And there was seen another sign in heaven. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and on his heads seven diadems.
και ωφθη αλλο σημειον εν τω ουρανω και ιδου δρακων πυρος μεγας μεγας πυρος OR πυρρος μεγας OR μεγας πυρρος εχων κεφαλας επτα και κερατα δεκα και επι τας κεφαλας αυτου επτα διαδηματα
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
As for John's statement that the dragon was red, that is, bright red, the fruit of his deeds gave him this color. For he was a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44), and everywhere oppressed the whole human race not so much with the debt of death as with various misfortunes. We say that the seven heads are seven Roman kings, of whom the foremost is the antichrist. The ten horns are ten kings at the end of time.
By heaven here, I think, one should understand the air. The crimson serpent was created (Ps 103:26) so that, as it is written in the book of Job, he might be mocked by the angels of God (Job 40:14). Although he fell from among the angels, he is crimson either because of his inclination to murder and his delight in blood, or because of the fiery nature of the angelic essence.
The seven heads signify his seven most wicked powers, opposed to the angelic powers. Or they signify the seven spirits of which Christ says that they dwell in a man whose heart has been swept and left unoccupied by good thoughts and deeds (Lk 11:25-26). Or else they signify the seven evil thoughts which, according to Solomon, nest in the heart of an enemy who hypocritically entreats those who obey him (Prov 26:25).
The ten horns are either the ten sins opposed to the Ten Commandments, or the divisions of kingdoms, which bring comfort to him who rejoices in every discord and strife.
There are seven crowns on his heads, because those who conquer the devil also receive crowns in the very matters in which they conquer by their efforts and labors.
Blessed Methodius speaks of this as follows: “The great, crimson, seven-headed serpent, who drew away a third part of the stars and stood in ambush, watching with the intent to devour the child of the woman in travail, is the devil.”
And further: “The third part of the stars refers to those who sinned against one Person of the Most Holy Trinity. The wilderness into which the woman enters and is nourished is the Church, since she is free from sin and corruption. The thousands signify a perfect and complete number.”
After this he discusses the crowns of the serpent in order. The Church, which struggled in battle with the devil and put his seven heads to death, will then receive seven crowns of virtue.
So here also it should be said that the vision, intending to speak of the things connected with the antichrist, introduces another beginning prior to what was mentioned before, I mean the Nativity of the Lord. This beginning concerns Satan and how he fell from heaven.
The book says: “And another sign appeared in heaven.” It is as though it reproaches Satan, the originator of evil, because, though he was heavenly, he became earthly through pride. It depicts him in heaven so that the apostate might see from what heights into what depths he fell.
“Behold, a great red dragon.” The apostle calls Satan a dragon because he twisted about. Isaiah speaks of him in this way: “the dragon, the twisting serpent” (Isa 27:1). He calls him red because of his bloodthirstiness and wrath.
“With seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.” The prophet also saw him as many-headed, and therefore says to God: “Thou didst crush the head of the dragon and give him as food to the Ethiopian peoples” (Ps 73:14).
John says that he is many-headed, and by the number seven he signifies multitude, as has often been said. Satan conceives and devises many plots against men, by which he enslaves them, for the diadem is a symbol of tyranny.
The ten horns hint at his exceedingly great power. The number ten is perfect, and the horn is a sign of power. For it is said: “My horn He will exalt like the horn of a unicorn” (Ps 91:11). That the horn means power may be learned by reading the book of Job.
By the dragon one should understand the devil. Since the devil is a bodiless spirit, he has no sensible forms. Therefore he is given features that express his most characteristic traits. Here he is depicted as a dragon, showing that, like a serpent, he possesses cunning, treachery, and venom.
He is great because before his fall he was one of the mighty Angels. St. Andrew of Caesarea writes: “He is red because of his love of murder and his rejoicing in blood, or because of the fiery nature of the angelic essence, if he fell from among the Angels.”
The seven heads of the serpent are the seven most wicked powers of the devil. Christ said in the Gospel that they enter into a man whose heart has been swept, put in order, and left unoccupied. St. Andrew says: “The ten horns show either the sins opposed to the Ten Commandments of the law, or the divisions of kingdoms, which bring comfort to him who is comforted by disorders.”
“His tail drew away a third part of the stars” means that the devil, by treacherous suggestions and deceptions, once tore away from heaven many Angels, bright as the stars of heaven, and made them dark like himself.
St. Andrew says: “The apostate always arms himself against the Church, wishing to make those regenerated by her his food.”
But not all the angels preserved the original dignity in which they were created by God. Many of them fell, and we know them by the dreadful names Satan, devils, demons, spirits, angels of darkness, and fallen angels.
The fall of the fallen angels took place before the fall of man. Our first parents were still in paradise, while the fallen angels, cast down from heaven, were already wandering beneath heaven as exiles and dark demons.
Their transgression in heaven consisted in rebellion against God. The instigator of this rebellion was one of the most beautiful cherubim, one who especially abounded in the gifts of God.
Lamenting his fall through the action of the Holy Spirit, the Prophet Isaiah also shows the cause of his fall.
"How you have fallen from heaven, O daystar, rising in the morning! You are shattered on the earth, you who sent to all the nations. But you said in your mind: I will ascend into heaven. I will set my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on a high mountain, on the high mountains toward the north. I will ascend above the clouds. I will be like the Most High. But now you shall descend into Hades, to the foundations of the earth" (Is 14:12-14).
According to the text cited by Saint Cassian, the prophet's words may be explained in this way.
How have you fallen from heaven, O Light-bearer, Lucifer, who rose in the morning? You have crashed to the earth, you who wounded the nations and said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mountain of the covenant, on the wings of Aquilo, the north wind. I will ascend above the breadth of the clouds and will be like the Most High.
The lament commanded by God to the Prophet Ezekiel over the prince of Tyre is applied by Saints Andrew of Caesarea and Cassian to the chief fallen angel.
In our Bible he is likened to a cherub. In the text cited by Saint Cassian he is directly called a cherub. The very meaning of the text compels us to refer the prophet's inspired lament to him.
"The word of the Lord came to me," says the Prophet, "saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation over the prince of Tyre, and say to him: Thus says Adonai the Lord: You are the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and a crown of beauty. You were in the delight of the paradise of God. You were adorned with every precious stone. With gold you filled your treasuries and your storehouses from the day you were created. I placed you with the cherub on the holy mountain of God. You were in the midst of the fiery stones. You were blameless in your days from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the multitude of your trade you filled your treasuries with lawlessness, and you sinned. You were wounded from the mountain of God, and the overshadowing cherub brought you down from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. Your skill was corrupted along with your beauty. Because of the multitude of your sins, I cast you to the earth. I gave you as a spectacle before kings. Because of the multitude of your sins and the unrighteousness of your trade, you defiled your sanctuaries" (Ezek 28:11-18).
These words of the Prophet can in no way be referred to an earthly prince of Tyre. Tyre was founded by idolaters and constantly remained in impiety.
Therefore its prince could never have been the seal of likeness and the crown of righteousness. He could never have been placed in paradise and numbered among the cherubim.
There is nothing strange in the Lord commanding the Prophet to lament a fallen angel. In commanding this lament, the all-good Lord reveals to us His great mercy and compassion for His perished creature.
When a man feels in his soul, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, an abundance of supernatural grace-filled mercy, he cannot but have compassion for all creation subjected to the fall and tormented in it.
He does not exclude even the hardened enemies of the human race, the demons.
Saint Cassian reads verses 14, 15, and 16 in this way: You are the cherub, stretched out and covering, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God. You walked in the midst of fiery stones, perfect in your ways from the day of your creation, until unrighteousness was found in you. In the multitude of your trade your inward parts were filled with unrighteousness, and you sinned. I cast you down from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Under the name of fiery stones, Saint Andrew of Caesarea understands the other heavenly angelic powers.
"A great red dragon" is the devil, called a serpent because in that form he deceived Eve. The seven heads and ten horns express the variety and strength of the temptations by which he persecutes Christians. Applied to Church history, these heads, crowned with diadems, signify, according to interpreters, seven kings who rose up against the Church, and ten persecutions or ten rulers who persecuted Christians.
In this terrible image one cannot fail to recognize that "ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan," of whom it is directly said below (Rev 12:9). The crimson-red color signifies his bloodthirsty ferocity. The seven heads portray his extreme cunning and treachery, and the ten horns his evil might and power. Finally, the crowns on his head indicate the devil's royal authority in his dark kingdom.
The third vision, described in chapters 12-14, depicts three stages in the struggle of powers hostile to God against the Kingdom of God, the Church of Christ. The Church is portrayed as a woman clothed with the sun, laboring to give birth to believers in Christ, “regenerating the soulish into the spiritual, and transforming them in form and image according to the likeness of Christ” (Methodius’s interpretation, cited by St. Andrew).
She and the believers in Christ born of her are pursued first directly by the devil himself, the great dragon and ancient serpent (chapter 12). Then they are pursued through the antichrist, the beast coming up from the sea (13:1-10), and through his helper, as it were his forerunner and false prophet, the beast coming up from the earth (13:11-18).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 25 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS