And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
All Commentaries on Revelation 13:1 Go To Revelation 13
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Though St. Iren us, and also St. Gregory, (lib. xxxi. mor. chap. xli.) by the first of these two beasts understand antichrist, and others would have antichrist to be meant by one of the two, yet this is not to be looked upon as absolutely certain, not being witnessed by the consent of primitive Fathers. The ancient Fathers, especially in the exposition of obscure prophecies, many times give us no more than their private opinions, or suspicions and conjectures, as St. Augustine expressly takes notice in the 20th book de Civ. Dei Ver. 12. Est enim numerus hominis, et numerus ejus sexcenti sexaginta sex; arithmos gar anthropou esti, kai o arithmos autou chxs. St. Iren us, (lib. v. chap. xxx. p. 370) numerus nominis bestiæ secundum Græcorum computationem per litteras quæ in eo sunt, sexcentos habebit et sexaginta et sex. Eusebius (lib. v. History of the Church, chap. viii. Ed. Valesii) citing the words of St. Iren us, in Greek, p. 172: oti o arithmos tou onomatos tou theriou, kata ten ton ellenon psephon dia ton en auto grammaton emphainetai. But he declares it rash and dangerous to affirm any thing: emeis oun ouk apokinduneuomen As for the name itself, he proposes first euanthas and then of Lateinos says, that valdè verisimile est quoniam novissimum, regnum (to wit, of the four kingdoms, in Daniel) hoc habet vocabulum. It is evident he speaks of the empire, not of the Christian church of Rome. Latini enim sunt qui nunc regnant, sed non in hoc nos gloriabimur. Sed et Teitan.omnium nominum, quæ apud nos inveniuntur magis fide dignum est.but adds, nos tamen non periclitabimur in eo, nec asseverantes pronuntiabimus Dr. Wells in a note observes, that Mr. Mede and Mr. Whist on, without sufficient grounds, take notice of this conjecture of St. Iren us, as favouring their notion of the pope to be antichrist.
