u/vacciprata

Consensus discussion of the bible is mostly misinterpretation, such as:

"Eve was made from Adam's rib"

"40 days/nights of rain caused the flood"

"The earth was made ~6,000 years ago"

There is no "rib." In Hebrew and Greek the word for side also means rib. In Sefer Bereshit (Genesis), God divides Adam in half and closes up the flesh, resulting in one man and one woman (in verses 2:21-22).

The flood's water didn't come from above. Paraphrase of Sefer Bereshit 7:11-12: It happened when "all the great fountains of the deep burst forth" and "windows in the sky were opened." Afterwards, it rained 40 days/nights.

The first verse of Sefer Bereshit: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," i.e. the universe and everything.

The events of the second verse "And the earth was formless and void..." obviously begin after those of verse 1, but the interim between the two verses is not defined: maybe it's a day, maybe it's 10 billion years.

The 6,000 year time-frame comes from Maimonides' analysis of the Masoretic text. He provided it as a religious calendar guide, not a tally of earth's birthdays.

We have the freedom to form any bible argument we want, but we won't honestly define our terms. Regurgitating poor translations of Hebrew and Greek to misrepresent stuff in the bible is disingenuous

Consensus discussion of the bible is mostly misinterpretation, such as:

"Eve was made from Adam's rib"

"40 days/nights of rain caused the flood"

"The earth was made ~6,000 years ago"

There is no "rib." In Hebrew and Greek the word for side also means rib. In Sefer Bereshit ("Genesis"), God divides Adam in half and closes up the flesh, resulting in one man and one woman (in verses 2:21-22).

The flood's water didn't come from above. Paraphrase of Sefer Bereshit 7:11-12: It happened when "all the great fountains of the deep burst forth" and "windows in the sky were opened." Afterwards, it rained 40 days/nights.

The first verse of Sefer Bereshit: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," i.e. the universe and everything.

The events of the second verse "And the earth was formless and void..." obviously begin after those of verse 1, but the interim between the two verses is not defined: maybe it's a day, maybe it's 10 billion years.

The 6,000 year time-frame comes from Maimonides' analysis of the Masoretic text. He provided it as a religious calendar guide, not a tally of earth's birthdays.

We have the freedom to form any bible argument we want, but we won't honestly define our terms. Regurgitating poor translations of Hebrew and Greek to misrepresent stuff in the bible is disingenuous.

The Roman Empire's road network doubled as a postal system called the cursus publicus. It provided reliable, long-distance communication and was also the core of Rome's military-intelligence apparatus.

The ease of sending letters across thousands of miles had a hidden toll: official scrutiny and loss of privacy. Even when private couriers were employed, regular check-ins along a predictable route invited the risk of interception.

https://preview.redd.it/d72sr78lw28h1.png?width=1150&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd4855b4da2f5ef82a3b0c2f634e508d29963a5d

To avoid raising eyebrows, letter-writers could use doublespeak or innuendo. But when elites/military leaders wanted to ensure privacy, they used encryption methods.

History's outline of their methodology is, like most Roman stuff, borrowed from Greece: ciphers and the scytale, the steganography of Aeneas Tacticus, Polybian devices for telegraphy, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius_square

The writings of Julius Africanus describe the Roman conceptualization of the Polybius Square in fire signaling (telegraphy). The overall concept has remained useful for millennia. If you're over ~35 years old, you've probably used it unknowingly- tapping out text messages on old Nokia cell phones:

https://preview.redd.it/tkxlfgasw28h1.png?width=1469&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4548b06529da3739bec30118190e4c1866733e9

It's possible that Roman ingenuity could have conceptually combined the Polybius Square with ciphers. Doing this with an easy-to-memorize letter grid would add a complex encryption-layer, while remaining easy to use and teach. If steganography-ideas from Aeneas Tacticus were applied, it would be disguised as a quaintly unfamiliar, niche object- in military forts / elite residences, or fixed in a public space (anonymous or indeterminate appointment).

