The Whole Revelation of John in Two Treatises, Treatise 1 · Proposition 29 – Proposition 30
29 PROPOSITION. The name of the beaſt expreſſed by the number of 666. (cap. 13.) is the name foreign onelyonly.
MAny hauing miſtaken this text, hauehave judged this number to be the number of the Antichriſts name in particular, as if it were the number of the ſecond Beaſts name, which we hauehave proued by the 27. propoſitiō to be of the firſt beaſts name. Here then ſay we, that name is foreign, for theſe reaſons. Firſt, becaus the name of the beaſt is proued (by the ſaid 27 propoſitiō) to be the name of the ten-horned Roman beaſt or Latine empyre in generall, and not of the Antichriſt onelie, and ſo it muſt either be Romanus or Latinus, but of theſe two, Latinus is the eldeſt ſtyle: for King Latinus (from whome that people were called Latini, and their cuntrie called Latium) was long before King Romulus, of whome the Citie was called Rome, and the people thereof Romanes. Secondlie,Apoc. 13.17 18. it muſt bee the number of a mans name (ſaieth the text) ſo is Latinus the name of a man, euen the name of one of their firſt Kinges. Thirdlie, foraſmuch as the Graecians had a cuſtome in their myſteries and Oracles, to obſerue the number of names, as ye ſhall finde in diuers partes of Sybilla: And as in that countrey, the name of the flood foreign; is celebrated as holie, becauſe it containeth the number of the daies of the year 365, as Carion teſtifieth, Chro. lib. 4. wher he deſcribeth the Cattes & Heſſes. Therfore, Sanct Iohn (obſeruing the cuſtome of them to whome hee writeth) ſaithApoc. 13, 18 that the number of the Beaſt, or rather (as he termed it in the former 17. verſ.) the number of the Beaſts name, is 666. And euen ſo it is, that foreign contained the number of 666. for λ is 30. α is 1. τ is 300. ε is 5. l is 10. ν is 50. ο is 70. and ς is 200. which altogether make ſixe hundred three ſcore and ſixe. Therefore, foreign is the verie name of the Beaſte, meaned by the ſaide number. And for better confirmation of this forme of interpretation, Irenaeus Martyr (who was Diſciple to Polycarpus, the Diſciple of Sanct Iohn) about the ende of the fift book de haereſibus, approoueth this manner of interpretation, ſaying, Et teſtimonium perhibentibus his; qui facie ad faciem viderunt Iohannem, & ratione docentibus, quoniam numerus nominis Beſtiae, ſecundum Graecorum computationem, per literas, quae in eo ſunt ſexcentos habebit & ſexaginta ſex, &c. And theſe bearing teſtimonie, that face to face hauehave ſeene Sanct Iohn, and by reaſon teaching, how that the number of the beaſtes name, doeth containe ſixe hundred three ſcore and ſixe after the Graecian reckoning, by the letters that are therein. And thus far ſaith he generallie, concerning the maner how this text ſhall be interpreted, as appearingly he had his warrant, receiued mouth by mouth from Sanct Iohn. But as to the particular names, although he reckoneth out foreign, with other of his own conceptiō, yet, becaus he had not ſuch particular warrāt mouth by mouth therof, he leaues off to ſpeak determinatly therof: But by the euēt now fallen out, we may more cōſtātly affirm this ſame. For concluſion, ſeeing by the 24 propoſition, the firſt great ten-horned beaſt is the Roman Empire, wherof (by the 27 propoſitiō) the number of his name, is the number of 666, and that (by the text) the ſame muſt be the number of a mans name: Therefore, this number of 666. cannot bee yeares, as ſome do interpret it, nor foreign, for foreign, which is to denie, nor foreign, neither Dic Lux: becauſe although theſe contain the number of 666. yet theſe be neyther the names of a man, neither the names of the Latine or Romane Empire, as is proued, that the name of the ſaid number oght to be. Alſo this name is neither foreign nor foreign, becauſe although they both anſwer the ſaid number, as likewiſe are the names of a man or maſculine, yet are they not the names of the firſt beaſt, or Romane Empire. And therfore that name neceſſarilie muſt be foreign, as beeing not onelie the name of a man, but alſo the proper name of the firſte beaſte: as thirdlie containing in it the ſaide number 666. conforme to the three properties and tokens thereof, warranted by the text.
30 PROPOSITION. Then marke of the Romane beaſt, is that inuiſible profeſsion of ſeruitude and obedience, that his ſubiects hath profeſſed to his Empire, ſince the firſt beginning therof, noted afterward by the Pope, with diuers viſible markes.
IN the ninth cap. of Ezechiel, Ezech. 9.4it is ſaid, that the Angel marked Gods Elect within Ieruſalem, with a marke on their foreheads: the like is ſaid in the Reuelation: Apo. 7 3 4yet in no hiſtorie of theſe daies, it is hard that anie ſuch viſible marke was ſet vponupon the faithfull: wherethrowe that marke muſt of neceſſitie mean nothing els, but that profeſsion of ſeruice and obedience towardes God, which with bolde faces we aduouch as conſtantlie & openlie, as if we wer viſiblie marked therwith. And ſemblablie, on the cōtrarie part, this mark of the Roman beaſt or Latin Empire, is nothing els, but that profeſſed ſeruitude, obediēce, confederacy, or concurrēce, which the ſubjects thereof hauehave advouched to obſerue thereunto. And for confirmation hereof, it is ſaide in the Reuel. Apoc, 16, 2that in the daies of the firſt Ʋial, there fel a greate plague on them that receiued the beaſts mark,Apoc. 16.2 & worſhipped his Image: but at that time, (which was betwixt the yeare of God 71. and 316) there was no viſible marke, that can be attributed vntounto them of that empyre, nor any difference betwixt them & the enemies of the empyre, but onelyonly their foreſaid profeſsion; which therfore doubtles muſt be called in that text, the mark of the empyre. But as to the ſecond part of this propoſitiō, howe ſoone the Antichriſt, that two-horned Beaſt came, he cauſed all men to receiue a mark, which the text diſcribes ſo ſpecially, with ſuch notes, as it muſt needs be a more notable and viſible mark, nor the ſimple profeſsion onlie; for the former mark of ſimple profeſsion, is but ſimply called the mark of the beaſt (Revel. Apoc, 16, 216.) but the marks that fell in the time of the Antichriſt, are not only ſaid to be marked in their foreheades or right hands: but alſo, the forme and ſhape of the mark is expreſſed by the text,Apo, 14.11, Apo. 15.2. where the ſame mark is ſaid to be, the mark of the Beaſts name or number thereof: as if he would ſay, there are marks taken out of the beaſts name, or rather number thereof, which all his ſubjectes ſhall beare or weare ſometimes on their foreheads, ſome times in their handes: which, what they be, followeth in the next propoſition.