IV.       Analysis of Revelation 13:11-18

G.        The Image of the Beast

            λέγων τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ποιῆσαι εἰκόνα τῷ θηρίῳ, ὃς ἔχει τὴν πληγὴν τῆς μαχαίρης καὶ ἔζησεν. Καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ δοῦναι πνεῦμα τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ θηρίου, ἵνα καὶ λαλήσῃ ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ θηρίου καὶ ποιήσῃ [ἵνα] ὅσοι ἐὰν μὴ προσκυνήσωσιν τῇ εἰκόνι τοῦ θηρίου ἀποκτανθῶσιν. (13:14b-15)

1.         Textual and Exegetical Issues

a.         ποιήσῃ [ἵνα] ὅσοι {C}

            “The word ἵνα, which seems to be indispensable with ἀποκτανθῶσιν, stands after ποιήσῃ in A P 1006 2065 al, and before ἀποκτανθῶσιν in 051 1 1854 2073 and the Textus Receptus. The latter reading, which is supported by inferior external witnesses, is an obvious scribal amelioration of the difficulty occasioned by ἵνα … ἐάν followed by two verbs in the subjunctive. The omission of ἵνα in ℵ 046 1611 1859 al appears to be accidental, resulting in a shift of subject (“that even the image of the beast should speak; and he shall cause that as many as . . . should be killed” ASVmg). In view of the multiplicity of readings, no one of which clearly explains the origin of the others, a majority of the Committee thought it best to include ἵνα in the text, but to enclose the word within square brackets.” (Metzger, 675-676)

b.         The second beast commands that an image of the first beast be made.

1)         λέγων followed by an infinitive (“to make an image…”) is sufficiently ambiguous in Greek that it could be taken as “he ordered” (so NIV) or “he persuaded” (so REB).

2)         ποιέω is used 30 times in Rev; ποιέω is used 17 times in LXX of Gen. 1-2 for ברא or עשׂה. This seems to be a parody of God’s creating man after his own image:

εἰκόνα θεοῦ (Gen 1:27)       vs.           εἰκόνι τοῦ θηρίου (Rev 13:15)

εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν (Gen 1:26)   εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ (14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4)

3)         εἰκὼν used 23 times in the NT, 10 times in Revelation, all for the image of the beast. Used in LXX of Gen. 1:26-27 of God making man in his own image (צלמ). It is also a blatant violation of the second commandment (Exod 20:4).

εἰκὼν: 1. an object shaped to resemble the form or appearance of someth., likeness, portrait. 2. that which has the same form as someth. else (not a crafted object as in 1 above), living image, fig. ext. of 1 εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ. 3. that which represents someth. else in terms of basic form and features, form, appearance (BDAG).

צֶלֶם:     n.m. image (something cut out, cf. פֶּסֶל) — 1. images of tumours and mice (of gold); esp. of heathen gods; of painted pictures of men. 2. image, likeness, of resemblance, of God’s making man in his own image. 3. fig. = mere, empty, image, semblance, ’ בְּצas ( בessentiae) a (mere) semblance man walks about; צַלְמָם תִּבְזֶה thou wilt despise their semblance (BDB).

ὁμοίωσιν:        LXX translation of דְּמוּת.

דְּמוּת:    n.f. likeness, similitude (mostly late) —1. likeness, similitude, of external appearance (likeness, i.e. something that appeared like). 2. adverbially, in likeness of, like as (BDB).

c.         The second beast is allowed (ἐδόθη) to give breath (πνεῦμα) to the image so that it lives and speaks (gives oracles).

1)         Parody of God breathing into man (Gen 2:7).

            הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים וַיְהִי  /  ἐνεφύσησεν εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ πνοὴν ζωῆς, καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν

2)         Also parodies God’s giving life (πνεῦμα ζωῆς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) back to the two witnesses (Rev 11:11).

3)         God is still in control since he is the one who allows (ἐδόθη) it.

d.         Two words were used of statues: ἄγαλμα and εἰκών. While their meanings overlap, the former usually refers to statues placed in public settings while the latter referred to images honored in the imperial cult. (Aune, 761)

e.         The second beast makes those who dwell on earth worship the image of the beast.

1)         Earth-dwellers (κατοικοῦντας ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) is a technical term in Revelation for those who do not worship God (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:2, 8).

2)         This phrase (ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς) is used 19 times in Revelation (3:10; 5:3, 10, 13; 6:10; 7:1; 8:13; 10:2, 5, 8; 11:10; 13:8, 14; 14:6; 16:18; 17:8; 18:24), 38 times in the rest of the NT, 263 times in the LXX, 56 times in PSEUD.

3)         προσκυνέω is used 24 times, indicating that worship is a major theme in Revelation (Rev 3:9; 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 9:20; 11:1, 16; 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:7, 9, 11; 15:4; 16:2; 19:4, 10, 20; 20:4; 22:8–9).

•           “The Apocalypse divides mankind into the worshippers of the dragon and the beast (13:4, 8, 12, 15; 15:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4; cf. the emphasis on idolatry in 2:14, 20; 9:20) and those who will worship God in the heavenly Jerusalem (7:15; 14:3; 15:3-4; 22:3; cf. 11:1).” (Bauckham, Climax, 135)

•           “In a sense the theme of his whole prophecy is the distinction between true worship and idolatry, a distinction for which Christians in the contemporary situation needed prophetic discernment.” (Bauckham, Climax, 135)

4)         Those who do not worship the image of the beast are put to death

•           Passive: the image does not kill them but has someone else kill them.

•           Antipas had already been put to death in Pergamum (Rev 2:13).

•           The martyrs under the altar most likely others who had been put to death by Nero (Rev 6:9-11; 16:6; 17:6; 20:4).

