It was allowed: as in Rev. 13.5; God allowed it, that is, the beast.

To make war on the saints and to conquer them: for to make war see 2.16, where the glorified Christ threatens to fight the Nicolaitans in the church in Pergamum; for saints see 5.8; for conquer see 2.7. See the similar statement in Dan 7.21.

As the RSV footnote shows, some Greek manuscripts and early versions omit this sentence; but the evidence for its genuineness is very strong.

Authority was given it: God gave him this authority.

Every tribe and people and tongue and nation: see 5.9; 7.9; 11.9.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .