Book of Revelation - various viewpoints

[neilgodfrey]

For anyone interested, I have posted links to all my blog posts covering various viewpoints on Revelation found in the scholarly publications:

from Revelation as astral prophecy,
as both an anti-Pauline and a pro-Pauline work,
as an attack on gnosticism,
as a work from before the destruction of the temple,
from the time of Domitian,
and from the time of Hadrian and the Bar Kochba war.

-- Book of Revelation — Annotated List of Posts

[perseusomega9]

While not specifically on Revelation, this interview with a mathematician/biblical studies prof discusses how the 666 = Nero isn't nearly as clear cut as it's made out.

Mythvision Podcast- Decoding numbers in the bible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-vBx9wGWTM

[neilgodfrey]

While not specifically on Revelation, this interview with a mathematician/biblical studies prof discusses how the 666 = Nero isn't nearly as clear cut as it's made out.

Mythvision Podcast- Decoding numbers in the bible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-vBx9wGWTM

Jeffrey Tripp's point (ca 40 mins) is spot on and the one that Thomas Witulski addresses in his reading of Revelation against background of Hadrian's time.

Tripp points out that Rev 13's passage about 666 is a reference to the practice of isopsephy -- a form of gematria that required two names for comparison. The official versions of the names of Hadrian and Nero both equal 666, thus identifying "the beast" (Hadrian) with the "number of the man" (Nero). -- Hadrian was loved in the eastern Roman empire as something of a Nero redivivus.

666 : Hadrian as Nero Redivivus

[John T]

While not specifically on Revelation, this interview with a mathematician/biblical studies prof discusses how the 666 = Nero isn't nearly as clear cut as it's made out.

Mythvision Podcast- Decoding numbers in the bible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-vBx9wGWTM

666= Titus.

[neilgodfrey]

While not specifically on Revelation, this interview with a mathematician/biblical studies prof discusses how the 666 = Nero isn't nearly as clear cut as it's made out.

Mythvision Podcast- Decoding numbers in the bible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-vBx9wGWTM

666= Titus.

Try to follow the discussion, John T. The video linked contains an explanation of a problem of interpretations of 666. As perseusomega9 was able to see from the video, the various attempts to interpret 666 are not "nearly as clear cut as it's made out" -- the same applies to Titus as to Nero. The guest explains that the relevant passage in Revelation 13 is a case of isopsephy, that is, a system that requires TWO references, not just one.

Any attempt to explain 666 by reference to just ONE name (whether, Titus or Nero or anyone or anything else) fails to understand both what Revelation 13 is saying and how isopsephy works.

The number of the beast is the number of a man. That is, as has been pointed out by an overlooked publication since 1902, "one should calculate the number of the beast to find the equivalent name of the man".

Thomas WItiulski's explanation is the only one I've seen that appreciates the complexity of the passage of Rev 13 that Tripp attempts to point out and that perseusomega9 grasped:

Tripp points out that Rev 13's passage about 666 is a reference to the practice of isopsephy -- a form of gematria that required two names for comparison. . . . , thus identifying "the beast" (Hadrian) with the "number of the man" (Nero). -- Hadrian was loved . . . as something of a Nero redivivus.

666 : Hadrian as Nero Redivivus