Revelation 13:18. 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.
For anyone who doesn't know, 666, "the number of the beast", does not represent Satan, or any version of Satan. It represented a real person known to the author.
The ancient Romans, Greeks, and Jews often used letters of the alphabet to represent numbers. And words or names made up of these letters would have numerical value (today's version is numerology). Isaac Asimov, in Asimov's Guide to the Bible, explains that the writer of Revelation was apparently afraid to mention the name of the man he castigates, for fear perhaps of a charge of treason, so he refers to the man by the number his name represents. The person Isaac says most commentators mention as most likely is Neron Caesar (Greek version of Nero). Isaac likes Domitian better - a ruler who was in power at the time Revelation was written, and who heavily persecuted Christians. (Note - the "Antichrist'" means one who is against (anti) Christians.)
Just thought I'd best not write anything with this entry number that folks might misinterpret.
(And yes, I can refer to him as Isaac. I knew him personally. He thought I had "a great pair". As usual, he was right.)
1 comment:
That sounds like a fascinating read, I'll have to check it out.
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