Notes: Revelation 13:16 (cont'd) To Revelation 13:18

(Re: Could the mark of the beast be a microchip-insertion scar?)

Do you have any evidence that inserting microchips under the skin leaves a scar, or one shaped like the Antichrist's name or gematrial name-number (666) (Revelation 13:16-18)?

(See section 1 of Revelation 13:16 above)

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(Re: Why does Revelation not refer to the "skin", but only to the right hand or forehead?)

Note that it does not have to refer to the skin, because the outermost part of the right hand or forehead is the skin, so that something "on" (Greek: "epi" G1909) the right hand or forehead must be on the skin.

(See the "on' section of Revelation 13:16 above)

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(Re: *Visible mark)

See paragraph 1 of Revelation 13:16 above. Also, see Revelation 3:12 above.

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(Re: *All receive) / (*Surviving not taking the mark)

(Re: Will people either accept the mark, or refuse and be beheaded?)

There is a third option. For in Revelation 13:16 the original Greek word (pas: G3956) translated as "all" does not have to mean absolutely all, but can mean "all manner of" (Acts 10:12). Revelation 13:16 means that all manner of people, "both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond", will receive the future Antichrist's mark. Revelation 13:16 does not mean that absolutely all people will receive the mark. For there will be Biblical Christians who will not receive it, but will either be martyred (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 13:7-10, Matthew 24:9-13), or (the third option) will flee into God-protected wilderness places (Revelation 12:6,14-16), and will still be "alive and remain" on the earth at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming to be raptured (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), immediately after the future Tribulation (Mark 13:24-27; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6). Also, there will be some non-Christian elect Jews who will refuse to receive the mark, and yet they will survive (either in hiding, or under the protection of God's future, Two Witnesses: Revelation 11:3,5). And so they will be able to be saved by Jesus Christ when they see Him in person at His Second Coming (Romans 11:25-29, Zechariah 12:10-14). Anyone who receives the mark can never be saved (Revelation 14:9-11).

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(Re: Will the image cause the mark?)

In the original Greek, the start of Revelation 13:16 can be read either as "it causes" or "he causes". So the entity which will cause people to receive the mark in Revelation 13:16 could very well be the image of the beast (Revelation 13:15), and not the False Prophet (Revelation 13:11-14, Revelation 19:20). For the latter part of Revelation 13:15 is unclear whether the image or the False Prophet will cause as many as will not worship the image to be killed.

But even if we see the image in the latter part of Revelation 13:15 as being the nearest antecedent in Revelation 13:16, this does not require that the image will be the entity which will cause people to receive the mark. For sometimes the nearest antecedent is not being referred to. For example, Revelation 13:13 is not referring to the nearest antecedent (the first beast, the Antichrist: Revelation 13:12b), but to his False Prophet (Revelation 13:11-12a, cf. Revelation 19:20). This is made clear by Revelation 13:14. Similarly, Revelation 13:16 may not be referring to what could be seen as the nearest antecedent (the image: Revelation 13:15b), but may be referring to the False Prophet (Revelation 13:15a). All of Revelation 13:12-16 could be about what the future, False Prophet will do.

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(Re: Someone had a vision connecting a *vaccination/*vaccine campaign with the mark) / (*Lucifer *Virus)

There could be a connection between a future, worldwide vaccination campaign and the mark of the beast, in that the vaccine and the mark could be administered at the same time, by the same doctor/nurse type of people who are trained to use needles, scalpels, and bandages properly and antiseptically. For the "mark of the beast" (Revelation 13:16-17, Revelation 16:2) could be a permanent scar made by cuts with a scalpel.

Before the vaccination campaign begins, the Antichrist's intelligence agents could covertly spread around (such as with small, private planes secretly fitted with hidden spraying devices) an especially deadly bacteria (like anthrax) or an especially deadly virus (like Ebola) over the world's major population centers, after scientists working for the Antichrist have secretly come up with a vaccine which works against that bacteria or virus. After waiting until the bacteria or virus has killed tens of millions of people around the world, and health agencies issue dire warnings that it could bring about the extinction of mankind, the Antichrist could present himself to the world as its savior by offering his (in his words) "just discovered" vaccine freely to everyone, on the simple condition that they, as a sign of gratitude for his saving their lives (and as a sign to others that they have been vaccinated), willingly receive his mark when they receive the vaccine. People could then rush to receive the vaccine and the mark, to keep from dying from the bacteria or virus.

