Sign of the Beast
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
- 16) And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
- 17) And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
- 18) Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
- And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
- David A. deSilva, "The Sign of the Beast (Rev 13:11-18)", Bible Odyssey
- Approaches interpretation from the contemporary culture of John of Patmos. It's an interesting interpretation that reminds me of exegesis I have read of Isaiah. Viewed as a prophecy of events in modern times, as is also true of much of Isaiah, it suggests that we can expect a dual-fulfillment interpretation here, just as is expected from Isaiah (and exegesis contemporary to ancient Judea, the Dead Sea Scrolls in particular, shows that the Jews understood a future apocalyptic fulfillment to some of the prophecies that have straightforward already-fulfilled interpretations), and the straightforward application from John of Patmos's time might guide us to understand what we should be expecting in modern times.
Notes
Many people see the sign of the beast as a literal number or mark, that has the value of 666. Some versions of Revelation give the number as 616.
| Number System | 666 | 616 |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Arabic | 666 | 616 |
| Greek | χξϛ | χιϛ |
| Roman | DCLXVI | DCXVI |
Given the rather arcane nature of Paul's writings, I'm not sure what to make of this.