Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 17:11

"And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition." — Revelation 17:11 (ASV)

This verse presents all interpreters with a real difficulty. One interpretation refers the language to the Nero redivivus myth ()— namely, that a revived Nero will be the reincarnation of the evil genius of the whole Roman Empire. Furthermore, among futurist interpreters there is no agreement as to whether the seventh or the eighth king is the Antichrist. It must be admitted that any king (kingdom) succession hypothesis founders on v.11. On the other hand, if John has in mind qualitative identification and not quantitative, a theological rather than historical or political sense, the passage may yield further insight into the mystery of the beast. First, we note the strange (to us) manner in which the sequence of seven kings gives way to the eighth, which is really the whole beast. This pattern of seven-to-eight-equals-one was familiar to the early church. The eighth day was the day of the resurrection of Christ, Sunday. It was also the beginning of a new week. The seventh day, the Jewish Sabbath, is held over, to be replaced by the first of a new series, namely Sunday. In fact, the whole theme of the Apocalypse is integrally related to this idea. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection. Revelation deals with one week, extending from Christ’s resurrection to the general resurrection, when death is destroyed. Each of the series of sevens in the book, except for the seven churches, follows a pattern of the seventh in the series becoming the first of a new series; thus seven to eight equals one. The eighth was the day of the Messiah, the day of the new age and the sign of the victory over the forces of evil. But does this provide a key to interpret the symbolism of the chaos monster? Of the three stages of the beast—was, is not, will come—only the last is related to his coming “up out of the Abyss” (v.8). These words appear to be the equivalent of the beast’s healed wound (plague) mentioned in 13:3, 14. While, on the one hand, Christ has killed the monster by his death (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 12:7–9) and for believers he “is not” (has no power), yet, on the other hand, the beast still has life (“one is” [v.10]) and will attempt one final battle against the Lamb and his followers (“the other has not yet come... he must remain for a little while”). In order to recruit as many as possible for his side of the war, the beast will imitate the resurrection of Christ (he “is an eighth king” [v.11]) and will give the appearance that he is alive and in control of the world (cf. Lk 4:5-7). But John quickly adds, for the pastoral comfort of God’s people, that the beast belongs to the seven, i.e., qualitatively not numerically (as if he were a former king revived); he is in reality not a new beginning of life (such as the resurrected Christ) but a part of the seven-headed monster that has been slain by Christ and, therefore, he goes “to his destruction.” While this imagery may seem to us to be unnecessarily obscure, it reveals the true mystery of the beast in a fashion that exposes the dynamics of satanic deception so that every Christian may be forearmed.