Under such a scenario, Christians would have to decide whether to save their mortal lives, or let them be ended by the bacteria or virus to keep from receiving the Antichrist's mark and thereby losing their salvation from hell (cf. Mark 8:35-36, Revelation 14:9-13).

Also, the Antichrist could falsely say that such a bacteria or virus-outbreak is (in his words) "a plague sent by YHWH to wipe out humanity, which he hates. But Lucifer appeared to me and showed me how to create this life-saving vaccine, for he cares about people" (cf. Mark 8:33b). In fact, Lucifer could have secretly developed the bacteria or virus himself. And he could even bring the vaccine against it down with him and publicly hand it over to the Antichrist when Lucifer and his angels descend to the earth mid-tribulation (Revelation 12:9) to (as they could say) "save mankind from this genocidal plague from YHWH". So people could be deceived into rejecting YHWH and worshipping Lucifer (Satan, the dragon) instead (Revelation 13:4-6, Revelation 12:9).

(See also Revelation 13:4 above. And see the "Details" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above)

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*Revelation 13:17 / *Rev. 13:17 -

One of the meanings of the original Greek word ("e": G2228) translated as "or" in Revelation 13:17 is "either" (1 Corinthians 14:6). So the second "or" in Revelation 13:17 (in the original Greek Textus Receptus) should be read as "either": "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark: either the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (compare also the NIV). Revelation 14:11 subsequently refers synecdochically to just the first of the two options: "the mark of his name". And Revelation 15:2 refers synecdochically to just the second option: the mark of the number of his name. (In the original Greek Textus Receptus of Revelation 15:2, there is no "and" between "over his mark" and "over the number of his name".)

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(Re: Is the beast in this verse the image?)

No, the "beast" in Revelation 13:17 is the first beast (the Antichrist), as it is consistently throughout Revelation 13:14-18. Revelation never refers to the image as the "beast", but consistently refers to it only as the "image" (Revelation 13:14-15, Revelation 14:9,11, Revelation 15:2, Revelation 16:2, Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:4).

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(Re: Does the "or" between the name and number mean that they are the same thing?)

No, in Revelation 13:17 the original Greek word ("e": G2228) translated as "or" in reference to "the name of the beast or the number of his name" is only a term of distinction (as in either/or), never of equation (as in "even", in the sense of saying that one thing is the same as another). Just as the first Greek "or" in Revelation 13:17 is not equating buying and selling, but distinguishing between them, because buying and selling are different things, so the third Greek "or" in Revelation 13:17 (in the original Greek Textus Receptus) is not equating the name of the beast and the number of his name, but distinguishing between them, because names and numbers are different things.

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(Re: Does "e"/G2228 have a comparative sense?)

Even the comparative sense of "e"/G2228 retains the distinction between two terms. It is either a disjunctive distinction or a comparative distinction. There is no equating of the two terms. And no English translations of "e"/G2228 can change its original Greek usage.

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(Re: Can "e"/G2228 be translated as "and"?)

G2228/"e" is still only a distinguishing term, even when it is translated as "and", such as distinguishing between Sodom "and" Gomorrha (Mark 6:11), or between Jesus Christ's right hand "and" His left (Mark 10:40).

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(Re: Can "e"/G2228 be used to refer to two things "one of which can take the place of the other"?)

"One of which can take the place of the other" is not referring to equation, in the sense of one thing being the same as another, but to two different options. Regarding the future Antichrist's mark, the gematrial number of his name (666, whether in a disguised form or not) will be able to take the place of his name, in that the mark will consist of either his name "or" the gematrial number of his name (Revelation 13:17), meaning that people will receive either one or the other, just as they will receive the mark on either their right hand "or" their forehead (Revelation 13:16).

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*Revelation 13:18 / *Rev. 13:18 -

(Re: *666)

The 666 in Revelation 13:17c-18 refers to the number six hundred and sixty-six, the "number of the name" of the individual man who will be the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"). The number of a name (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2) is determined by employing the ancient method of gematria, by which numerical values are assigned to the letters of any alphabet as follows: the first nine letters are assigned a value of 1 through 9, the next nine letters are assigned a value of 10 through 90 (counting by tens), and the rest of the letters are assigned a value of 100, 200, 300, etc., to the end of the alphabet. In Revelation 13:18 the "counting", the adding up, of the gematrial number of the future Antichrist's name should be done in the same way that the gematrial numerical values of the three Greek letters (Chi, Xi, and Stigma) at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the original Greek Textus Receptus) are added up to arrive at the number six hundred and sixty-six.

