The point of comparison is not the sound of the beast’s voice (for no one knows what a dragon sounds like; see on Revelation 12:3) but its deceptiveness. In Revelation 12:9 the Holy Spirit equated the dragon with that ancient serpent, Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. In winsome fashion, Satan had beguiled Eve in Paradise with his misrepresentation of the truth (Genesis 3:1–6). That same sort of falsification characterizes this beast also. The Lord had already warned his people repeatedly to listen carefully to what is said precisely because words might not agree with outward presentation (Matthew 7:15; 2 Corinthians 11:14).