χαῖρας, καὶ ἔζησε. 15 Καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ Είναι πνεύμα τη εἰκόνι τα θηρία, ἵνα καὶ λαλήσῃ ἡ εἰκὼν τα θηρία,καὶ ποιήσῃ, ὅσοι ἂν μὴ προσκυ νησῶσι τὴν εἰκόνα τῆ θηρία, ἵνα ἀποκίαν16 θῶσι. Καὶ ποιεῖ πάνας, της μικρές και τις μεγάλες, και τις πολυσίας καὶ τις πληγές, καὶ τὰς ἐλευθέρως καὶ τὰς δέλος, ἵνα δῶσιν αὐτοῖς χάραμα ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν τῆς δεξιᾶς, ἡ ἐπὶ τῶν μελώπων αὐτῶν. 17 Καὶ ἵνα μή τις δύνηται ἀγοράσαι ἡ πωλῆσαι, εἰ μὴ ἔχων τὸ χάραμα, τὸ ὄνομα τα θηρία, ἢ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τὸ 18 ὀνόματος αὐτῷ. Ωδε ἡ σοφία ἐσίν· ὁ ἔχων γῆν, ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τα θηρία ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώ πεἐεὶ, καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτό χει him to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should even speak; and he should cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast 16 should be slain. And he causeth all, both the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the slaves, that they should give them a mark upon their right hands, or upon their foreheads. 17 [And] that no one might be able to buy or sell, but he who hath the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his 18 name. Herein is the wisdom; let him that hath understanding, calculate the num ber of the beast: for it is a number of a man; and his number is 666. had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as inany as would not worship the image of the beast, should be 16 killed. And he cau seth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in 17 their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his 18 name. 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. Ver. 11. Another wild beast-out of the land,] Η γη, the land, in opposition to ἡ θάλασσα, the sea, signifies the Israel; the peculiar people of God; the Ή * See note, ch. viii. 7. Jews, Jews, so long as they continued such; but, after the Divine rejection of them, the Gentiles; who now, during the 1260 years, tread the courts of the Lord's Temple. This beast therefore ariseth from among the professed Christians. He is of the kind foretold by St. Paul; "grievous wolves, not sparing the flock; "also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking per"verse things;" &c. † Thus also Saint John describes antichrist ἐξ ἡμων-αλλ' οὐκ ἐξ ἡμων:—he is a Christian in pretence, but in fact an enemy to the faith: and he propagates new doctrines, and seduces or forces others from the ancient faith §. This is the spirit of antichrist which began to shew itself even in St. John's days, but was to be manifested in full growth at that later period, which seems foretold in this passage of the Apocalypse. Ib. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.] Horns signify power, and two horns two branches, into which that power is divided. They are of the same beast; a power of the same kind; but exercised in two separate divisions or kingdoms. They are made to appear like the horns of a lamb, professing to be that spiritual power which belongs to the Lamb, and is peculiar to his kingdom; to the kingdom of Christ. They are, in short, ecclesiastical powers. But though their outward seeming be such, not such is their reality. This beast is no lamb,-he is the very wolf in sheep's clothing, foretold by our Lord; after which passage the venerable Ignatius calls false prophets and deceivers in the Church aunoi ažio71501. This beast * See notes, ch. ii. 9; vii. 4; xi. 1. 1 John ii. 18, 19. 2 John 6, 7. Matt. vii. 15. xiii. 22. is by Saint John styled the false prophet*; and the ancient Fathers universally understood him to be the leader of the great antichristian apostacy f. He puts on the garb and outward appearance of a pure servant of God: but when he speaks and brings to light his doctrine and his decrees, the difference becomes manifest. Our Lord "spake as never man spake," with divine energy united to gentleness and tender affection; he spake comfortably to his Jerusalem." Not so this ecclesiastical wild-beast;-like the voice of the little horn in Daniel, his voice is blasphemous; it is exalted against the Lord, and against his Anointed. "It is of his predecessor the dragon." Ye," says our Lord to the Jewish hypocrites, "are of your father the devil §.” Ver. 12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast; &c.] This second beast, the ecclesiastical power, divided into two branches, exerciseth all the power of the first beast; that power which has been already described as given