman Pagan empire, as under the dominion of Satan, is manifestly designed by the dragon thus described. The Jews (d) speak of ten horns which the Israelites had, which when they sinned were taken from them, as it is written, Lam 2:3, and were given to the nations of the world, according to Dan 7:20; "and of the ten horns that were in his head", &c.

(x) Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Rab. in voce (y) Iliad. 2. l. 308. (z) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 26. (a) In Vita Epaminond. l. 15. c. 10. (b) Hist. Roman. l. 2. c. 6. (c) Hist. l. 21. c. 30. (d) Echa Rabbati, fol. 53. 2, 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Ver. 3. Another wonder in heaven] That is, in the Church, which is called heaven; for, 1. Its original is from heaven, Joh 1:13

2. Its tendency to heaven, Heb 11:14; Heb 3:1-19. Its conversation in heaven, Php 3:20; Php 4:1-23. Its dependence upon heaven, Jas 1:17.

A great red dragon] A dragon the devil is called for his sharp-sightedness (the dragon hath a very quick eye, and is said to sleep with open eyes, Mr Arrowsmith), as also for his mischievousness to mankind; and lastly for his serpentine subtilty, Gen 3:1. {a} The comfort is, that as the devil is a lion, so is Christ; there is courage for courage. And as the devil is a serpent, so Christ compares himself to the brazen serpent; there is wisdom for wisdom. A great dragon the devil is, as being god of the world; and red all over with the blood of souls, which he hath swallowed down, as St Peter hath it, 1Pe 5:8. It noteth him also to be a fiery dragon, fiery red, full of wrath and rancour.

Seven heads] To plot, and ten horns to push men into the pit of hell.

Seven crowns upon his head] Pretended authority for what he did against the Church. It passed in France in manner of a proverb, that the modern Council (of Trent) had more authority than that of the apostles, because their own pleasure was a sufficient ground for the decrees, without admitting the Holy Ghost. That Popish council was carried with such infinite guile and craft, that the Papists themselves will even smile in the triumphs of their own wits (when they hear it but mentioned) as at a master stratagem. By these seven crowns some understand the supremacy of the Roman empire, prevailing against the Church.

{a} δρακων παρα το δερκειν. παρα το δραυ αχος. Scalig.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Another wonder in heaven; that is, in the Church of Christ, though revealed to St. John, in the visions, as if they were seen in heaven. --- A great red dragon; a fiery dragon, with seven heads and ten horns; i.e. many heads and many horns. By the dragon is generally understood the devil, (see ver. 7 and 9) and by the heads and horns, kings and princes, who act under him, persecuting the servants of God. (Witham) --- Dragon, &c. the devil; and by the seven heads and ten horns, are meant those princes and governors who persecute the Church of Christ. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; there appeared to John, being yet in his vision, another amazing sight, which was a sign or type of something differing from what it appeared like.

And behold a great red dragon: see Rev 12:7,9,17. Most judicious interpreters, by the great red dragon, understand the Roman emperors that first persecuted: the Christian church, of which Claudius was the first; yet some understand it of the devil, the old serpent; but the most and best interpreters understand it of the pagan emperors, by whom the devil did this work, called a great dragon, because of the vastness of that empire; a red dragon, for their cruelty against the Christians.

Having seven heads; the Holy Ghost, Rev 17:9, hath expounded these seven heads, by seven mountains. The

ten horns are thought to signify the ten provinces belonging to that empire, the governors of which ruled like ten kings. It is expounded by

ten kings, Rev 17:12. Strabo tells us, that Augustus Caesar divided the whole empire into twenty provinces; ten of which, being more quiet, he gave to the people to govern, the other ten he reserved to his own government. The seven crowns are expounded by seven kings, Rev 17:10, of which we shall speak more when we come so far.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Dragon—Name and shape allude to the Edenic serpent. With this primitive serpent the present dragon is very expressly identified in Rev_12:9, and again re-identified in Rev_20:2. He is the personal Satan, Rev_12:9, arrayed in the skin of the Roman empire. So Rome’s great predecessor, Egypt, Eze_29:3, is a dragon: “I am against thee, Pharaoh, the great dragon that liest in the midst of its rivers.” Probably the physical reference is to the crocodile. In the second and third centuries of our era the dragon was adopted as a Roman ensign, and is thus described by Ammianus Marcellinus: “The dragon was covered with purple cloth, and fastened to the end of a pike gilt and adorned with precious stones. It opened its wide throat, and the wind blew through it; and it hissed, as if in a rage, with its tail floating in several folds through the air.”—Elliott.