The numerical values assigned to the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet (including the three obsolete letters of Stigma, Qoppa, and Sampi) were as follows: Alpha = 1, Beta = 2, Gamma = 3, Delta = 4, Epsilon = 5, Stigma = 6, Zeta = 7, Eta = 8, Theta = 9, Iota = 10, Kappa = 20, Lambda = 30, Mu = 40, Nu = 50, Xi = 60, Omikron = 70, Pi = 80, Qoppa = 90, Rho = 100, Sigma = 200, Tau = 300, Upsilon = 400, Phi = 500, Chi = 600, Psi = 700, Omega = 800, Sampi = 900.

Just as the numerical values of Chi, Xi, and Stigma at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the Textus Receptus) add up to 666, so the numerical values of the letters in the future Antichrist's name will add up to 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18). The apostle John used the Greek alphabet because it was the most common one used by Christians when the book of Revelation was written down in the first century AD. Today, the English alphabet is the most common one used by Christians, insofar as English is the current lingua franca of the world. So the Antichrist's name will most likely add up to 666 in the English alphabet. The purpose of Revelation 13:17c-18 is to facilitate for Christians, not to make difficult for them, the identification of a certain man as possibly being the Antichrist. If the letters in his name had to be transliterated into the Greek alphabet, this would vitiate this purpose, for almost all Christians today would not know how to properly perform this transliteration, and so different Christians would come up with different transliterations, and so would come up with different gematrial numbers for the name of the man in question.

If Christians think that someone is the Antichrist, they need to see if his name adds up to 666 in gematria (Revelation 13:17c-18). If it does not, then he is not the Antichrist. If it does, then he could be, and they need to be especially wary of him, and not be taken in by any deceptive charisma, intelligence, or amazing deeds that he might display. But even if someone's name adds up to 666, this does not mean that he is definitely the Antichrist. For just by chance there could be more than one person in the world whose name adds up to 666. The Antichrist also has to come from a country the territory of which used to be part of one of the four Diadochian Greek kingdoms which succeeded Alexander the Great (Daniel 8:8-9,21-25). These kingdoms stretched from Greece over to Iran, and down into Egypt. So the Antichrist could come from the Middle East. He could be an Arab who will come from Lebanon, from the modern city of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4), and have a name like (for example) "Nabil Abdullah Falakal al-Hakim", which adds up to 666.

But if a man from the Middle East has a name that adds up to 666, even this does not assure that he is the Antichrist. For he also has to sit (at least one time) in a future, third Jewish temple in Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Daniel 11:31,36, Matthew 24:15, Revelation 11:1-2). Once he does that, there will not be any more room for doubt over whether or not he is the Antichrist. His identity will have been definitely revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4).

The gematrial numerical values of the letters of the English alphabet are: A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, J=10, K=20, L=30, M=40, N=50, O=60, P=70, Q=80, R=90, S=100, T=200, U=300, V=400, W=500, X=600, Y=700, Z=800. The way that the gematrial number of a name is "counted" (Revelation 13:17c-18), is added up, is simply by adding up the gematrial numerical values of all of the letters in that name. So, for example, the number of the name "John Mark Smith" is 636, because: J=10, O=60, H=8, N=50, M=40, A=1, R=90, K=20, S=100, M=40, I=9, T=200, H=8. Total = 636. The future Antichrist's name will add up to 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18).

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(*Wisdom)

The "wisdom" given in Revelation 13:18 is that six hundred and sixty-six will be the number of the future Antichrist's name (Revelation 13:17c-18). And the "understanding" in Revelation 13:18 which is required to properly "count", to add up, the number of his name, is having an understanding of gematria, which the Bible itself employs with the three Greek letters at the end of Revelation 13:18 (in the original Greek Textus Receptus), and which Biblical gematria, sadly, many Christians today are either unaware of, or, even if they know about it, they refuse to employ it, mistakenly thinking that it is some sort of occult numerology/divination.

(See also the "Choinix" part of Revelation 1:10 above. And see the "Greek mode of calculation" part of the "616" section below)

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(Re: Where does it say that the name "adds up" to 666?) / (*Count / *Add up)

In Revelation 13:18 the original Greek word (psephizo: G5585) translated as "count" means to enumerate, to add up, like someone should "count (psephizo) the cost" (Luke 14:28), add up the cost, of building a tower before he starts building it, so that he can make sure that he has enough money to finish it, and will not be mocked by people if he runs out of money after laying only the tower's foundation (Luke 14:28-30).

