Revelation 17:8

Revelation 17:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
• New International Version (NIV)The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Context of Revelation 17:8

6And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 7And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will come. 9Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, 10and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.

Revelation 17:8 word by word

Τὸ θηρίον ὃ εἶδες, ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν καὶ μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγει. καὶ θαυμασθήσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, βλεπόντων τὸ θηρίον ὅτι ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν καὶ παρέσται.Read the interlinear

• The beastθηρίονthērion · wild animalG2342
• that you sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• was, and is not, and isμέλλωmellō · to ensueG3195
• comeἀναβαίνωanabainō · to ascendG305
• abyssἄβυσσοςabussos · abyssG12
• goὑπάγωhupagō · to goG5217
• to destructionἀπώλειαapōleia · destructionG684
• thoseὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• who liveκατοικέωkatoikeō · to dwellG2730
• on the earthγῆgē · earth: planetG1093
• whoseὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• namesὄνομαonoma · nameG3686
• have not been writtenγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
• in the bookβιβλίονbiblion · scrollG975
• of lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• from the foundationκαταβολήkatabolē · beginningG2602
• of the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
• wonderθαυμάζωthaumazō · to marvelG2296
• when they seeβλέπωblepō · to seeG991

Cross-references for Revelation 17:8

• Revelation 9:2He opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the shaft.
• Revelation 11:7When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
• Revelation 13:1And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
• Revelation 17:11The beast which was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.
• Revelation 14:8And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
• Revelation 16:1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
• Revelation 19:15From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
• Revelation 20:10And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
• Daniel 7:11Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.
• Daniel 11:45And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
• Revelation 13:3I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
• Revelation 13:8All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered.
• Revelation 20:12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
• Matthew 25:34“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
• John 17:24Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Commentaries on Revelation 17:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition - The beast is the Latin kingdom; (̔ ); consequently the beast was, that is, was in existence previously to the time of St. John; (for Latinus was the first king of the Latins, and Numitor the last); is not now, because the Latin nation has ceased long ago to be an independent power, and is now under the dominion of the Romans; but shall ascend…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not - In the close of the verse it is added, “and yet is” - “the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” There are three things affirmed here: first, that there is a sense in which it might be said of the power here referred to, that it “was,” or that, before this, it had an existence; second, that there was a sense in which it might be said that it is “not,” that is, that it had become practically extinct; and…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-14Verses 7-14 The beast on which the woman sat was, and is not, and yet is. It was a seat of idolatry and persecution, and is not; not in the ancient form, which was pagan: yet it is; it is truly the seat of idolatry and tyranny, though of another sort and form. It would deceive into stupid and blind submission all the inhabitants of the earth within its influence, except the remnant of the elect. This beast was seven heads, seven mountains, the seven hills…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8The beast … it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up: When Domitian was emperor, from AD 81 to 96, he was as evil as Nero. Both fiercely persecuted the church. Many believed Domitian embodied Nero’s spirit or was Nero himself. This is similar to how people thought John the Baptist embodied Elijah’s spirit (see Malachi 4:5; Matthew 11:14; Luke 1:17; John 1:21). you saw: The past tense shows the angel explained this after John’s vision. it was…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. beast ... was, and is not--(Compare Re 17:11). The time when the beast "is not" is the time during which it has "the deadly wound"; the time of the seventh head becoming Christian externally, when its beast-like character was put into suspension temporarily. The healing of its wound answers to its ascending out of the bottomless pit. The beast, or Antichristian world power, returns worse than ever, with satanic powers from hell (Re 11:7), not merely…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 17:8

• Book
• Horn
• Pit

In the dictionaries

• Book of Life
• Bottomless, Pit
• Antichrist
• Carry
• Abyss
• Ascend
• Damn; Damnation; Damnable
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Palestine
• Perdition

Commentaries on Revelation 17

• 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