The earliest Sator Squares (not necessarily the medieval ones) check all the boxes mentioned in the last paragraph. This one was found in a Roman fort in Syria (Dura Europos):

https://preview.redd.it/p1ynlq0ox28h1.jpg?width=230&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af34b2bf7793e1b63c58716f99c588fe6a577ef9

If you look closely at the characters, you'll see subtle differences that make each one unique. Where a casual observer sees 'R', an informed observer might see 1st R, 2nd R, 3rd R, or 4th R...

https://preview.redd.it/jcrph8irx28h1.png?width=889&format=png&auto=webp&s=420db1eafd5defa19954c9a522da8130ce1f93c4

Because the set of defined positions is easy to reproduce, you can quickly encrypt any relevant language into 8 Latin characters by imaginally sequencing its alphabet onto the grid- Latin, Greek, Gaulish, Punic, Syriac, etc. 1,800 years ago, that would be cutting-edge.

Imagine trying to read this in an intercepted letter:

RERPRNS PRORNP PE RSRA PERE RN RN RNPSTSSTPSA TSPPSR.

If we see a Sator Square (like the one from Dura Europos) as nothing more than an unidentified game, folk tradition, or cult object- maybe we're being astute. But if it was fashioned to obfuscate its own function, in order to increase a clandestine usefulness, then maybe we're being hoodwinked by design.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AlternativeHistory/comments/1u4novf/the_mystery_of_666_has_been_solved_and_the_answer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Part 1 (link above) shows how, in the Old Testament, Revelation's 666 connects only to Solomon's empire (in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles), and nothing else- but there's more to the story. Solomon's empire is referenced in two other places in the Book of Revelation, in the context of economic tyranny:

Revelation 6 has the infamous four horsemen: white horse (bow / crown / conquering) red horse (war / sword) black horse (pair of balances) and pale horse (uses empires / famine / plague / sword to kill 1/4 of global population).

Sandwiched between the verses of the black and pale horses, in verse 6:6, four commodities are mentioned:

Revelation 6:6

^(6) And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Wheat, barley, oil and wine appear together in only two other bible verses (out of ~31,000). As with Rev 13:18, the references are in 2 Chronicles. In verses 2:10 and 2:15 King Solomon negotiates with Huram of Tyre to import timber:

2 Chronicles 2:10

^(10) And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

2 Chronicles 2:15

^(15) Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

As Revelation 13 has four bad actors (1st beast, 2nd beast, dragon and the living idol) and references Solomon's empire (verse 13:18), Revelation 6 has four bad actors (the 4 horsemen) and references Solomon's empire (verse 6:6).

In the two chapters (6 and 13) there are similarities of development:

1. white horse (ch 6) and 1st beast (ch 13) both have crowns (royalty / respected hegemony).

2. white horse conquers > red horse continues warring (ch 6) 1st beast speaks as a lion > 1st beast gets new mouthpiece/spokesperson elected for a set term (ch 13). The two situations are reminiscent of old monarchies transforming into modern states.

3. black horse is unarmed (ch 6) 2nd beast has harmless lamb-like appearance (ch 13)

4. pale horse causes end-stage hell on earth (ch 6) living idol causes end-stage hell on earth (ch 13)

In Revelation 6 the reference to Solomon's empire (verse 6) comes immediately after the black horse (pair of scales represents trade), and immediately before the pale horse (murderous empires causing final, global catastrophe).

The final reference to Solomon's empire occurs in Revelation 18:12-13. The peculiar mix of items traded by Mystery Babylon appears in only one other place in the bible: in 2 Chronicles 2:11-14, between the verses referenced in 6:6 (verses 2:10 and 2:15), as Solomon discusses trade with Huram:

2 Chronicles 2:13-14

^(13) And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,

^(14) The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

Revelation 18:12-13

^(12) The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

^(13) And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Also of note:

In 2 Chronicles 2:14, the man Huram sends to Solomon- "skillful to work in" every product- is of the tribe of Dan. In Revelation 7 people get sealed and protected from the catastrophe from every single tribe except the tribe of Dan.