Red—Fire-coloured, not blood-coloured; yet indicating both his slaughterous character and his hellish origin. The seven heads subsequently referred, physically, to the seven hills of Rome, (Rev_17:9,) and politically to the seven great empires of which Rome is the sixth and seventh. Notes Rev_17:10. It is clear that the dragon is here symbol of Roman paganism, as the woman is symbol of the Christianity that paganism would destroy. The ten horns refer, perhaps, basally, to the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire immediately fell, analogous to the ten toes of Daniel’s image, and ultimately to the universality of modern nations. Notes Rev_17:12-14. It is a remarkable inconsistency in Alford that he admits the symbolism of the woman as the Christian Church, and yet ignores that of her antagonist, the dragon, as heading the antichurch of antichrist. And yet it is notable how antithetically our seer places before us the two in position in Rev_12:1-4, before he proceeds to narrate the action.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and there was seen another sign in heaven (Revised Version). (See on ver. 1) The appearance seen is not a representation of the devil as he actually is, but the sign the dragon is figurative and descriptive of the particular characteristics now about to be exhibited. In heaven most likely merely in the space above, where he could be easily seen. Wordsworth, however, says, "Because the power here represented assails the Church, the kingdom of heaven." And behold a great red dragon. His identity is established by ver. 9, where he is called "the great dragon, the old serpent, the devil, Satan, the deceiver." Red; no doubt to enhance his terrible appearance; suggestive of his murderous, destructive character. "Dragon (drakwn ,) in the New Testament occurs only in this book. In the Old Testament the word is of frequent occurrence. In the LXX drakwn is used seventeen times to express the Hebrew tannin (a sea or land monster, especially a crocodile or serpent); five times it stands for leviathan; twice it represents kephir (young lion); twice nachash (serpent); once "attud (he-goat); and once pethen (python). Tannin (singular) is always rendered by drakwn except in Gen_1:21, where we find khtov ; but twice it is corrupted into tannim. (viz. Eze_29:3 Eze_32:2) The latter word, tannim, is the plural of tan (a jackal), and is found only in the plural; but once it is found corrupted into tannin. (Lam_4:3) There is no doubt as to the signification of the appearance. The dragon, is, in the Old Testament, invariably a symbol of what is harmful, tyrannous, murderous. It is a hideous, sanguinary monster, sometimes inhabiting the sea, sometimes the desolate places of the earth, always "seeking whom it may devour." In some passages it refers to Pharaoh; (Psa_74:13; cf. Eze_29:3 Eze_32:2) in others it is a type of what is noxious or desolate. (Job_7:12 Isa_13:22 Isa_34:13 Psa_44:19 Jer_9:11, etc.) In Isa_27:1 we have the combination, "leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; ... the dragon that is in the sea." Having seven heads and ten horns. The description of the beasts in Revelation 12-17, is evidently derived from the vision of Daniel, (Da 7) although the details differ. It seems reasonable to conclude, therefore, that the interpretation generally should follow the same lines as that applied to the Old Testament symbols, with which the writer was so familiar. The appearances described in Daniel are universally considered to typify various worldly powers which oppressed the Church and nation of the Jews. Similarly here the symbolism seems intended to portray the opposition of the devil to the Church of God, working through the power of the world. The heads and horns are both declared in Rev_17:10, 12 to typify kingdoms in what way we shall presently see. (Rev_17:10) The numbers seven and ten are both symbolical of completeness. (see Rev_1:4 Rev_5:1 Rev_13:1 Rev_17:3) We have, therefore, in this picture of the dragon, the idea of the full and complete power of the world arrayed on earth against God and his Church. This power, connected with and derived from the devil, the prince of this world, (Joh_12:31) is often alluded to by St. John as being opposed to, or in contrast with, the godly. (see Joh_7:7 Joh_14:17 Joh 15 Joh 16 Joh 17 1Jn_2:15 1Jn_3:13 1Jn_5:4, etc.) And seven crowns upon his heads; seven diadems (Revised Version). That is, the kingly crown, the symbol of sovereignty, worn by the dragon to denote his power as "prince of this world." The word diadhmata is found in the New Testament only here and Rev_13:1 and Rev_19:12. It is not the stefanov , the crown of victory worn by the saints. (see Rev_2:10 Rev_3:11 Rev_6:2, etc.) No account is given of the disposition and arrangement of the heads, horns, and diadems; nor is it necessary. The seven crowned heads signify universal sovereignty; the ten horns, absolute power. Probably those to whom St. John wrote understood the symbol as referring specially to the power of heathen Rome, which was at that time oppressing the Church; but the meaning extends to the power of the world in all ages. (see on Rev_13:1)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And behold a great red dragon - His fiery-red colour denoting his disposition. Having seven heads - Implying vast wisdom. And ten horns - Perhaps on the seventh head; emblems of mighty power and strength, which he still retained. And seven diadems on his heads - Not properly crowns, but costly bindings, such as kings anciently wore; for, though fallen, he was a great potentate still, even "the prince of this world."

