St. Victorinus, Bishop of Poetovio
martyred during the reign of Diocletian ca. 303 AD
"Commentary on the Apocalypse"
CHAPTER 13
1 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.2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
1 And I saw rising from the sea a beast like a leopard signifies the kingdom of that time, the kingdom of Antichrist, and the variety of nations and peoples mixed together. His feet like the feet of a bear, of a strong and very impure beast; and his feet speaks of his leaders. and his mouth like the mouth of a lion, that is, armed with teeth for blood. For, the mouth is his command, and his tongue, that which will come out for nothing else except for the shedding of blood.
2 The seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman sits, that is, the city of Rome. And there were seven kings: five have fallen, one is, and another has not yet come; and when he comes, his time will be short. And the beast which you saw is of the seven, and is the eighth. Accordingly, it is useful to understand the time in which the Apocalypse was written, because Domitian was Caesar then. And before him was Titus his brother and Vespasian their father, Otho, Vitellius, and Galba. These were five who have fallen; one is, he says, under whom he says the Apocalypse was written, namely Domitian. Another has not yet come: speaks of Nerva, who when he comes, his time will be short: for he did not complete two years. And the beast which you saw, he says, is of the seven: because before these kings Nero reigned. And is the eighth, he says only that when this one comes, count the eighth place. And because in his (reign) will be the end, he adds: He goes to destruction. For ten kings received royal power: when he moves from the East, they will be sent from the city of Rome with their armies. He speaks of these ten horns and ten diadems. And Daniel shows: Three of the former were uprooted (Dan 7:8), that is, three of the former leaders of Antichrist are destroyed. The other seven give him glory and honor and a throne and power, of whom he says, they will hate the whore, namely, it speaks of the city, and they will burn her flesh with fire.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
3 And one of the heads was slain to death, and his death-stroke was healed: speaks of Nero. For it is certain that when he was followed by the cavalry sent by the Senate, he cut through his own throat. This one raised, therefore, God is to send as a worthy king to those worthy, to the Jews and to the persecutors of Christ, a Christ of such a kind the persecutors and Jews have deserved. And because he will be bearing another name, and also beginning another life, so thus the same will be taken for Christ. For Daniel says: "He will not be acquainted with the desire of women, in this he will be very impure, and with no god of their fathers will he be familiar." (Dan 7:8). For he will not be able to seduce the people of the circumcision unless he becomes a defender of the Law. Finally he will compel the saints to no other thing except to receiving circumcision, if he will be able to seduce them. Thus, he will make the faith of the people to him, so that by them he will be called Christ. For he has risen up from hell, as we also spoke of above in the words of Isaiah: Water, he says, "nourishes him, and the abyss enlarges him" (Ezk 31-4). He who must change his name and not change his name when he comes, the Holy Spirit says: His number is 666 (DCLXVI); this number is to be completed by Greek letters.
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:17 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.18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
4 Another great beast from the earth: the false prophet, who made signs and portents and lies before him in the sight of men; of whom he says having horns like a lamb, that is, a kind like that of the Just Man, speaking like a dragon: the devil full of malice. For this will happen in the sight of men, so that the dead will be seen to rise, but in the sight of men. And fire will descend from heaven, but in the sight of men, for in the sight of men, the magicians also do this through the fugitive angels, and this one will also make it so that a golden image of Antichrist might be placed in the temple of Jerusalem, and a fugitive angel might enter there; and then he will give forth voices and oracles. And he will make it that slave and free receive a mark on their foreheads or on the right hand, the number of his name, who may not buy or sell, except he who will have the mark. And of this overturning of men, the contemptible thing to God, and desecration, Daniel has spoken: And "he will erect," he says, "his temple among the mountains of the sea, and the two seas" (Dan 11:45), that is, Jerusalem; and then he will erect the golden image like king Nebuchadnezzar made. The Lord recalls this for all the churches of the end times; he says: "When you see the contemptible thing of overturning, which was spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place where it is not allowed, let him who reads unserstand" (Mt 24:15). Contemptible thing is said, when God is provoked that idols are worshipped; for overturning, that unsteady men have been overturned by false signs and portents, and seduced away from salvation.
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"Let Us Fear The Long Suffering Of God"...
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