The references to Solomon's empire appear roughly every 6 chapters in the Book of Revelation (in 6:6, 13:18, and 18:13).

thanks for reading

Before delving deeper into Revelation 13, please consider the context of the Book of Revelation:

The Greek verb apokalyptó means "to reveal, uncover, disclose." The noun apokalypsis means "revelation, unveiling, disclosure." The "disclosure" aspect of apokalypsis's meaning is prevalent in the New Testament. This page contains all the relevant verses:

https://biblehub.com/greek/602.htm

In the opening sentence of The Book of Revelation, when revelation "the revealing/unveiling of information," is substituted by disclosure (for apokalypsis), the meaning of John's statement may be clearer to a modern audience:

The disclosure of Jesus Christ, given to him by God, to show his servants things which will have to occur rapidly; sent and made known by his messenger to his servant John: who testified to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, as much as he saw.

The book is presented as a divine disclosure of information, given as testimony from Jesus Christ.

https://preview.redd.it/lcpkmselbd7h1.jpg?width=631&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73f4cc18a18194424a6f307b99d028b5ba6269cb

Summary of events in Rev 13:

The first beast (empire/kingdom/political-economic system), rising from the sea, has a leopard's body, bear's feet, a lion's mouth, 7 heads (with blasphemous names), and 10 crowned horns. It gets its strength and authority from "the dragon." One of its heads gets a mortal wound, but then it miraculously heals. The world marvels at this.

The world worships the dragon and the beast and declares the beast 100% unbeatable in war.

The beast gets a new mouth that "utters great blasphemies," and is granted authority for 42 months.

The beast opens its mouth to blaspheme God, God's name (authority) and God's tabernacle (dwelling place).

The beast is granted authority to prevail over "the saints" and gain authority over the world.

The vast majority of the world's people worship the beast.

A second beast rises from the earth. It has two horns like a lamb but it speaks like a dragon. It stands out in front of the first beast to exercise the first beast's authority. It causes the earth and its people to worship the first beast.

The second beast performs miracles like causing fire to rain down from the sky, and thus deceives the masses, and leads them to build an idol of the first beast.

The second beast gets the ability to give life to the idol of the first beast, enabling the idol to speak and cause the death of those that will not worship it. It then causes that it should give every single human a mark on their right hand or forehead. No one can buy or sell without the mark, its name, or the number of its name.

The last verse (13:18) is covered in the last post.

https://preview.redd.it/vn146gsmbd7h1.jpg?width=895&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae9cf809c480ef319a9ed9a64223e08c2b7ff83b

Here's my attempt at an analysis, please tell me where it falls short:

Rather than investigating the traits of the beasts with the aim of assigning specific ethnic or political identities (e.g. "leopard = Russia"), I think it makes more sense to aim for a general outline of behavior. For example, if you consider the first beast:

Its mostly a leopard (stealthy/deceitful/nimble/hidden), with bear's feet (a little clumsy when it travels, but solid and scary in a fight), lion's mouth (mostly silent except when it wants to intimidate- does so effectively), 7 heads / 10 crowned horns (involves multiple institutions/groups/individuals- all with wealth and prestigious titles- at least one of them has multiple prestigious titles at once).

The dragon is never seen (?), but it provides the beast with power and authority (military might?), and becomes the object of global adoration (culture of militarism / technology / materialism?).

When the beast's second mouth takes the lion-mouth's place (for a determined duration), the blasphemy seems to define its communication, rather than appear subtly as written names on its heads. This vocal onslaught crescendos until most of the world comes to respect and accept authority based on blasphemy.

https://preview.redd.it/45vd2evnbd7h1.png?width=1326&format=png&auto=webp&s=3bddf3875c9e9ae62319b6298be926cf215dcfc7

The second beast looks like a lamb (it seems harmless? it's pretending to be the lamb of God, i.e. Jesus?). The role of communicator is taken over by the second beast, but the dragon is talking through it? It stands in front of the first beast (exercising the authority of the first beast) as a proxy/mask/shield/puppet causing most of the world to worship the first beast.

The second beast demonstrates a very high level of technological prowess and resources and performs feats that seem miraculous. It thus mesmerizes the world and leads it to make an idol of the first beast (knowledge or A.I. ?) that is eventually given life (A.I. / cyborg?).

