Revelation 13:11-18

Revelation 13:11-18 : the Imperial alter ego or the second beast, a monster from the land (identified afterwards with the traditional “false prophet,” Revelation 16:13; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10). This mythological figure is not any individual like Simon Magus or Alexander of Abonoteichos or Apollonius of Tyana or Balaam redivivus, but a personification of some order or institution devoted to the interests of the empire on its religious side, i.e., the priests of the Cæsar-cult in the provinces and especially (cf. Introd. § 6) in Asia Minor, where the local dignitaries acted through the Diet of Asia in order to superintend and popularise the cult (so Holtzm., Pfleid., Charles, Bartlet, Porter, Bousset, Forbes, Swete). The following description brings out the cunning, suavity, and arrogance of this sacerdotal power.