Saturday, August 26, 2023

The Interpretation of The Number of the Beast (666) in the 15th century Ethiopian Text, "The Book of the Mysteries of the Heavens and the Earth"

  

[THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST]

 

And the number of the Beast was 600+60+6, and it is as great as that of the children of men. When he saith that it is ‘as great as that of the children of men’ he meaneth that ADAM came in his stead, even as the prophet saith in the country of SE’ûR, for there he dwelt. And the 600+60+6 which he gives are the names of SATAN, A = 200, S = 300 (sic), M = 200, Yābē = 30, = 30+6. And these are the names of the captains of the army of SATAN, A meaneth YâYA, meaneth Bêlḥôr, Dī meaneth Dîabolous. (The Book of the Mysteries of the Heavens and the Earth: And Other Works of Bakhayla Mikâ’êl (Zôsîmâs) [trans. E. A. Wallis Budge; Lake Worth, Fla.: Ibis Press, 2004], 118)