Number of the Beast Testamentum Graece, note 616 as a variant. The Number of the Beast is described in Revelation 13:15–18. Several translations have been interpreted for the meaning of the phrase "Here is Wisdom, Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast" where the peculiar Greek word ("psephisato") is used. Possible translations include "to count", "to reckon" and also "to vote" or "to decide". In the "Textus Receptus", derived from Byzantine text-type manuscripts, the number 666 is represented by the Greek numerals , with the Greek ligature stigma () representing the number 6: In the "Novum Testamentum Graece", the number
Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation usually taught that Revelation 11 corresponds to the events of the French Revolution. The historicist views of Revelation 12–13 concern prophecies about the forces of evil viewed to have occurred in the middle ages. The first beast of Revelation 13 (from the sea) is considered to be the pagan Rome and the Papacy or more exclusively the latter. In 1798, the French General Louis Berthier exiled the Pope and took away all his authority, which was restored in 1813, destroyed again in 1870 and later restored in 1929. Adventists have taken this as fulfillment of the prophecy that the Beast