Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 13:4

"and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? And who is able to war with him?" — Revelation 13:4 (ASV)

And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. (See Barnes on Revelation 12:3; see Barnes on Revelation 13:2).

That is, they in fact worshipped him. The word worship—troskunew—is not always, however, used in a religious sense. It means, properly, to kiss; to kiss towards anyone; that is, to kiss his own hand and extend it towards a person, as a token of respect and homage—Rob. Lex. Compare Job 31:27. Then it means to show respect to one who is our superior; to kings and princes; to parents; and pre-eminently to God. (See Barnes on Matthew 2:2).

The word may be used here to mean that homage or reverence, as to a higher power, was rendered to the "dragon;" not strictly that he was openly worshipped in a religious sense as God. Can anyone doubt that this was the case under Papal Rome; that the power which was set up under that entire domination, civil and ecclesiastical, was such as Satan approved, and such as he sought to have established on the earth? And can anyone doubt that the homage thus rendered, so contrary to the law of God, and so much in derogation of his claims, was in fact homage rendered to this presiding spirit of evil?

And they worshipped the beast. That is, they did it, as is immediately specified, by saying that he was incomparable and invincible; in other words, that he was superior to all others, and that he was almighty. For the fulfillment of this, see Barnes on 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

Who is like unto the beast? That is, he is to be regarded as unequalled and as supreme. This was, in fact, ascribing honors to him which belonged only to God; and this was the manner in which that civil and secular power was regarded in the period understood to be referred to.

It was the policy of rulers and princes in those times to augment in every way possible the respect in which they were held, to maintain that they were the vicegerents of heaven, to claim for themselves sacredness of character and of person, and to secure from the people a degree of reverence which was in fact idolatrous. Never was this more marked than in the times when the Papacy had the ascendancy, for it was its policy to promote reverence for the power that sustained itself, and to secure for itself the idolatrous veneration of the people.

Who is able to make war with him? That is, he is invincible. They thus attributed to him omnipotence—an attribute belonging only to God.

This found a fulfillment in the honor shown to the civil authority that sustained the Papacy, for the policy was to impress the public mind with the belief that that power was invincible. In fact, it was so regarded.

Nothing was able to resist that absolute despotism. The authority of princes and rulers allied with the Papal rule was of the most absolute kind, and the subjugation of the world was complete. There was no civil, as there was no religious liberty; and the whole arrangement was so ordered as to subdue the world to an absolute and uncontrollable power.