The role of communicator transfers to this living idol and it kills anyone that refuses to worship it, makes everyone "receive a mark" on their right hand or forehead (likely a digital, biometric database, rather than a physical mark or device).

No one can buy or sell without the mark (slave class), or name (authority) of the beast (political / military authority) or the number of the name (a super-wealthy elite that controls the money). The previous "Mystery of 666" post delves into these three distinctions...

https://preview.redd.it/qwzv399vad7h1.jpg?width=730&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23baf5d90448cf0c873993614b479feb001a07d0

Seems like four main actors working together: The dragon, the first beast, the second beast, and the idol of the first beast. The world's people only hear from one of them at a time:

1. they hear a load, scary, roar at first (first beast)

2. then it sounds less scary, more human-ish, but it talks and talks and talks (first beast / new mouth)

3. Then it just talks with... fire? (as a dragon) basically just roars fire when it wants to talk?, prob not a good listener. (2nd beast)

4. then it...? (idol of first beast)

The public image of this unholy alliance:

1 - 2. Looks strong, complex, royal, impressive

3. looks harmless

4. ?

*The dragon seems to act from behind the scenes / perhaps never seen.

Thanks for reading, sweet dreams!

Although the bible has plenty of unsettling chapters, Revelation 13 is potent nightmare fuel: stark, hellish animations of an impending dystopian future.

Buried under spiraling descriptions of grotesque, mutant beasts- the evil empires that will tyrannize our tomorrows- the last verse (13:18) offers a vague consolation; the identity of our future tormentor concealed within a riddle:

^(18) 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.

The English verb count in Rev 13:18 is translated from the Greek verb pséphizó, "to calculate, reckon." Pséphizó derives from the noun-stem pséphos, "a small, smooth pebble used for tallying/calculation." Similarly, in Latin, calculare "to calculate" derives from calculus "a small pebble."

An ancient speaker of Greek would associate pséphizó with reckoning performed by someone with an abacus or a counting/tabulation board: a market dealer, comptroller, estimator, tax collector etc. calculating transactions, accounts, or inventories.

Among the ~7,957 verses in the New Testament, pséphizó appears just two times. The economic/monetary/transactional aspect of pséphizó is clear in Luke 14:28:

^(28) For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

In Rev 13:18 the shades of pséphizó's meaning stand out against the chapter's backdrop: a deceptive, brutal economic system/empire (beast) that controls and oversees every individual's transactions.

The three occurrences of number in Rev 13:18 are translated from arithmos "a number (as reckoned up)". In the context of *pséphizó/*reckoning, an arithmos is a pile of pebbles, but more importantly, it's an amount that results from economic/monetary/transactional reckoning.

The number is "of the beast", "of a man", and "is 666." Simply: the reckoned amount is of the empire, belongs to a man, and is 666.

Apart from Rev 13:18, the number 666 appears in only two other (virtually identical) bible verses, describing a reckoned amount (gold talents paid in tribute), from an economic system (a transnational empire with tributary states), that belongs to a man (King Solomon). The two verses are:

2 Chronicles 9:13

^(13) Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

and 1 Kings 10:14

^(14) Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

King Solomon began his reign over a prosperous, united kingdom, but as his wealth grew, he became corrupt and his kingdom slowly decayed from within. His materialistic pursuits led him to invade and subjugate foreign lands, make deals with evil people, and neglect the spiritual well-being of himself and his people.

He left a weakened, damaged kingdom to his son that divided shortly after his death into a northern kingdom and southern kingdom. The northern kingdom diminished over 200 years until it was conquered by foreign invaders. The southern kingdom lasted about 340 years until it was annihilated and all of its people were sent to distant lands as slaves.

Rev 13:18 uses 666 to show how materialism leads individuals and nations to exchange their souls for gold, again and again through history. However, the entirety of Revelation chapter 13 foretells a final, nightmarish iteration of the Faustian exchange: an empire with a peerless military that rains fire where it pleases, that limits freedom of spiritual expression, that deceives and mesmerizes the global masses, that has the audacity and technological resources to colonize human bodies and minds, like cattle, to be branded, milked and slaughtered.

