Revelation 13:3 & 13:12 Word Study
Author: Michele at ScriptureStudy.Guide
Posted: April 28, 2022. Updated March 30, 2023.
There is no mention of a wound being “healed” in Revelation 13:3 & 13:12. It reads “served it the stroke of death” and tells us that the “it” here is “those who house/dwell permanently on the soil/earth.”
In the KJV, Revelation 13:3 incorrectly reads, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”
The actual translation from the Greek reads, “And I beheld one from out of the heads, as if she had been butchered to death; and the stroke of death she served so the whole soil [earth] would wonder and admire and follow the devouring animal.”
These verses describe how the wickedness of Satan’s spiritual kingdom caused all people to be born spiritually dead, and how he keeps them spiritually dead by preventing them from surrendering to Jesus Christ through his mesmerizing “fascinations” (the word dragon, drakon – G1404, means “to look; to fascinate” in the Greek).
We will cover all three verses where this word “healed” (ἐθεραπεύθη) is used in the bible — Revelation 13:12, 13:3, and Matthew 17:18 — and how you can see the true God-inspired word for yourself.
Important Note
The proper word for “healed” and “cure” in the New Testament is always Strong’s G2390, not G2323 like we see in the 3 verses we are studying here.
G2390 is actually a “curing” or a “healing.” G2323 is “menially serving” which is “ministering to.”
Either I am the only one seeing this, or the only one willing to admit it. G2323 is NOT the word “healed.”
Revelation 13:12
Here is a screenshot of the original language in the Greek NT INT+ bible in eSword:
The shadowed boxes are either alterations of the original text, or words added in the Greek NT TR+ bible (or removed from the Greek NT INT+ bible).
Actual Translation of Rev. 13:12
In the KJV, the verse reads, “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
But in the original language, it actually reads, “And the activities of the chief beast [beast of sea], all [beast system of earth] making these activities in the presence of it [the chief], and doing and making the soil [earth] and the citizens who permanently dwell in it, to kiss the master’s hand, to prostrate themselves, to worship the beast, the chief, who served it [the soil and those housed] the stroke of death.” *Brackets are mine for clarification.
The word “chief” is also the word “foremost” which means the BEAST THAT CAME FIRST. The Sea Beast was formed BEFORE the Earth Beast (Revelation 13). And in Revelation 17, we see the Sea Beast continuing to evolve in that its 10 horns are now missing their crowns — they gave their ruling power to the beast (details here).
The beast of the sea (the antichrist world system) is the beast of the peoples because Satan resides in our carnal flesh (more info below). The apostate churches (heads) and earth’s rulers (crowned horns) are seen on this beast that the harlot (Mystery Babylon) rides (details here). The antichrist beast causes all who represent it to appear righteous — wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The beast of the earth (the false prophet system) is the beast of the soil. This is the religious faction/false Christianity who controls the political faction to deceive those who are permanently housed on the soil/earth. It enforces the draconian laws made by the beast of the sea. It practices physical works of deception which are fueled by the evil spirit power.
The beast of the earth causes most people to bow/surrender to the wicked antichrist power, both in spirit and in works.
You can see it here:
Beast = Dangerous devouring animal (evil)
Sea = Works of evil in men
Earth = Enforcement of evil by men
Sea + Earth = Antichrist beast kingdom
Evil Works + Enforcement of evil = Antichrist beast kingdom
Our carnal flesh is the only vessel that Satan’s devils can work in/through, IF we allow them access. Satan and his devils are unseen spirits.
For a word study on how Satan can only work through man, and how he does it, see this article and scroll down to the section titled “Identifying the Spiritual Principalities.”
The Truth of Revelation 13:12
We can all see that nothing is being “healed” in this verse. Rather, we see “a stroke of death” being sneakily “served” upon mankind by a very patient spirit with no shame, who seeks to devour by any shady means available to him.
The word “healed – G2323” is literally from the word meaning “menially” which is “serving” which is ministering. The 1828 Webster’s defines “menial” as “Pertaining to servants or domestic servants; low; mean.”
