Revelation 13:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, like a leopard." This means that the kingdom of that time, the kingdom of Antichrist, will be mixed with a multitude of peoples and men. Its feet are like a bear's, that is, like a strong and most unclean animal. He said that its feet are its leaders. Its mouth is like the mouth of a lion, that is, armed with teeth and flowing blood. For the mouth is his command and his tongue, which in the future will be needed only to shed blood.

The leopard signifies the Greek kingdom, the bear the Persian, and the lion the Babylonian. Antichrist will rule over them. Coming as a Roman king, he will destroy their dominion when he sees their clay toes, which signify the weakness and easy destruction of the kingdom divided into ten parts. "And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority." Satan, this spiritual serpent, will give Antichrist every authority and power in false signs and wonders, in order to destroy the unstable.

He likens the beast to a leopard because of the diversity of human races, to a bear because of malice and madness, and to a lion because of bodily strength and the pride of the tongue. Caesarius took these meanings from Tyconius. For in the time of the antichrist his kingdom will be mixed with a diversity of races and peoples. His feet are like those of a bear, that is, his leaders. His mouth is his command, probably because this analogy is based on the lion's roar, which terrifies others. "And the dragon gave him his power." So we see that heretics, possessing the power of the devil, are mighty only in this world. As the pagans once did, so now they lay waste the Church.

"The beast which I saw was like a leopard," I think because of his unrestrained and swift malice. "His feet were like a bear's," that is, strong and enduring, so that he may walk the earth and devise snares for men. "His mouth was like the mouth of a lion," because "your adversary the devil walks about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8), as it is written. "And the dragon gave him his power." Clearly, the power of the apostate dragon consists in those very deceits and tricks, and he became their originator and teacher for the devil.

"Satan, this spiritual serpent, will give Antichrist every authority in false signs and wonders for the destruction of the unstable," says St Andrew of Caesarea.

Antichrist is called "the beast," just as the fallen angel is called "the serpent" (Gen 3:1). Both names accurately depict the character of both enemies of God. One acts more secretly, the other more openly. Yet to the beast, who resembles all beasts and unites in himself their varied ferocity, "the serpent gave his power, and his throne, and great authority."

The antichrist will be a powerful ruler, who will seize authority for himself by force and spread his influence over all nations. For in the prophet Daniel it is said: "He shall do according to his will, and the king shall exalt and magnify himself above every god" (Dan 11:36; cf. Dan 7:24). And in the Apocalypse: "The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority," and "authority was given him over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation" (Rev 13:7). He is "a blasphemous and lawless man, who will receive the kingdom not from his ancestors, but will seize authority by sorcery," as Cyril of Jerusalem says, with John of Damascus agreeing.

This image of the last enemy of the Church of Christ is drawn in no less somber features than the image of the dragon himself, or Satan. He too is a beast, in general appearance like a leopard, but his feet are like those of a bear, and his mouth is like a lion's. Thus the properties and qualities of the fiercest animals will converge in the single person of the antichrist. He has seven heads, like the dragon. But these heads are covered with blasphemous names, visibly depicting his inner impiety and contempt for everything holy. His ten horns are crowned with diadems, as a sign that he will use his God-fighting strength and might with the authority of a king on earth.