What Does Revelation 13:14 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The signs do more than persuade the crowd; they turn the deceived into makers of the beast’s image.
THE MEANING
Deception moves from perception into participation: a display persuades, then the hearer is drawn into making an image that represents the beast. The verse speaks now wherever extraordinary signs and confident speech converge to shape what receives allegiance. Even an image that seems to carry life can belong to that persuasion.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an impressive sign proves the authority behind it deserves trust; here, signs serve the work of deception.
THE ROOT
πλανάω
planaō
GROWS FROM
πλαν-
plan-
To wander or stray; to lead or cause someone to wander.
“deceiveth” in this verse is planaō. Here deception is pictured as displacement: the crowd is led off course by a persuasive display. Those led astray do not remain spectators; the message turns them into makers of an image that gives the beast a visible likeness.
ALSO GROWS
planē: Wandering, error, or deception.
πλάνη
It makes deception a movement away from the path, not only the acceptance of a false idea.
planētēs: Wanderer; the source of the English word “planet.”
πλανήτης
Its sense of wandering makes the root’s image concrete: the deceived are led off course.
σημεῖα
sēmeia
GROWS FROM
σημ-
sēm-
A mark or sign that points to something.
The Greek word rendered “miracles” names signs: events that point beyond themselves. The verse shows the contest over what a sign means, as displayed power points the crowd toward making the beast’s image.
ALSO GROWS
sēma: A sign or mark.
σῆμα
It underscores that a sign carries meaning beyond the event itself.
sēmainō: To signal, indicate, or signify.
σημαίνω
The signs in the verse do not stand alone; they direct attention toward an image.
ποιήσωσιν
poiēsōsin
GROWS FROM
ποι-
poi-
To do, make, or bring about.
“make” in this verse is poiēsōsin. The verb shifts the hearers from seeing signs to producing an image. The deception takes form through their own making, so the crowd becomes part of what the speech announces.
ALSO GROWS
poiētēs: A maker or poet.
ποιητής
The word family places the act of making in the hands of the hearers.
poiēma: A thing made or a work.
ποίημα
The image is the made thing that gives the beast a visible form.
THE PATTERN
A sign’s persuasive force does not prove that the direction it points is trustworthy.
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,THE THREAD
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.Both verses draw on the Greek verb πλανάω (planaō, “to lead astray, cause to wander”): 12:9 names the deceived scope as the whole world, while 13:14 reveals how the redirection culminates in people making an image. The shared root links wandering from the path to allegiance embodied in what the people create.
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