Bible Strands
Revelation 13:5
The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records the beast receiving delegated power to operate for forty-two months immediately after the dragon grants authority and receives worship (Revelation 13:4). This moment establishes the timeframe and source of the beast's permitted activity.
The words — The Greek verb ἐδόθη (edothē) translates literally as "was given," marking the authority as granted rather than self-derived. The noun βλασφημίας (blasphēmias) means "blasphemies," specifying the exact nature of the speech authorized.
The thread — The pattern of a hostile figure speaking arrogantly against God appears in Daniel 7:8 and Daniel 7:25, where a little horn addresses the Most High. It also aligns with the self-exalting speech described in Daniel 11:36.
Why it lands — The passage states explicitly that the beast's power is limited in duration and derived from another source. It requires the reader to distinguish between permitted political activity and ultimate divine sovereignty.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Daniel 7:8 While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
- Daniel 7:25 He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.
- Daniel 11:36 Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.
- Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
- Daniel 7:11 Then I kept watching because of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued to watch, the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.
- Daniel 7:20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4 He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Revelation 11:2 But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
- Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
- Revelation 11:7 When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.