SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:9
Y fue lanzado fuera aquel gran dragn, que es la serpiente antigua, que es llamado diablo y el Satans, el cual engaa al mundo entero; y fue arrojado en tierra, y sus ngeles fueron derribados con l.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Revelation 12:9
Verse 9. That old serpent] The rabbins speak much of this being, sometimes under the notion of [rh rxy yetser hara, the evil principle, and sometimes Samael. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.] This is very like a saying in the book Bahir, in Sohar Gen., fol. 27, col.
c7: "And God cast out Samael and his troops from the place of their holiness." Verse 9. And the great dragon was cast out, &c.] By the terms Devil and Satan mentioned in this verse, Pareus, Faber, and many other commentators, understand literally the great spiritual enemy of mankind.
But this view of the passage cannot be correct, from the circumstance that it is the dragon which is thus called. Now, if by the dragon be meant the devil, then use are necessarily led to this conclusion, that the great apostate spirit is a monster, having seven heads and ten horns; and also that he has a tail, with which he drags after him the third part of the stars of heaven.
The appellations, old serpent, devil, and Satan, must, therefore, be understood figuratively. The heathen power is called that old serpent which deceived the whole world, from its subtlety against the Christians, and its causing the whole Roman world, as far as it was in its power, to embrace the absurdities of paganism. It is called the devil, from its continual false accusations and slanders against the true worshippers of God, for the devil is a liar from the beginning; and it is also called Satan, f , which is a Hebrew word signifying an adversary, from its frequent persecutions of the Christian Church. The dragon and his angels are said to be cast out, which is more than was said in the preceding verse. There mention is made of his being found no longer in heaven, or on the throne of the Roman empire, here he is entirely cast out from all offices of trust in the empire; his religion is first only tolerated, and then totally abolished, by the imperial power. This great event was not the work of a reign; it took up many years, for it had to contend with the deep-rooted prejudices of the heathen, who to the very last endeavoured to uphold their declining superstition. Paganism received several mortal strokes in the time of Constantine and his sons Constans and Constantius. It was farther reduced by the great zeal of Jovian, Valentinian, and Valens; and was finally suppressed by the edicts of Gratian, Theodosius I., and his successors. It was not till A.D. 388 that Rome itself, the residence of the emperor, was generally reformed from the absurdities of paganism; but the total suppression of paganism soon followed the conversion of the metropolitan city, and about A.D. 395 the dragon may be considered, in an eminent sense, to have been cast into the earth, that is, into a state of utter subjection to the ruling dynasty of Christian emperors.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 9. And the great dragon was cast out , etc.] From heaven, or from power and authority in the Roman empire, namely, the devil, where he had long presided; it is observable that Constantine himself speaks of the dragon being removed from the government of the commonwealth by the providence of God, and by the ministry, or means of him f325 ; and he had his own effigies on a table placed before the porch of his palace, with the cross over his head, and a dragon under his feet thrust through with darts, and falling headlong f326 ; the old serpent ; who is so called, because, of old, from the beginning, almost as soon as the world was, he appeared in the form of a serpent, or rather made use of it as an instrument and means, by which he seduced Eve, and so brought on the ruin of mankind, it is very usual with the Jews to call the devil ynwmdqh jn , the old serpent f327 ; wherefore John uses this phrase as a known one, to explain who was meant by the great dragon: called the devil and Satan ; the first of these names signifies an accuser, and a forger of calumnies, and such is the old serpent; he accuses God to men, as if he was envious of their happiness, as in the case of our first parents, and of men to God, of which there is an instance in the case of Job; and hence he is in ( Revelation 12:10) called the accuser of the brethren; and the latter of them signifies an enemy, one that is filled with hatred and enmity to God and Christ, and to his church and people, whose adversary he is said to be, and at whose right hand he stands to resist, as he did Joshua the high priest: which deceiveth the whole world ; which he did by deceiving our first parents, from whom all mankind spring, and in whose loins they were when they were deceived; so the Jews say of the old serpent, that lw[h lkl h[jm , he deceives the whole world; and so he deceived and corrupted the old world before the flood; and so he seduces every age and generation of men in the world; but here the Roman empire, sometimes called all the world, as in ( Luke 2:1), is meant, whom Satan deceived by drawing it into idolatry and superstition; he was cast out into the earth ; he was cast out of the Roman empire, from the rule of it, and worship in it, the Heathen gods and Heathen emperors being no more; when he possessed and instigated, and influenced the Huns, Goths, and Vandals, a meaner and baser sort of people, hereafter in this chapter called the earth, which is said to help the woman, contrary to the intention of Satan; the phrase denotes the greatness of the fall of Satan, his loss of power, and the meanness and low estate of the persons he afterwards had the power of, both the savage people before mentioned, and the antichristian party: and his angels were cast out with him ; the Heathen emperors, magistrates, priests, and other votaries of his, which he made use of as instruments to do his will.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-11 - The attempts of the dragon proved unsuccessful against the church, an fatal to his own interests. The seat of this war was in heaven; in the church of Christ, the kingdom of heaven on earth. The parties wer Christ, the great Angel of the covenant, and his faithful followers and Satan and his instruments. The strength of the church is in havin the Lord Jesus for the Captain of their salvation. Pagan idolatry which was the worship of devils, was cast out of the empire by the spreading of Christianity. The salvation and strength of the church are only to be ascribed to the King and Head of the church. The conquered enemy hates the presence of God, yet he is willing to appea there, to accuse the people of God. Let us take heed that we give his no cause to accuse us; and that, when we have sinned, we go before the Lord, condemn ourselves, and commit our cause to Christ as ou Advocate. The servants of God overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb as the cause. By the word of their testimony: the powerful preaching of the gospel is mighty, through God, to pull down strong holds. By their courage and patience in sufferings: they loved not their lives so wel but they could lay them down in Christ's cause. These were the warrior and the weapons by which Christianity overthrew the power of paga idolatry; and if Christians had continued to fight with these weapons and such as these, their victories would have been more numerous an glorious, and the effects more lasting. The redeemed overcame by simple reliance on the blood of Christ, as the only ground of their hopes. In this we must be like them. We must not blend any thing els with this.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 εβληθη 906 5681 ο 3588 δρακων 1404 ο 3588 μεγας 3173 ο 3588 οφις 3789 ο 3588 αρχαιος 744 ο 3588 καλουμενος 2564 5746 διαβολος 1228 και 2532 ο 3588 σατανας 4567 ο 3588 πλανων 4105 5723 την 3588 οικουμενην 3625 ολην 3650 εβληθη 906 5681 εις 1519 την 3588 γην 1093 και 2532 οι 3588 αγγελοι 32 αυτου 846 μετ 3326 αυτου 846 εβληθησαν 906 5681
Vincent's NT Word Studies
9. The great dragon (o drakwn o megav). Lit., the dragon, the great (dragon).
That old serpent (o ofiv o arcaiov). Lit., the serpent, the old (serpent). For this habitual construction in John, see on 1 John iv. 9. For ajrcaiov old, see on 1 John ii. 7, and compare "he was a murderer ajp' ajrchv from the beginning," John viii. 44; ajrch beginning being etymologically akin to ajrcaiov old.
The Devil. See on Matt. iv. 1.
Satan. See on Luke x. 18.
The deceiver (o planwn). Lit., he that deceiveth. See on 1 John i. 8. World (oikoumenhn). See on Luke ii. 1 The world with all its inhabitants. Down to (eiv). Lit., into.
