Number of the beast
[1] Papyrus 115 (which is the oldest preserved manuscript of the Revelation as of 2017[update]), as well as other ancient sources like Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, give the number of the beast as χιϛ or χιϲ, transliterable in Arabic numerals as 616 (χιϛ), not 666;[2][3] critical editions of the Greek text, such as the Novum Testamentum Graece, note χιϛ/616 as a variant.
[8] In the Textus Receptus, derived from Byzantine text-type manuscripts, the number six hundred sixty-six is represented by the Greek numerals χξϛ,[9][10] with the Greek letter stigma (ϛ) representing the number 6: 17καὶ ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἢ πωλῆσαι εἰ μὴ ὁ ἔχων τὸ χάραγμα, τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ.
In several editions of the Greek Bible, the number is represented by the final three words, ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ, hexakósioi hexēkonta héx, meaning "six hundred [and] sixty-six":[12][13] 17καὶ ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἢ πωλῆσαι εἰ μὴ ὁ ἔχων τὸ χάραγμα, τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θηρίου ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ.
[2][3] Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, known before the Papyrus 115 finding but dating to after it, has 616 written in full: ἑξακόσιοι δέκα ἕξ, hexakosioi deka hex (lit.
[27] Preterist theologians typically support the interpretation that 666 is the numerical equivalent of the name and title Nero Caesar (Roman Emperor 54–68 AD).
[citation needed] Additionally, "Nero Caesar" in the Hebrew alphabet is נרון קסר NRON QSR, which when interpreted numerically represents the numbers 50 200 6 50 100 60 200, which add up to 666, although this has been disputed by some who note that the second Nun is in its final form (sofit) and thereby the value would be 700 instead of 50 which would make Caesar's name add to 1316 instead of 666.
[36] In the reign of Emperor Decius (249–251 AD), those who did not possess the certificate of sacrifice (libellus) to Caesar could not pursue trades, a prohibition that conceivably goes back to Nero, reminding one of Revelation 13:17.
Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia has noted that Revelation was "written during the latter part of the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, probably in A.D. 95 or 96".
[a] Because some people believe Revelation 13 speaks of a future prophetic event, "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
[53] Setton (1992) is critical of the idea: Muhammad was frequently defamed and made a subject of legends, taught by preachers as fact.
[57][58] In a 2020 paper by Bodner & Strawn, they seem to indicate that the number 666 is associated with Solomon in his downfall, as it's "an important notice of this king's wayward and unjust practices [..] and eschewing of God's law".
[63] Irenaeus also wrote that it is "more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfilment of the prophecy, than to be making surmises" regarding the meaning of the number.
In fact, he mentioned multiple other solutions of the number, like Evanthas (ΕΥΑΝΘΑΣ), Teitan (ΤΕΙΤΑΝ) and Lateinos (ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ).
Hill notes, "It is far more probable that the mark symbolizes the all-embracing economic power of Rome, whose very coinage bore the emperor's image and conveyed his claims to divinity (e.g., by including the sun's rays in the ruler's portrait).
"[65] Adela Yarbro Collins further denotes that the refusal to use Roman coins resulted in the condition where "no man might buy or sell".
Thus each transaction that used such coins was a reminder that people were advancing themselves economically by relying on political powers that did not recognize the true God.
The passage is also seen as an antithetical parallelism to the Jewish institution of tefillin—Hebrew Bible texts worn bound to the arm and the forehead during daily prayer.
Historicists believe Revelation articulates a full range of the history of the Christian church, from John's day to the Second Coming of Christ.
The Augsburg confession given to Charles V in its 28th article stated "They likewise cite that the Sabbath has been changed to Sunday contrary to the Ten Commandments, as they see it, and no example is hyped and cited so much as the changing of the Sabbath, and they thereby wish to preserve the great authority of the church, since it has dispensed with the Ten Commandments and altered something in them.
Some Protestants such as the London minister Thomas Tillam and court physician Peter Chamberlen during the reformation began to identify Sunday worship as the Mark of the Beast.
[71][72] This apocalyptic volume builds on Daniel's approach focusing on major points of Christian history: the cross of Christ (Rev.
The Book of Daniel is divided into two parts: The historical narrative of the captivity of Judah, and the prophecies pointing to both promised Messiah and the events of the end of the world.
[73] Seventh-day Adventists taking this view believe that the 'mark of the beast' (but not the number 666) refers to a future, universal, legally enforced Sunday-sacredness.
"[75] In the encyclical Dies Domini, Pope John Paul II stated that "The Sunday assembly is the privileged place of unity: it is the setting for the celebration of the sacramentum unitatis which profoundly marks the Church" and this was also repeated in other catechisms and documents.
[79] Some of these groups believe the implantation of chips may be the imprinting of the mark of the beast, prophesied to be a requirement for all trade and a precursor to God's wrath.
[85] A similar version was spread by Marjorie Taylor Greene, who referred to vaccine passports as being the mark of the beast.
[86] In the writings of the Baháʼí Faith, 'Abdu'l-Bahá states that the numerical value given to the beast referred to the year[87] when the Umayyad ruler Muawiyah I took office as Caliph in 661 AD.
He opposed the Imamate, according to the beliefs of Shia Islam, who continued to pay the tax required of nonbelievers and were excluded from government and the military, and thus bore a social "mark".