to him by the dragon, with whose voice he speaks. But this, as was before observed ||, is not in the early times of the beast's power; not during the pagan Roman empire; but after he had received his deadly wound; which mark of his chronology is twice repeated ¶. The power which he T. receives from the dragon, and exercises under the first beast, whose armour-bearer he is therefore called by Irenæus**, has already been described. It is a power * Ch. xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10. + Irenæus, lib. v. 25. Augustin. Hom. ii. in Apocal. In the Synops. S. S. attributed to Athanasius, a kind of abstract is given of the Apocalypse: and in this the second beast is called the anti-christ, os no Aigisos, which seems to have been the prevailing notion with the Fathers. ↑ Dan. vii. 20. Ch. xiii. 4, 5. Note, ch. xiii. 5, 6, 7 § John viii. 44. ¶ Ver. 12, & 14. ** Adv. Hær. lib. v. cap. 28. of of great extent; opposed against God, and true Religion; idolatrous and tyrannical. Being a false prophet §, he possesses himself of an ecclesiastical authority, and adds the influence, with which the sanctions of Religion seem to invest him, to the civil power which he obtains and exercises under the Roman beast. Thus armed with twofold authority, he employs it in the support of the power which he has obtained; and to secure reverence and obedience to that power, he sets it up as sacred. Ver. 13. And he doeth great wonders; &c.] The opposers of Moses, the servant of God, performed lying wonders in Egypt. This false prophet endeavours to personate the servants of God, and, like them, to perform miracles; like Moses and Elijah, to "draw down "fire from heaven in the sight of men.' He is successful in the delusion, and is generally received as a prophet of God. Under the sanction of Religion, he establishes an oppressive domination, hostile to true Religion; and which true Religion is calculated to destroy. Ver. 14. It is the image and resemblance of the ancient tyranny, in the times of the Cæsars, by which those, suspected to be Christians, were required, at the penalty of their lives, to offer incense to the pagan emperors. By investing this tyrannical usurpation with the sanctions of sacred authority, he renders it the object of the world's foolish idolatry. And where obcdience and worship are refused, they are then enforced by terror and by arms. All orders and degrees of men are enrolled, and marked as slaves of this tyranny ¶. The * Ver. 7, 8. Ch. xvi 3. + Ver. 5, 6. * Ver. 4. The custom of receiving marks on the forehead and right hand, as To those who withhold the decreed worship and obedience, the common privileges of life are denied; they are oppressed, persecuted, and slain. The ancient Roman tyranny denied to persons, suspected to be Christians, the privilege of buying and selling, unless they would sacrifice to idols. This revived tyranny, the living image of the old one, does the same. The future existence and success of such an hypocritical, blasphemous, and cruel power, has been foretold in other passages of Scripture. The little horn of Daniel came up like this, upon the former beast, upon the old-established civil power; came rooting up other branches of this power, to make way for his own domination. He is "divers from the other horns;" he is not merely a civil power; he has eyes, as the eyes of “a man," and "a mouth speaking great things;" and "he wears out the Saints of the Most High," who are given into his hand during the very same period of time which is assigned to the first beast of the Apocalypse, all whose power is exercised by this second beast †. as badges of servitude, is very ancient. Moses seems to allude to it in Deut. vi. 8. Such a mark was inflicted on the conquered Jews by Ptolemy Philadelphus. (Maccabees.) Irenæus relates, that the Gnostics were accustomed thus to mark their disciples. Both believers and infidels, according to the koran of Mahomet, are to be marked respectively on their faces, previous to the last day. (Sale's Koran, p. 105.) lu Hindostan, some casts are yet marked in the forehead. A curious account of these marks, and specimens of their forms, may be seen in the Voyage of Fra. Paolino da San Bartolomeo to the East Indies, chap. viii; also chap. i. toward the end. See likewise Augustin. tom. xi. p. 538: signacula oris, et manuum, et sinûs." Likewise see Spencer de Leg. Heb. lib. ii. c. 14. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. v. c. 1. vi. c. 41. Just. Martyr, quoted by Bp. Newton, iii. p. 244. † Dan. vii. 8. 20. 21. 24. 25. xiii. 5. See them compáred, note, ch. |