This is the third time that the angel uses these words to describe the beast for John (already twice in Revelation 17:8). As in verse 8, the description is the beast’s effort to parody the Lord God, he “who was and is and is to come” (Revelation 1:4, Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8). But he fails dismally because he “was and is not”; he is finite. The repetition emphasizes the hollowness of the parody.
11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.