And that's just one of 22 chapters... sheesh

Between 66-73 AD, Jewish rebels warred against the Roman Empire in the First Jewish Revolt. Titus, the Roman general and future emperor, dealt a decisive blow against the rebellion with a month's-long siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Titus / Coins of the First Jewish Revolt / Josephus (Captured Jewish Rebel)

As Passover celebrations began, Titus surrounded Jerusalem with ~50,000 soldiers. The timing allowed Titus to trap 300,000 (according to Eusebius) people within Jerusalem's walls. As the city's food supply dwindled, people starved and quarreled.

Destruction of the Temple, 70 AD

After 21 weeks of siege, Jerusalem fell. The city and temple were razed, and a small remnant of Jewish survivors became Roman slaves. This major turning point in history marked the end of Jewish sacrificial worship, the start of Rabbinic Judaism, and coincides with the writing of the earliest Gospel of Jesus Christ: the Gospel of Mark (~70 AD).

The Arch of Titus in Rome

According to modern scholarly consensus, there are two likely dates for the crucifixion of Jesus: April 7, 30 AD & April 3, 33 AD.

Why did Mark wait four decades to write about Jesus? Why did the gospel writers wait so long to preserve such important events for posterity?

Sano di Pietro, The Crucifixion / 1st c. Fragment of Mark

It's possible that the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD was the catalyst for the gospel writers because Jesus may have predicted the event with disturbing accuracy:

The Gospel of Matthew (12:39-41) and the Gospel of Luke (11:29-30) recount a strange warning given by Jesus to the Jewish hegemony after they demand from him a heavenly sign. Jesus tells them they will get the "sign of Jonah": the Ninevites, who repented, will rise up and condemn them- and that as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites- so Jesus will be to them.

Jonah in Nineveh Waiting To See What Will Happen by Maarten van Heemskerck

Quick Summary of Jonah:

Jonah, a prophet, is commanded to warn the city of Nineveh of impending destruction- if they don't repent within 40 days. He sails toward Nineveh, gets swallowed by a whale for three days, walks for three days to Nineveh, delivers the 40 day ultimatum, the city repents, and the city is spared.

So, in Matthew 12:39-41 and Luke 11:29-30 Jesus is telling the most powerful men in Jerusalem that:

1. As Jonah warned Nineveh to repent, I (Jesus) am warning you (Jerusalem) to repent.

2. Nineveh repented within 40 days and was spared, but you (Jerusalem) will not repent within 40 days, and therefore you will be destroyed.

https://preview.redd.it/vwuk6zdzip6h1.png?width=718&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4d2184f96a20b331a8fa695f0020df0e788d5ba

Often, in Jewish scriptures (especially in prophecies), 'day' means 'year' (Day-Year Principle). For example, when Jacob agreed to seven years of labor to marry Rachel, he "fulfilled her week." A few prophecy examples:

Daniel 9:24–27: The "Seventy Weeks" prophecy is 490 years (70 weeks of years).

Numbers 14:34: God commands the Israelites to wander for 40 years as a penalty for the 40 days the spies spent exploring Canaan. 

Ezekiel 4:5–6: The prophet is instructed to lie on his side for 390 days and 40 days to symbolize 390 years and 40 years of punishment for Israel and Judah, respectively.

Jacob Meets Rachel - Erwin Speckter

If Jesus was crucified on April 7 (Passover) 30 AD, then Titus' destruction of Jerusalem began exactly 40 years later on April 13 (Passover) 70 AD.

To surviving witnesses of Jesus, the precise timing of Jerusalem's destruction would scarcely be interpreted as coincidence. Many former doubters would see Jesus in a new light: the true Messiah. This may explain the decades-long gap between Jesus' life and the writing of the gospels. It may also explain the numerous detail discrepancies among the four gospels, resulting from eyewitness accounts of 40-year-old events.

Also, according to Eusebius, the Church in Jerusalem, having been warned by a divine revelation, fled to the city of Pella and escaped Titus' siege. Maybe they knew about the sign of Jonah...

From the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius