Revelation 12:1-3

Expanded Bible

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And then a great ·wonder [sign; portent; ^Csymbolic descriptions of heavenly/spiritual realities] appeared in heaven: A woman was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet [^Cindicating authority or victory; Gen. 37:9], and a crown [^Ca reward of victory] of twelve stars was on her head [^Crepresenting the twelve tribes of Israel; the woman is a symbol of the persecuted people of God]. ² She was ·pregnant [^Lin the womb] and cried out with [^Llabor] pain, because she was about to give birth [^Cto the Messiah]. ³ Then another ·wonder [sign; portent; 12:1] appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon with seven heads [^Creminiscent of the many-headed Leviathan representing evil and chaos, here representing Satan; Ps. 74:14; Is. 27:1; Dan. 7:1–9] and seven ·crowns [diadems; royal crowns] on each head. He [or It; ^Cthe Greek masculine pronoun can refer to a person or thing] also had ten horns [^Csymbols of strength and power; Dan. 7:7–8, 20, 24].