Nero is The Beast of Revelation
As I delve into the book of Revelation, I came across a mysterious figure referred to as the "beast." This entity is depicted as a powerful and ominous creature that rises from the depths of the sea, bearing the marks of both a dragon and a leopard. For centuries, people have been captivated by this enigmatic figure, each with their own theories as to its true identity.
But what if I told you that one of history's most notorious figures could hold the key to unlocking this mystery? Roman Emperor Nero, a man renowned for his cruelty and decadence, has long been considered the most likely candidate for the beast in Revelation. Nero's reign was marked by persecution and violence, particularly against the early Christian church. He is said to have blamed them for the great fire that devastated Rome in 64 AD, sparking the empire's official crackdown on the faith.
Recently, I have come across scholars who make a compelling argument that Nero's reign and actions align perfectly with the biblical description of the beast in Revelation. Coins minted during his reign feature his image, and his association with the infamous number 666 - the "number of the beast" - only adds fuel to the fire.
Is Nero the true identity of the beast in Revelation? This is a question that has been the subject of much debate and interpretation over the years. However, one thing is for certain - Nero's reign had a profound and lasting impact on the early Christian church, shaping its development in ways we are only beginning to understand. I invite you to join me as I explore the evidence and arguments for Nero as the beast of Revelation, and consider the broader implications for our understanding of the book of Revelation and the early Christian church.
These are 6 insights of evidence as to why Nero is The Beast The Apostle John speaks of.
1. All the "earth" and The Beast
2. The Beast receives worship
3. The Beast makes war on saints for 42 months.
4. The Beast has 7 heads and 10 horns
5. The Beast has a lions mouth.
6. The Beast is identified by a name through numbers by John.
Lets begin...
1. All the earth and the beast
Rev 13:8 LEB And all those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name is not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.
We often think of the whole planet when we see the word "earth". But remember, when John wrote his work, he had 3 words to use in expressing a place in the Greek.
Kosmos - the entire planet, universe etc.
Oikoumene - all lands under a ruling empire
Ge - an ariable land, region or country.
Of all the words John used for this passage and many others in his work, he used GE... This means that the worship received by the beast was not from the entire planet, especially since Rome did not hold rule over the entire planet, but instead from the regions and countries under his rule that worshipped him.
A series of Bible Lexicons attest to the meaning of The word "GE" meaning a land, region or country. See footnote[1]
2. The Beast receives worship
Historic accounts record The Emperor Nero receiving worship even after his own death. Such an extent of worship matches the description of John's Beast in Revelation 13, where one beast(Emperor Vitellius) gets others to worship the other main beast(Nero)!
Vitellius, the ninth emperor of Rome, was deeply devoted to the worship of Nero, as evidenced by his public offerings and sacrifices to the spirit of Nero in the Campus Martius, a public square in Rome. It “greatly pleased the public by offering sacrifices to Nero’s spirit in the Campus Martius making all the priests and people attend.” These “funerary offerings to Nero” had “no doubt in anyone’s mind what model he chose for the government of the State” (Suetonius, Vitellius 11:2).
So this kind of devotion was so pronounced that all of the priests and people were made to attend these offerings, which were essentially funerary offerings to Nero. This left no doubt in the minds of anyone about the model that Vitellius chose for the governance of the state. This devotion of Vitellius aligns with the description of the second beast, also referred to as the false prophet, in the biblical text of Revelation 13:11-12.
Rev 13:11-12 LEB 11 And I saw another beast coming up from the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he was speaking like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast on behalf of him, and he causes the earth and those who live in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound had been healed.
This beast, Emperor Vitellius, is described as rising out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb, but speaking like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast, Emperor Nero, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast[Nero], even after the first beast has received a mortal wound. Vitellius' fervent admiration for Nero was so strong that Vespasian, upon taking power, had to “make a determined effort to check the growth of the Nero cult when he came to power.” This highlights the extent to which Vitellius was consumed by his devotion to Nero and the influence it had on his governance.
