All that had transpired Nero's own death heralding a return, and the collapse of his dynasty proving no fatal blow to the empire had simply aggrandised the influence of Rome. The Caesar-cult which characterised it is dubbed a worship of Satan by the indignant prophet. The hymn to the incomparable and invincible beast is a parody of O.T. hymns to God. In the following description (Revelation 13:5-8) two traits are blended: insolent blasphemy towards God and almost irresistible powers of seduction over men. Both are adapted from the classical sketch of Antiochus Epiphanes (in Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:20; Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7), the prototype of that anti-divine force whose climax had been reached, as the prophet believed, in the divine pretensions of the Caesars.

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Old Testament