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. 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. 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.
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 12:18-13:4
I think that this one certainly comes after the rebel, and is Satan the serpent, the chief of the rest of the demons; for many were destroyed together with Satan and brought down to earth. And it is clear from this that the divine Scripture means that the ruler of all the demons has been condemned to the sea and nether gloom, as has been explained earlier. Perhaps Scripture in this way figuratively describes the confusion and turmoil in which Satan is embroiled as he recognizes from where he has fallen and where he now is, and that “he is being kept for the judgment of the great day,” as Scripture has it. For if this was not the case, but if he was actually in the sea and in the nether gloom, how was he described in the vision before this as having contrived many things against the Lord and against his mother? Nevertheless, according to the literal narrative—which cannot be impugned—he has been allotted nether gloom and the abyss.
So this second one, the one who is now brought before us, is found in the book of Job, both conversing with God and demanding Job for himself by bringing countless trials on him, and indeed saying that he was there “after roaming about the earth under heaven.” And not only the book of Job, but the Lord, too, has mentioned him in the gospel of John when addressing the Jews: “You are of your father the Devil, and you wish to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and his father,” meaning the father of the Devil, that is, [the father] of the one who is now presented to us in the vision, the rebel serpent, as being their leader and the prime mover of the rebellion. In a similar way holy Abraham is called the father of nations, as one who established faith for them, according to what was said to him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” Now that these things have been rightly determined, according to my way of thinking, let us return to our subject.
He says, I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns. He sees the beast rising out of the sea. Its ascent is, as it were, its elevation from the troubled and unstable life of human beings, who have appointed it as despot over themselves.
The ten horns witness to its great power, just as the seven heads witness to some of its wiles and the origins of its schemes and deceits. For both ten and seven are perfect numbers.
The diadems on its horns mark it out as the tyrant over humankind, since we have voluntarily handed ourselves over to it through its deception.
He says, upon its head are blasphemous names. They are rightly upon its head, for it rages against itself and against its own head, acting drunkenly against God: it deprives God of the reverence [due to him] and gives it to itself.
He says, And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, I think because it moves at speed and is quick to devise its plots.
He says, And its feet were like a bear’s, as they were strong and durable so as to “roam about the earth under heaven” to plot against human beings. He says, And its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. According to Scripture, “Our adversary the Devil prowls around like a lion, to see whom he can devour.”
He says, And the serpent gave it his power. The power of the rebellious serpent is in his deceptions and wiles, and [the Devil] is the source and teacher of these for him.
He says, And I see that one of its heads was as though it had been mortally wounded, but its mortal wound had been healed. The inspired evangelist would himself know the meaning of this. As it appears to me, it indicates something of this sort: the mortal blow that the Devil received in one of his heads through the piety of Israel was healed again through the idolatry of the same people.
He says, And the whole earth was astounded behind the beast: for how is it that even the pious nation of Israel has not stopped worshiping it? Yet this is what is said in Isaiah speaking in the person of God to Israel: “On your account my name is constantly blasphemed among the nations.” Further, they also joined in the worship of the serpent, the fount of all the evil, and the cause of all the great deception and crafty wiles of the beast.