Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the reading “is to be” or “is to come.” See above on “was, and is not” and “shall ascend.”

 The Greek may be understood as implying that the names appearing in the book of life have been written there ever since “the foundation of the world,” or simply that the book itself has been in existence since that time. Here the latter meaning is intended. Compare on ch. 13:8.

 See on Phil. 4:3.

That is, not listed with those whom God accepts as candidates for His kingdom.

 Gr. thaumazō, “to be amazed,” “to marvel” (see on v. 6). The people of earth are surprised beyond measure to behold the beast, which they had seen go away into the “bottomless pit” (v. 8), return and take up its former activities. They first “wonder” and then worship (see ch. 13:3, 4, 8, 12, 14), that is, yield their willing support to the beast in the pursuit of its blasphemous schemes. Concerning the relationship of the beast of ch. 17 to that of ch. 13 see on ch. 17:3.

 That is, those upon whom the “whore ... sitteth” (v. 1) and who “have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (v. 2). Compare ch. 13:3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 14; see on ch. 17:1, 2.

 Gr. apōleia, “utter destruction,” “annihilation” (see on John 17:12). This indicates the utter end of the beast (cf. Rev. 17:11; see on chs. 19:20; 20:10).

 Gr. abussos, literally, “abyss,” implying vast, measureless space (see on Mark 5:10; Rev. 9:1). In the LXX it generally refers either to the depths of the sea or to subterranean waters. In the LXX of Ps. 71:20 and in Rom. 10:7 it is used of the underworld, or place of the dead, commonly called Hades (see on Matt. 11:23; cf. on 2 Sam. 12:23; Prov. 15:11; Isa. 14:9). Descent into the “abyss” would thus be a fitting term to represent the death of a beast that appeared to have been slain.

Or, “is about to ascend.” The angel still speaks of the career of the beast prior to its rising from the “bottomless pit.” At the time John saw this beast in vision it had already ascended “out of the bottomless pit.”

 When the expression “was, and is not” is repeated at the close of v. 8, the words “yet is”—preferably, “is to be”—appear in place of the words “shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,” used earlier in the verse (see below on “yet is”). Accordingly, the beast “yet is” when it ascends “out of the bottomless pit.” The comparable words in this threefold sequence as given in v. 11 are, “even he is the eighth.” Therefore, when the beast ascends “out of the bottomless pit” and “yet is,” it exists as “the eighth,” literally, “an eighth.” In v. 8 the beast goes “into perdition” after ascending out of “the bottomless pit” and existing for an unspecified period of time as “the eighth.”

 When the beast exists again as “the eighth,” “they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast.” A remarkably similar statement is made in ch. 13:3, 8 (cf. v. 4), of the world’s attitude toward the beast of that chapter when its deadly wound is healed: “All the world wondered after the beast.... And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” If ch. 13 here refers to the same event as ch. 17:8, it follows that the statement “his deadly wound was healed” (ch. 13:3) is equivalent to the expression “shall ascend out of the bottomless pit” (ch. 17:8; cf. ch. 20:3, 7). Similarly, the words “did live” (ch. 13:14) would then be equivalent to the expressions “yet is” and “he is the eight” (ch. 17:8, 11); the wounding of the head (ch. 13:3), the going “into captivity,” and “the wound by a sword” (ch. 13:10, 14) would have their counterpart in the implied descent of the “beast” into the “bottomless pit” (ch. 17:8); and “death” (ch. 13:3) would be equivalent to the “bottomless pit” phase of the experience of the beast.

 The similarities here noted tend to identify the seventh head of the beast as the papal head (see on ch. 17:9, 10). However, this similarity does not necessarily prove identity. For the relationship of the beast of ch. 17 to that of ch. 13 see on ch. 17:3.

 At some time in the past the beast had been active, but then disappeared. This expression is repeated at the close of v. 8 and again in v. 11. Some identify the “was” period of the beast with that of pagan Rome, the “is not” period with the brief interval between the end of pagan persecution and the beginning of papal persecution and the “yet is” period with that of papal Rome. Others equate the “was” period with that represented by the beast and its seven heads, the “is not” period with the interval between the wounding of the seventh head and the revival of the beast as “the eighth,” and the “yet is” period with the revival of the beast when it becomes “the eighth.” Those who hold the former view thus equate the “was” period of the beast with that of the dragon of ch. 12, whereas those who hold the latter view would include also the leopardlike beast of ch. 13. The present tense, “is not,” stresses time sequence.

 That is, the beast of v. 3. John was not shown the beast in either its “was” or its “is not” state, but in its revived state following the “is not” period. However, the angel briefly recounts the past career of this fearful creature by way of identifying the beast as John saw it (see on vs. 8-11).

 In the introduction to the vision (vs. 1, 2) and in the vision itself (vs. 3-6) John’s attention was directed almost exclusively to the woman, and the beast is mentioned almost incidentally. In the Greek of vs. 1-6, according to Nestle’s text, 102 words are devoted to the woman and only 12 to the beast. But in the explanation (vs. 7-18) the angel dwells almost altogether on the beast, together with its heads and horns. In the Greek of vs. 7-18 only 36 words are devoted to the woman and 243 to the beast. This noteworthy difference between the vision and its explanation may suggest that although the announced topic of the vision is the divine sentence pronounced upon mystical Babylon, and although she proves to be the leading character in events depicted by the vision, her brief triumph and sudden fall can be understood only by a careful study of the contribution made by the beast, both to her momentary success and also to her eventual defeat.