Dio Cassius, Roman Historian, chronicles an intriguing episode in history, one in which a monarch was forced to pay homage to both Nero and his likeness. The year was 66 AD, and the king in question was Tiridates of Armenia, who had come to pay Nero a visit. This was a defining moment in which the power and influence of Nero were on full display:
"Indeed, the proceedings of the conference were not limited to mere conversations, but a lofty platform had been erected on which were set images of Nero, and in the presence of the Armenians, Parthians, and Romans Tiridates approached and paid them reverence; then, after sacrificing to them and calling them by laudatory names, he took off the diadem from his head and set it upon them…Tiridates publicly fell before Nero seated upon the rostra in the Forum: “Master, I am the descendant of Arsaces, brother of the kings Vologaesus and Pacorus, and thy slave. And I have come to thee, my god, to worship thee as I do Mithras. The destiny thou spinnest for me shall be mine; for thou art my Fortune and my Fate” (Gentry, p. 82)."
However, not all were in favor of worshiping Nero and his so-called "Divine Voice". Dio Cassius records the story of a senator who dared to resist and ultimately paid with his life, as he was met with a swift execution.
“Thrasaea was executed because he failed to appear regularly in the senate…and because he never would listen to the emperor’s singing and lyre-playing, nor sacrifice to Nero’s Divine Voice as did the rest.”(Cassius Dio)
Nero's fame and influence reached new heights during his time in Greece in 67 AD, where he participated in the Grecian festivals as both a musician and actor. The Greeks deified him, bestowing upon him the title of "Zeus, Our Liberator", and even set up a statue of him in the temple of Apollo. He was proclaimed as "The new Sun, illuminating the Hellenes". Upon his return to Rome in early 68 AD, the entire population was ordered to turn out to greet him. The words they spoke in salute echoed the grandeur of Nero's newfound status:
"Hail, Olympian Victor! Hail, Pythian Victor! Augustus! Augustus! Hail to Nero, our Hercules! Hail to Hero, our Apollo! The only Victor of the Grand Tour, the only one from the beginning of time! Augustus! Augustus! O, Divine Voice! Blessed are they that hear thee" (Gentry, The Beast of Revelation p. 83). These words showcased Nero's elevated status, as he was hailed as a hero and divinity among the people.
3. The Beast would make war on the saints for 42 months.
In Revelation 11 and 13, both the temple of the nonbelievers Jews and the Christian churches throughout the provinces of The Roman Empire were persecuted by Nero for 42 months. Our focus will primarily be Revelation 13 and The Saints.
So, how do we know this? It all begins with the great fire of Rome. First off, this event actually happened. And it was blamed on christians.
“seeking the glory of founding a new capital and endowing it with his own name …Therefore to scotch the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians. This was a new and mischievous superstition that had arisen, and as it spread, it was believed by many to be responsible for the recent fire that had devastated the city of Rome. To rid himself of the rumor and shift the blame, Nero accused the Christians of starting the fire.
- Tacitus, Annals, Book 15, Chapter 38-39
"Nero set fire to the city, in order to clear the ground for his projected buildings, and shifted the guilt of the conflagration to the Christians, then a very sects, the members of which he punished with every refinement of cruelty."
- Suetonius (Lives of the Twelve Caesars, "The Life of Nero," Chapter 38):
But the real insight is WHEN this fire waa set a blaze... JULY OF 64 A.D.
The fire of Rome is widely believed to have begun in July of 64 AD. Here are some of the highest credible encyclopedia sources that mention this:
Encyclopædia Britannica:
"The Great Fire of Rome, which broke out on July 19, 64, is remembered as one of the most devastating fires in the history of ancient Rome."
The Oxford Classical Dictionary:
"The great fire of Rome in AD 64, which broke out on July 19th or 20th, was one of the most disastrous events in the city's history."
The Cambridge Ancient History:
"The fire broke out in July 64, probably on 19 July, and spread rapidly through the densely populated and largely wooden areas of the city."
Nero died on June 9th 68AD. I ran some calculations through chatGPT and the results are as follows:
"To calculate the number of months between July 19th of 64 AD and June 9th of 68 AD, you can count the number of months between two dates.
Here's how:
July 64 to June 65: 11 months
June 65 to June 66: 12 months
June 66 to June 67: 12 months
June 67 to June 68: 12 months
June 68 to 9th of June 68: 0 months
(less than 1 month)
In total, there are 47 months between July 19th of 64 AD and June 9th of 68 AD."
