This was a large, fierce reptile, like a lizard. For Jewish people, it was a symbol of evil and chaos. The dragon is also identified as "the devil or Satan." See how you translated this in [Revelation 12:3](../12/03.md). (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-symlanguage]])
# he had given his authority to the beast
"he had caused the beast to have as much authority as he had"
This question shows how much the people feared the power of the beast. AT: "No one could ever fight against the beast and win!" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])