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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Revelation 13:4 - 13:4
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They worshipped the dragon (prosekunēsan tōi drakonti). First aorist active indicative of proskuneō, with dative case drakonti (from drakōn). They really worshipped Satan (the dragon) when “they worshipped the beast” (prosekunēsan tōi thēriōi) or any one of the heads (like Caligula, Nero, Domitian) of the beast. The beast is merely the tool of the devil for worship. Recall the fact that the devil even proposed that Jesus worship him. Emperor-worship, like all idolatry, was devil-worship. The same thing is true today about self-worship (humanism or any other form of it).
Who is like unto the beast? (tis homoios tōi thēriōi̱). Associative-instrumental case after homoios. An echo, perhaps parody, of like language about God in Exo 15:11; Psa 35:10; Psa 113:5. “The worship of such a monster as Nero was indeed a travesty of the worship of God” (Swete).
And who is able to war with him? (kai tis dunatai polemēsai met' autou̱). Worship of the devil and the devil’s agent is justified purely on the ground of brute force. It is the doctrine of Nietzsche that might makes right.