![]() ![]() Footnote 17 The similarities are even more striking because 666 is an unusual figure, virtually unique. Obviously the similarities are striking, with the numerical forms very nearly identical. Footnote 16 In LXX, too, the verses are nearly identical: It is our contention that Beale's and Farrer's observations regarding the possible influence of 1 Kgs 10.14 on Rev 13.18 are basically correct but can be profitably expanded and made even more interpretively productive. St John's use of Solomon's history as a source-book of numbers makes it virtually certain that he found the number of the Beast here. The root of all evil begins the King's downfall. ![]() The story of the good Solomon continues as far as the visit of the Queen of Sheba … From the queen's departure onwards the King breaks the law of kingship clause by clause … The damnable number appears in the very next verse after the withdrawal of Sheba (1 Kings x, 14). The throne of David shook, the kingdom was divided, and messianic glory did not return for a thousand years. Almost every type has this doubleness … Solomon built the temple, then proceeded to apostatize at leisure. ![]() Solomon is a type of Christ, but he is a type of Antichrist also. 18 does not make a connection between 666 and the Beast's name explicit, which it might very well have done, with only a very slight alteration that substituted ὄνομα for ἀριθμός, as follows:Į must turn … to the history of Solomon, which is its source. Footnote 8 One further observation should be underscored: despite the wording of Rev 13.17, it is not entirely clear that Rev 13.18 requires that the number is an individual's actual name. Footnote 7 Perhaps none of these problems are insurmountable, but other issues present themselves – paramount among them the observation that ‘the name of Nero was apparently never suggested by the ancient commentators even though his persecuting zeal made him a model of the Antichrist’. For one thing, the exact name that equals 666 is not ‘Nero’ alone but ‘Nero Caesar’ for another, this compound name must be transliterated into Hebrew and then spelled defectively (נרון קסר for the expected נרון קיסר) Footnote 6 before the calculation can be carried out and ‘work’. While this consensus is impressive, the problems besetting the equation ‘666 = Nero’ are well known. Footnote 5 Most interpreters go on to agree that 666 is best interpreted as the numerical equivalent for this individual's name, with the most popular candidate for the job being Nero. While there is no one interpretation that commands universal consensus, the majority of recent commentators appear to agree that the text refers to a specific individual – this is why, so the argument goes, the number is said to be ‘a human number’ (ἀριθμὸς … ἀνθρώπου). ![]()
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