human
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition (Rev. 17. 8). Here the Roman world-power, the imperial dominion, is in view. In verse 11 the final king himself is similarly described. The symbol of the beast is thus employed to describe first the dominion and then its imperial head. This symbolic association of locality and ruler is found elsewhere in Scripture, and is illustrated in this very chapter. The seven heads of the beast, for example, are interpreted in both ways:
gpt
The seven heads are seven mountains, ... and they are seven kings (v. 9, R.V. ) The distinction between verses 8 and 11 may be observed in this way: in the first part of the chapter, verses 1-8, the beast is viewed as a whole, indicating world-wide government; in verse 11 the scope of the symbol is limited, the beast is a person, and is identified with one of the seven heads, or kings, he is
human
to denote both a kingdom and the ruler over it is to be found in Dan. 7, where the following statements are made:
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These great beasts, which are four, are four kings (v. 17), and
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The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom
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must not be taken to mean that the beast had ceased to exist in John's time. The present tense is to be regarded as prophetic. The verb
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often has the force of continuance of existence. The whole statement implies a past existence, a discontinuance of that existence, a future reappearance. In the vision recorded in the thirteenth chapter, John saw one of the heads of the beast
gpt
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not,