Revelation 13:17

Revelation 13:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
• New International Version (NIV)so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
• English Standard Version (ESV)so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
• New King James Version (NKJV)and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Context of Revelation 13:17

15The second wild animal received power to give life to the image of the first wild animal. As a result, the image could speak. It said, ‘Anyone who refuses to worship me must die!’ 16The second wild animal also caused everyone to receive a mark. Everyone received a mark on their right hand or on the front of their head. This included important people and ordinary people, rich people and poor people, free people and slaves. Nobody could buy anything unless they had this mark on them. Nor could they sell anything. This mark shows the wild animal's name or the number of its name. 18You must think carefully so that you can understand this number. Anyone who is wise should try to understand what the wild animal's number means. It is a human number. The number is 666.

Revelation 13:17 word by word

καὶ ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἢ πωλῆσαι εἰ μὴ ὁ ἔχων τὸ χάραγμα τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• noμήmē · notG3361
• manτιςtis · oneG5100
• mightδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
• buyἀγοράζωagorazō · to buyG59
• orἤē · orG2228
• sellπωλέωpōleō · to sellG4453
• thatεἰei · if: notG1487
• hadἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• the markχάραγμαcharagma · image/markG5480
• the nameὄνομαonoma · nameG3686
• of the beastθηρίονthērion · wild animalG2342
• the numberἀριθμόςarithmos · numberG706
• of hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846

Cross-references for Revelation 13:17

• Revelation 13:16The second wild animal also caused everyone to receive a mark. Everyone received a mark on their right hand or on the front of their head. This included important people and ordinary people, rich people and poor people, free people and slaves.
• Revelation 3:12Everyone who wins against Satan will be safe in God's house. I will make them like a strong pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave that place again. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of his city. The name of that city is the new Jerusalem. It will come down from heaven. My God will send it down to the earth. I will also write my new name on those people.
• Revelation 14:11The smoke will rise for ever while they burn. They will have no rest during the day or during the night. This will happen to everyone who worships the wild animal and its image. It will happen to everyone who receives the mark which shows its name.’
• Revelation 17:5A name was written on the front of her head. Only God knows what it means. It was: Powerful Babylon. Mother of all prostitutes. Mother of all the disgusting things on the earth.
• Revelation 22:4They will see his face. His name will be on the front of their heads.
• Revelation 13:18You must think carefully so that you can understand this number. Anyone who is wise should try to understand what the wild animal's number means. It is a human number. The number is 666.
• Revelation 15:2Then I saw what seemed to be a glass sea. Fire was mixed in it. I also saw people who were standing at the edge of the glass sea. Those people had fought against the wild animal and they had won. They had won against its image and the number that means its name. They had fought and they had won. God had given them harps. They held the harps to make music.

Commentaries on Revelation 13:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark - "If any," observes Bishop Newton, "dissent from the stated and authorized forms; they are condemned and excommunicated as heretics; and in consequence of that they are no longer suffered to buy or sell; they are interdicted from traffic and commerce, and all the benefits of civil society. So Roger Hoveden relates of William the Conqueror, that he was so dutiful to the pope that he would not…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17And that no man might buy or sell - That is, this mighty power would claim jurisdiction over the traffic of the world, and endeavor to make it tributary to its own purposes. Compare Revelation 18:11-13, Revelation 18:17-19. This is represented by saying that no one might “buy or sell” except by its permission; and it is clear that where this power exists of determining who may “buy and sell,” there is absolute control over the wealth of the world. Save he…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-18Verses 11-18 Those who understand the first beast to denote a worldly power, take the second to be also a persecuting and assumed power, which acts under the disguise of religion, and of charity to the souls of men. It is a spiritual dominion, professing to be derived from Christ, and exercised at first in a gentle manner, but soon spake like the dragon. Its speech betrayed it; for it gives forth those false doctrines and cruel decrees, which show it to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-17small and great, rich and poor, free and slave: Everyone must accept the beast's evil mark of ownership (see Revelation 14:9, 11; 19:20; 20:4). This mark is needed to buy or sell. The text does not clearly describe what the mark is or how it looks. On the right hand or forehead suggests the branding of slaves, showing the beast owns them. the name of the beast or the number of its name: In both Hebrew and Greek, letters of the alphabet stand for numbers…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. And--So A, B, and Vulgate read. C, Irenæus, 316, Coptic, and Syriac omit it. might buy--Greek, "may be able to buy." the mark, or the name--Greek, "the mark (namely), the name of the beast." The mark may be, as in the case of the sealing of the saints in the forehead, not a visible mark, but symbolical of allegiance. So the sign of the cross in Popery. The Pope's interdict has often shut out the excommunicate from social and commercial intercourse…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 13:17

• Vision

In the dictionaries

• Forehead
• Dragon
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Literature, Sub-Apostolic
• Nero
• Print; Printing; Printed
• Revelation of John
• Alpha

Commentaries on Revelation 13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings