Here's a kind of summary of what I was saying originally about the Rev.17 subject which spotlights 8 kings that come to power one after the other from past history to present, and then 10 kings that all rule at the same time with each other. Big difference between those 2 groups of kings.
The Rev.17:8, 10, and 11 Scripture is about the idea of 8 'beast' kings, while spotlighting one of them especially in the 8th and 11th verses. It's that beast king that is spotlighted that is to manifest for the very end of this present world, just prior to Christ's return to destroy him.
According to John, the 6th beast king was in his days. That had to be emperor Domitian of the Roman empire, the beast empire that had John imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos, where Christ gave Him to write all this.
So the previous 5 beast kings were already past history in John's days. But the 7th beast king was still future to John like he said. Does it really matter that we mark exactly who those previous 5 beast kings were of history to understand the main Message imparted in this? No, not really.
The Book of Daniel spotlights 4 beast kingdoms we well know were history - Babylon, Medo-Persia, Macedonia (Greece), and Roman (in John's days). So go look up who the kings over those previous empires were and they represent 4 out of the 5 previous beast kings that had gone before. One could easily add Egypt and Pharaoh to that list, because those 5 all had influence upon the children of Israel through their Old Testament history. But is all that essential to understanding what our Lord Jesus showed John in this Rev.17 chapter? No; it'd make a good history lesson as following the pattern of the idea of beast kingdoms and beast kings, but that's about it.
It's the coming 7th beast and 8th beast that is the main Message within this. That 7th beast is also the 8th beast per Rev.17:11. So how can that be? He is also OF THE SEVEN per that same verse. Do you get it? That beast king that is the 7th and also the 8th, was also... of all the seven, so who could do that? What king could exist throughout the whole... history of all... the previous world beast kings, and still be alive, and then come as the 7th, and then even one final time as the 8th? Who could specifically be the coming 7th beast king, and then later be the 8th king too, and yet remain alive? And who is it that has already been judged and sentenced to 'perdition' in the "lake of fire"? No flesh man has yet today. So who could that be?
THAT is what our Lord Jesus wants us to understand, the identity of that 7th and 8th beast king.
Then... comes the 10 kings (horns) of Rev.17:12-13, and we're told they have received no kingdom as of yet, but will rule "one hour" with the beast (i.e., beast king), and will even give their power and strength to the beast (i.e., beast king). That means those 10 rule WITH the 7th beast king. But that 7th beast king will be in control over those 10. It means those 10 all exist at the same time. And no one... knows just who those ten kings will be, because they have not appeared on earth yet today to rule in that "one hour" with the 7th beast king.