In Revelation 13:12, this is Satan (who has not the favor of God who made mankind in His image) serving up fascinations to the men on earth. It is a sneaky, slow kill, or a calculated murder, by the chief evil which is a spiritual power. Satan has an active ministry through his wicked people just like Jesus Christ has an active ministry through us/the church.
This evil spiritual power isn’t even a pathetic speck of dust in God’s almighty kingdom where the renewed hearts of the redeemed dwell. Satan does not exist in God’s temple, New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-4). Satan’s spiritual devils do exist in our carnal flesh; his spiritual powers do not exist in our spiritual hearts.
How to See It Yourself
- Download eSword on a large screen device, preferably one that will allow you to hover over links without needing to click on them (Amazon has new, cheap Windows laptops that work well — no internet connection is needed to use eSword once it and its modules have been installed).
- In eSword, download the bible titled Greek NT INT+.
- Pull up Revelation 13:12 and view it in that bible. You will see what I have posted in the screenshot above.
- Hover over the Strong’s Concordance numbers which are purple-colored and read their definitions.
- Then hover over the parsing links (the parts of speech of the word) which are in blue. Notice all the other variations that could be used. Also notice if it is passive/past-tense or active/present-tense; singular or plural; masculine or feminine; noun or verb.
Clarification of Revelation 12:14
I was asked about this verse which references the beast being wounded by a sword.
In the KJV, Revelation 12:14b reads, “…that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” Note that this is NOT a deadly wound and the weapon here is a sword. This verse actually says “to make a likeness of the beast who possesses the stroke of the sword but lives.”
Interpretation: The sword is Jesus Christ, the word of God (John 1:1 & 14). Jesus bound Satan in the pit at the cross (Revelation 20:1-3) along with his fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4) while his devils have been doing his work among mankind. Jesus conquered sin and death at the cross, but He won’t lay His enemies under His feet until Judgment Day (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).
Satan has been sentenced to death with the “stroke of the sword,” but hasn’t yet had his DEADLY wound (he’s still working on a long leash); rather, he has served a deadly wound onto mankind, and is marked by the sword of Christ for destruction.
Satan is on death row during this church age (see Millennial Reign – The Thousand Years). His sole purpose now is for the refining of God’s people (see God Created Evil).
Many words, only 1 definition
The Strong’s Concordance has lumped many original Greek words (called “forms”) into just one word and uses only one definition for all the different words. Look at this one word from the Greek NT INT+ bible in eSword:
The top Greek word, ἐθεραπεύθη, is the word used in the original text.
The bottom Greek word is the word that Strong’s uses instead of the original text word. We are not given the definition of the original word, but are given the definition of their lump-sum word.
The top Greek word, ἐθεραπεύθη, in the original text is only used 3 times in the entire bible, but Strong’s uses the one word, G2323, for 20 different unique Greek word forms in the Textus Receptus (the bible in it’s original language).
We can find all the unique words using the online Blue Letter Bible — click here to see the example covered here, G2323 (click the blue button in the center of the page that reads SHOW ALL).
The Word “Healed”
We’ve established that the word incorrectly translated as “healed,” ἐθεραπεύθη, is only used 3 times in the Textus Receptus (the bible in its original text): Revelation 13:12, 13:3, and Matthew 17:18 (in Matthew, it is translated as the word “cured”). You can see this here:
Context is key. All 3 times, this word ἐθεραπεύθη is used in regards to the ministering of spiritual powers, either causing people to invite them in, or the one account in Matthew of Jesus causing one to depart its host.
Matthew 17:18
Matthew 17:18 reads, “And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.”
The phrase “child was cured from that very hour” actually reads “the boy was served a separation/reversal/cessation that same hour.” To serve menially is to minister.
Jesus did not “cure” this boy of a disease — He “ministered to/served” him a departure of the devil in his flesh, or a separation from his devil in the flesh, or a cessation of the devil’s works in him, or a reversal of his spiritual state.