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The church was described before: her arch-enemy, the devil, is described now: he is called a dragon for his subtility, a great dragon for his power, a red dragon for his fiery curelty. His seven heads denote his manifold subtilities, and mischievous contrivances, his devices and wicked imaginations against the church; his ten horns denote his vast power and great strength, both in himself and his members; also the number and power of his agents, who serve as horns to push and hurt the church.

His seven crowns upon his head denote his regal power, which he holds by usurpation, and his many victories and conquests which he obtains in the world, yet over none but those who are willingly overcome by him.

The whole of the description represents Satan as a powerful, subtle, cruel, victorious adversary. All which properties he discovers in the assault he makes upon the ministers of the church, called stars of heaven, which he endeavours to cast down to the earth; that is, to hinder their shining in the firmament of the church.

Hence learn, 1. What a mighty enemy the church has, fierce and fiery, red and bloody, full of craft and cruelty, of power and policy; and how deplorable her condition would by, if the Lord himself was not on her side.

Learen, 2. Who is prime author of all that curelty and bloodshed against the church of God, even the red dragon with its heads and horns, his ministers and agents: the greatest monarchs upon earth, if they gore and hurt the church, are the base heads and horns of this monstrous dragon.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3, 4. Behold a great red dragon. Another wonder is seen, also in the sky, a great serpent-like figure, red, with seven heads and ten horns. This figure, we learn from verse 9, is a devilish manifestation. The devil uses it for his purposes. The red color implies a persecuting power. The seven heads are explained in 17:9, where the seven-headed beast appears again, to be seven mountains, and also seven kingdoms; the ten horns are there said to be ten kingdoms which did not yet exist. We have also this monster appearing substantially in Dan., chapter 7. I will discuss it more particularly in chapter, but will here say that there is little doubt that it represents the persecuting powers of the earth which have opposed God and his Israel; the great world powers arrayed against God. This world power appears as Pagan Rome in the persecution of the Woman; the Church. The dragon was the standard of Pagan Rome in the third century, as testified by many ancient writers.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

John describes a dragon that appears in his vision.

dragon

This was a large, fierce reptile, like a lizard. For Jewish people, it was a symbol of evil and chaos. (See: Symbolic Language)

His tail swept away a third of the stars

"With his tail he swept away a third of the stars"

a third

"one third." See how you translated this in Revelation 8:7. (See: Fractions)

translationWords

sign

heaven

horn

crown

devour

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. δράκων. The word in classical Greek means simply “serpent,” though perhaps it was always specially applied to the larger or more formidable kinds. But in St John’s time the conception seems to have been familiar of a half-mythical kind of serpent, to which the name was appropriated: it had not gone so far as the mediæval type of “dragon,” with legs and wings, but the dragon was supposed to “stand” (see the next verse), hardly perhaps “on his rear,” as Milton imagines the Serpent of Eden to have done, before the curse of Gen 3:14, but erect from the middle upwards; see Verg. Æn. II. 206–8. Whether this dragon bore visibly on him the primæval curse or no, there is an undoubted reference to the story of the Fall in this picture of the woman, the man, and the serpent. In Psa 74:13-14 (14, 15); Job 26:13; Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9, we seem to find references to a “war in heaven,” either past or future, like that which follows here.

κεφαλὰς ἑπτά. Probably the vision avails itself of the imagery furnished by popular mythology: very likely Syria and Palestine had tales of seven-headed serpents, like the hydra of Lerna, or the cobras of modern Indian stories.

καὶ κέρατα δέκα. The only illustration of this is, that the Beast of chaps. 13, 17. and of Daniel 7. has the like. Possibly, though the dragon is the archetype, not a copy, of the Beast, his appearance is known by that of the Beast: possibly the meaning here is more general: all unsanctified power is embodied in him (cf. St Luk 4:6), as all the power of holiness in the Lamb (chap. Rev 5:6).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Red [πυρρος] . See on ch. Rev 6:4.

Dragon [δρακων] . Satan. See ver. 9. The word is found only in Revelation. In the Septuagint, of the serpent into which Moses ' rod was changed. In Isa 27:1; Eze 29:3, of the crocodile or leviathan of Job 41:1. In Jer 51:34, of a dragon.

Crowns [διαδηματα] . The Kingly crown, not the chaplet [στεφανος] . See on ch. Rev 2:10

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.