“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”
'The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction; the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come' - the beast has a strange existence: it was, is not, and will be again. This may reflect a historical ruler or the cycle of empires, but the key is that only those not written in the Lamb's book of life will marvel at its reappearance.
Church Fathers on Revelation 17:8
“And I saw the woman herself sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy.” But to sit upon the scarlet beast, the author of murders, is the image of the devil. Where also is treated of his captivity, concerning which we have fully considered. I remember, indeed, that this is called Babylon also in the Apocalypse, on account of confusion; and in Isaiah also; and Ezekiel called it Sodom. In fine, if you compare what is said against Sodom, and what Isaiah…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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