- ChatGPT
WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT? BECAUSE THIS PANS OUT ROUGHLY TO 42 MONTHS BEING 3.5 YEARS PRECISELY AS DANIEL THE PROPHET WHO GIVES THIS EXACT SAME NUMBER.
Church historian J. L. von Mosheim wrote of Nero’s persecution:
“Foremost in the rank of those emperors, on whom the church looks back with horror as her persecutors, stands Nero, a prince whose conduct towards the Christians admits of no palliation, but was to the last degree unprincipled and inhuman. The dreadful persecution which took place by order of this tyrant, commenced at Rome about the middle of November, in the year of our Lord 64.... This dreadful persecution ceased but with the death of Nero. The empire, it is well known, was not delivered from the tyranny of this monster until the year 68, when he put an end to his own life.” (L. von MosheimJohann Lorenz von Mosheim, (1694-1755, Historical Commentaries, I:138,139).
The death of Nero on June 8th, 68 AD marked the end of the Neronic persecution, which had lasted for 42 months. After his passing, Rome's focus shifted to the outbreak of a civil war, bringing a formal conclusion to the period of persecution. If you're wondering just how much Nero's persecution of Christians stands out from the rest that would come, or how much of a beast this man truly was, listen to the following ancient voices who speak of the horror of his acts.
Apollonius of Tyana (15-98 AD), a Greek philosopher:
"In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many, many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs… And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mothers, but Nero has gorged himself on this diet."
-A.T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament. Philadelphia: Westminster (1976), p. 235. Quote from Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, Oxford Press, 1912, p. 38.
Ascension of Isaiah(1st century)
“Beliar (Nero). . . shall descend . . . in the form of a man, a lawless king, a slayer of his mother, who . . . will persecute the plant which the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted. . . . He will act and speak in the name of the Beloved and say ‘I am God and before me there has been none else.’ And all the people in the world will believe in him, and will sacrifice to him. ” (Ascension of Isaiah, 41 Ill)
Fuller version of quote
"who . . . will persecute the plant which the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted; and one of the twelve will be delivered into his hand. . . All that he desires he will do in the world; he will act and speak in the name of the Beloved and say ‘I am God and before me there has been none else’. And all the people in the world will believe in him, and will sacrifice to him and serve him saying, ‘This is God and beside him there is none other’. . . And after (one thousand) three hundred and thirty-two days the Lord will come with his angels and with the hosts of the saints from the seventh heaven with the glory of the seventh heaven, and will drag Beliar with his hosts into Gehenna” (4:1-14).
Sulpicius Severus (403)
“As to Nero, I shall not say that he was the worst of kings, but that he was worthily held the basest of all men, and even of wild beasts. It was he who first began a persecution; and I am not sure but he will be the last also to carry it on, if, indeed, we admit, as many are inclined to believe, that he will yet appear immediately before the coming of Antichrist. Our subject would induce me to set forth his vices at some length, if it were not inconsistent with the purpose of this work to enter upon so vast a topic. I content myself with the remark, that he showed himself in every way most abominable and cruel, and at length even went so far as to be the murderer of his own mother.
Suetonius
"He so prostituted his own chastity that after defiling almost every part of his body, he at last devised a kind of game, in which, covered with the skin of some wild animal, he was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women, who were bound to stakes, and when he had sated his mad lust, was finished off by his freedman Doryphorus; for he was even married to this man in the same way that he himself had taken Sporus, going so far as to imitate the cries and lamentations of a maiden being deflowered.”
Jewish Sibylline Oracles
(Written “Sometime after A.D.70”)
“One who has fifty as an initial will be commander, a terrible snake, breathing out grievous war, who one day will lay hands on his own family and slay them, and throw every-thing into confusion, athlete, charioteer, murderer, one who dares ten thousand things. He will also cut the mountain between two seas and defile it with gore. But even when he disappears he will be destructive. Then he will return declaring himself equal to God. But he will prove that he is not. Three princes after him will perish at each other’s hands.” (.5:28-35; OTP 1:393.)