•           Tradition teaches that Peter and Paul were martyred by Nero.

•           John the Baptist, Stephen, and James had been martyred earlier.

•           Tradition relates the martyrdom of the rest of the apostles, and the Early Church Fathers records the martyrdoms of Polycarp and Justin Martyr.

•           The saints gain victory over the beast “by blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (12:11)

•           They are rewarded and get to stand before God’s throne: “those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.” (15:2)

•           God is judging Rome for the slaughter of all of her innocent victims (18:24).

•           The emphasis is not that Rome persecutes Christians but that because Rome has absolutized its power those who oppose this idolatry by worshipping God through Christ, the only true absolute power, will be persecuted. (Bauckham, Theology, 39)

•           Those who do not receive the mark of the beast will be resurrected and reign with Christ for a thousand years (20:4).

5)         Those who worship the image will be judged by God (14:9-11; 16:2; 19:20).

2.         Literary Background

a.         This scene seems to be built on Daniel 3.

1)         An image is built.

2)         Worship is demanded of all peoples, nations, and languages (Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:1-6) “commanded” (LXX: παραγγέλλεται; THEOD: λέγεται) the nations to worship it.

3)         Death is decreed for all who don’t worship the image.

4)         The king’s advisors are the ones who originate the idea.

5)         While there is no indication in Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar expected to be worshipped as a god, Hippolytus suggested that this is the reason the statue was made. (Comm. on Dan. 3.4)

b.         Ascension of Isaiah: “And he will set up his image before him in every city.” (4:11)

1)         However, here the beast sets up the image and works miracles himself, while in Revelation it is the second beast who does this on behalf of the first beast.

2)         Revelation separates these two aspects of the end time figure while Ascension of Isaiah combines them into one individual. (Bauckham, Climax, 434)

3.         Historical and Cultural Background

a.         Several tyrants attempted to set up images of themselves in the Jerusalem temple.

1)         Manasseh set up a carved image, a molten statue (τὸ γλυπτὸν καὶ τὸ χωνευτόν, εἰκόνα ἣν ἐποίησεν / עָשָׂהאֲשֶׁר הַסֶּמֶל אֶת־פֶּסֶל וַיָּשֶׂם) in the temple (2 Chr 33:7).

2)         Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up a statue of himself as Zeus in temples, even the Jerusalem temple (Joseph. Ant. 14:153; 18:79, 257–302; 19:8–9; Dan 11:30-39; cf. 1 Macc 1:10-15, 20-61; 2 Macc 6:1-11).

3)         Caligula tried to set up a statue of himself in the Jerusalem Temple (Joseph., War 2:184–203; Antiq 18:261–309; Philo Leg 188, 346).

4)         Jesus warned of the “Abomination that causes Desolation” standing in the holy place (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:44).

b.         This statue probably represents the Imperial Cult in Asia Minor.

1)         Domitian granted Ephesus guardianship of his temple with its colossal statue, so everyone in the province worshiped Domitian on the emperor’s birthday. (Keener, in loc.)

2)         There were numerous statues of the emperors in the imperial cult. Ephesus had temples to Julius Caesar, Augustus, Domitian, Hadrian. Imperial statues were venerated everywhere in the cities, in buildings, porticoes, fountains, gates, streets, with incense, wine, and bulls offered to them. (Thompson, 162-163)

3)         A sacred precinct was set apart for the worship of Caligula at Miletus in the province of Asia and two temples were erected for worship of him in Rome.  The Temple of Castor and Pollux on the Forum was linked directly to the Imperial residence on the Palatine and dedicated to Caligula (Dio Cassius, Roman History, 59.28).

4)         Living emperors could be worshipped as divine in the east while only dead Emperors deified by the Senate could be worshipped as divine in Rome. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, 51.20)

•           Caligula claimed divinity (Philo, Leg 353), and took the title optimus maximus Caesar, “Caesar best and greatest” and was greeted as Jupiter. (Suet., Life of Caligula, 22.1-2)

•           Domitian claimed deity (Pliny, Pan, 33.4) and sent letters signed “our Lord
and God” and demanded to be addressed as “Lord and God” (Suet., Life of Domitian, 13.2) or as “master and god” (Dio Cassius, Roman History, 67.5.7).

•           “The imperial cult mediated the presence of an absent emperor.” (Aune, 778)

•           After declaring the freedom of Greece, Nero was hailed by the priest of the imperial cult “the mightiest emperor, philhellene, Nero Zeus god of freedom.” (Bauckham, Climax, 409)

5)         Elaborate machines and pipes were used to make statues move and talk in the ancient world, and theurgists would put magical materials into the statue, making it able to give divine oracles (Osborne, 516), a process called τελεστική or ἡ θεουργικὴ τέχνη that created a connection between the statue and the god it represented (Aune, 763). While the educated elite did not think that the statues were objects to be worshipped, the masses believed that the gods lived in the statues. (Aune, 762)

6)         While there is no evidence for an imperial decree to persecute Christians, Pliny wrote to Trajan that he had executed some Christians for not offering wine and incense to the statue of the emperor (Pliny, Epistle, 96).

4.         Interpretive Options (see Appendix IV)

a.         Preterit

1)         Image of the emperor on coins.

2)         Statues made to appear alive and give oracles through ventriloquism and pulleys.

3)         The Jewish Synagogue displayed in the Jew’s rejection of Christ and the Synagogues forcing Jews to worship the emperor and persecuting Christians.

b.         Idealist

1)         Symbolic of false teachers leading people into worshipping the state.

2)         Men throughout history who have raise statues to themselves for people to revere.

c.         Futurist

1)         A literal statue that comes to life either through demonic animation or trickery. Osborne says the statue of the beast will actually speak without pulleys and ventriloquism. (Osborne, 515)

2)         A statue of the first Beast set up in the final rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.