The Greek word translated as "count", as in "add up", in Revelation 13:18 comes from the Greek word (psephos: G5586) translated as "stone" in Revelation 2:17. For the ancient Greeks used to add things up by using little stones. (Compare also the Chinese abacus.)

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(Re: What if the Antichrist has changed his name?)

Whether or not the Antichrist has changed his name, Revelation 13:17c-18 assures us that the name which he has when he arrives on the world stage in our future will add up to six hundred and sixty-six in gematria.

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(Re: Is 666 a mystical/symbolic number?)

Note that no mystical/symbolic meaning of 666 can negate the Biblical revelation that six hundred and sixty-six will also be the gematrial number of the future Antichrist's personal name (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2).

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(Re: Should it be *616 instead of 666?)

No, for any Revelation manuscript with 616 is incorrect, possibly altered by those who mistakenly thought that Nero had been the Antichrist. The true gematrial number of the Antichrist's name is 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18). Irenaeus (born c. 140 AD) said "this number [666] being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the book of Revelation], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six" (Against Heresies 5:30:1). This mode of calculation, or method of gematria, is the same in the Greek alphabet, the Hebrew alphabet, the English alphabet, and any other alphabet: the first nine letters in the alphabet are assigned the values of 1 through 9, the next nine letters are assigned the values of 10 through 90 (counting by tens), and the rest of the letters are assigned the values of 100, 200, 300, etc., to the end of the alphabet.

(See also the "Nero" section of Revelation 13:5 above)

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(Re: Does *Hebrew have to be used?) / (Does the Hebrew spelling of x's name add up to 666?)

Note that there is no known "the" Hebrew spelling of modern, non-Hebrew names. For when someone tries to transliterate them into Hebrew, he has to make choices between competing possibilities for how to transliterate them. And he can fiddle with his transliterations until they add up to 666.

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(Re: Was the book of Revelation originally in Hebrew?)

The earliest known manuscripts of Revelation are in Greek. And in the Greek Textus Receptus, the apostle John used three letters from the Greek alphabet to gematrially denote the number six hundred and sixty-six at the end of Revelation 13:18. For gematria can be used in any alphabet. John used the Greek alphabet because Revelation was originally written to seven, literal, first century AD local church congregations in the Roman province of "Asia" (Revelation 1:11) (what is today western Turkey), congregations which were mainly made up of Gentiles (e.g. Ephesians 3:1), who did not necessarily know Hebrew, but would have known Greek because it was the lingua franca of the eastern part of the Roman empire.

God's Word was given in Hebrew in the Old Testament because that was the most common language understood by believers in YHWH God at the time that the Old Testament was written (in the fifteenth to sixth centuries BC), just as God's Word was given in Greek in the New Testament because that was the most common language understood by Christians at the time that the New Testament was written (in the first century AD). Today, the most common language understood by Christians is English, insofar as English is the current lingua franca of the world. So the gematrial numerical values of the letters of the Antichrist's name will most likely add up to six hundred and sixty-six in the English alphabet.

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(Re: Was it too dangerous to write in Greek?)

There was danger whether the book of Revelation was written down in Greek, Hebrew, or Latin. For all three languages were known to the Roman rulers at the time (John 19:19-22).

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(Re: Maybe we are supposed to try all existing applicable languages to see what results?) / (*Arabic?)

No, if by "applicable" you mean the original language of the Antichrist's name, which will most likely be Arabic. For then Christians all around the world would not only have to make contact with someone who knows Arabic, but also somehow convince that person to employ Arabic gematria to add up the number of the Antichrist's name as it is spelled with Arabic letters. Very few Christians would be successful in doing these things, and so the purpose of Revelation 13:17c-18 would be vitiated. For its purpose is to help Christians know whether or not someone is possibly the Antichrist.

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(Re: Is *Trump the Antichrist?)

No, for the gematrial "number of the name" of the person who is the Antichrist is 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2), while the gematrial number of the name "Donald Trump" is 849:

D=4, O=60, N=50, A=1, L=30, D=4, T=200, R=90, U=300, M=40, P=70. Total = 849.

(See also section 1 of Revelation 13:18 above)

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(Re: Is *Macron the Antichrist?)

No, for the gematrial "number of the name" of the person who is the Antichrist is 666 (Revelation 13:17c-18, Revelation 15:2), while the gematrial number of the name "Emmanuel Macron" is 715:

E=5, M=40, M=40, A=1, N=50, U=300, E=5, L=30, M=40, A=1, C=3, R=90, O=60, N=50. Total = 715.

(See also section 1 of Revelation 13:18 above)

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