The word “from” and the phrase “out of” in this verse is ἀπό (G575) — it’s an original root word used as a prefix in many other Greek words. It denotes “separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc.”
Mat 17:18 — AndG2532 JesusG2424 rebukedG2008 the devil;G1140 andG2532 heG846 departedG1831 out ofG575 him:G846 andG2532 theG3588 childG3816 was curedG2323 fromG575 that veryG1565 hour.G5610
You can see in the verse above how the word “from” and the word “out of” are the same word in the Strong’s Concordance. In actuality, they are two different words in the Greek but are used as identical words in the English language (usually the word “from”). Both words denote “separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal, etc,” but we know a reversal (changing a still-existing state) is different from a departure (doing away with the state all-together); and a completion (came to fullness) is different from a cessation (stopping in the middle). See how this can muddy the true meaning of God’s inspired Word? We must define the words in our bibles and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to His truths.
Revelation 13:3
We have studied the use of ἐθεραπεύθη in Revelation 13:12 (as “healed”) and Matthew 17:18 (as “cured”). Now we will look at its third and final use in the bible.
Here is a screenshot of the original language in the Greek NT INT+ bible in eSword:
Actual Translation
In the KJV, Revelation 13:3 reads, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”
The actual translation from the Greek reads, “And I beheld one from out of the heads, as if she had been butchered to death; and the stroke of death she served so the whole soil would wonder and admire and follow the devouring animal.”
So the KJV is glorifying some healing of the Mystery Babylon harlot when the original language says she looks like she’s been butchered to death and is inflicting death on the people.
The word “one” and the word “heads” are feminine, so they are not Satan. The KJV translators used the word “his” when dealing with a feminine gender word. However, the word for “beast” IS masculine — this is the spirit power of Satan.
The apostate church (wicked men who appear righteous) is the feminine-gender physical vessels, and the spirit-power fueling them is masculine-gender. These 7 heads could be the first cities where Christ’s church was established (Revelation chapters 2 & 3 — see this study) — Paul warned the Thessalonians of their apostasy in 50 AD (2 Thessalonians 2 — details here).
The “one” is the woman harlot, that great city (originally apostate Jerusalem; now the Vatican) that rules the kings of the earth (politicians and businessmen).
The “heads” are all wicked men within the apostate church, and I believe the 7 heads represent the one-world ecumenical sun-worshiping religion.
The number 7 represents perfection of a purpose in the bible. The church has 7 candlesticks.
There are 10 crowns. The number 10 represents fullness/completion by the earth’s kings.
She appeared “butchered to death” because she was so rife with wickedness and spiritually dead.
The harlot is that great city, Mystery Babylon, which is serving a plague of death to the men of the earth. The people are fascinated by and admire that great city, so they get behind and back the wicked ways of its beast system.
This prophecy has already been fulfilled but it has a dual fulfillment (one coming in the future) — see Antichrist Beasts in Revelation Include the 7 Churches and The Jewish-Roman War and the Two Witnesses in the Great Tribulation.
Another Account of Skewing Biblical Prophecy
Did you know that there is no such thing as the 2300 days in Daniel 8? The actual text reads 1300 days. Now why add an additional thousand? Because the synagogue of Satan Jews who started the Roman Catholic Church are hiding the Great Tribulation of the saints that was FULFILLED from early-63 to late-66 AD. Details are here: 2300 Days is Not in Daniel 8.
In Closing
The more I study and pray over these verses, the more I see how badly twisted things are in this physical realm. The level of deception can be emotionally exhausting. The Greek language was so pointedly specific and accurate… the barbaric English language just drains the meanings out of the Greek words. It is our generation who are the cavemen.
The most literal translation of the bible that we have out there is the Young’s Literal Translation, but even they have the word “healed” which is not “healed” in the original Greek. All bible translations need to be checked with the original Hebrew and Greek.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 — “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”
Thankfully, Jesus Christ has overcome everything of this earth (John 16:33).
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
Come Lord Jesus!
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