What Does Revelation 13:4 Mean in the King James?
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?
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 crowd takes the LORD’s “Who is like thee?” and redirects it to a beast whose authority the verse says was given to it.
THE MEANING
You see authority flow from the dragon to the beast, then see the crowd bow to both. Their question turns the beast’s capacity for war into a claim that it has no equal. The verse exposes how received power can be treated as ultimate.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that power no one can defeat must be ultimate. The verse calls the beast’s authority given, so its apparent supremacy is dependent even as the crowd calls it incomparable.
THE ROOT
προσεκύνησαν
prosekynēsan
GROWS FROM
προσκυνέω
proskyneō
To bow down or prostrate oneself before another.
“worshipped” in this verse is prosekynēsan. The Greek verb describes a bodily bow, not only an inward opinion. The crowd’s posture enacts submission to the one whose power they treat as unmatched.
ALSO GROWS
proskynēsis: The act of bowing or prostrating; worship.
προσκύνησις
This related noun names the posture contained in the verse’s verb: the crowd bends before the beast.
proskynētēs: A worshipper, one who bows.
προσκυνητής
The word defines the worshipper by the direction of the bow; John 4:23 uses it for those who worship the Father.
δύναται
dynatai
GROWS FROM
δύναμαι
dynamai
To be able, capable, or to have the power to act.
“able” in this verse is dynatai. The crowd asks who has the capacity to wage war against the beast, treating its force as unanswerable. The question turns the beast’s received authority into a claim of invulnerability.
ALSO GROWS
dynamis: Power, capacity, or ability.
δύναμις
This related noun names the capacity the crowd sees as making the beast untouchable.
dynatos: Able, powerful, or possible.
δυνατός
This related adjective carries the same language of ability and power that shapes the crowd’s challenge.
THE PATTERN
The bow marks which power is treated as ultimate, whether it belongs to an image, a tempter, or a beast.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.THE THREAD
Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?Exodus directs “Who is like thee?” to the LORD; Revelation places the same challenge in the crowd’s mouth about the beast. The shift makes the beast’s military force sound like a rival claim to divine uniqueness, even as the verse says its authority was given.
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