Tertullian: Ad Nationes and Nero – I,7,8 (197
“This name of ours took its rise in the reign of Augustus; under Tiberius it was taught with all clearness and publicity; under Nero it was ruthlessly condemned, and you may weigh its worth and character even from the person of its persecutor. If that prince was a pious man, then the Christians are impious; if he was just, if he was pure, then the Christians are unjust and impure; if he was not a public enemy, we are enemies of our country: what sort of men we are, our persecutor himself shows, since he of course punished what produced hostility to himself. Now, although every other institution which existed under Nero has been destroyed, yet this of ours has firmly remained—-righteous, it would seem, as being unlike the author (of its persecution).
4. The Beast has 7 heads and 10 horns
Rev 13:1 LEB And I saw coming up out of the sea a beast that had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns ten royal headbands, and on its heads a blasphemous name.
Rome ironically had 7 hills.
Aventine Hill,
Caelian Hill,
Capitoline Hill,
Esquiline Hill,
Palatine Hill,
Quirinal Hill,
and Viminal Hill.
These hills represent the heads of a beast. And of course the 10 horns represent the rulers of those heads. John was aware of this because he used Apocalyptic Literature just as the jews who wrote the book of Esther did. i.e. Bel and The Dragon. In apocalyptic literature, beasts were used to symbolize different nations and their power. For example, in the book of Daniel, the Babylonian Empire is shown as a lion with wings, the Medo-Persian Empire as a bear, and the Greek Empire as a leopard with four heads and wings.
5. The Beast has a lions mouth.
Rev 13:2 LEB
And the beast that I saw was similar to a leopard, and its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
Paul himself is said to have "escaped from" this lions mouth.
2Ti 4:17 LEB But the Lord helped me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fulfilled and all the Gentiles might hear, and he rescued me from the lion’s mouth. Again, evil rulers and adversaries were often spoken of as beasts.
The Psalms refer to opponents of God as beasts, with examples in Psa. 22:12-13 and Psa. 22:20-21.
The Cretans are also described as "evil beasts" by the poet Epimenides, as quoted by St. Paul in Titus 1:12.
Heraclitus calls the Ephesians "beasts", using the same term as St. Rome.
The Epistle of Hebrews utilizes the language as well:
Heb 11:32-33 LEB 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, accomplished justice, obtained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,
St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Romans, mentions fighting with beasts by land and sea and being bound to "ten leopards", a reference to a band of soldiers. Ironically, he died as a martyr being devoured by lions in rome.
1Co 15:32 LEB If according to a human perspective I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit is it to me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
So the apostle Paul likely was referring to Nero as escaping from "the lion’s mouth". In the end, He was eventually beheaded by Nero.
6. The Beast is identified by a name through numbers by John.
John The Apostle writes an interesting passage about the beast:
Rev 13:18 LEB Here is wisdom: the one who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number, and his number is six hundred sixty-six.
So the beast has the number of a man...
First off, the phrase "the one who has understanding" is the foundation of placing a name with these numbers... How so? Because this phrase was used in the Gospels. Tell me, what do you notice about the following?
Mark
13:14 LEB “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the one who reads understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains!
Matthew
24:15 LEB “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place” (let the one who reads understand),
Luke
21:20 LEB “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
Did you catch it?
Mark says, PLEASE UNDERSTAND.
Matthew at lease gives reference to Daniel before he too says PLEASE UNDERSTAND.
Luke on the other hand just comes out and gives the understanding. The principle is the same with John. When you run the numbers through different languages, you get a common name.
Preacher and Author, Don Walker puts it sharply:
"Another interesting factor to consider is what is called the “textual variant.” If you consult a Bible with marginal references you will find something quite intriguing. Regarding Revelation 13:18, your reference may say something to the effect: “Some manuscripts read 616.”
The fact is that the number 666 in some ancient manuscripts is actually changed to 616… The difference surely is no accident of sight made by an early copyist. The numbers 666 and 616 are not even similar in appearance — whether spelled out in words or written in numerals. As textual scholars agree, it must be intentional.
A strong case has been made for the following probability. John, a Jew, used a Hebrew spelling of Nero’s name in order to arrive at the number 666. But when Revelation began circulating among those less acquainted with Hebrew, a well meaning copyist who knew the meaning of 666 might have intended to make its deciphering easier by altering it to read 616. It is certainly no mere coincidence that 616 is the numerical value of “Nero Caesar,” when spelled in Hebrew by transliterating it from its more widely familiar Latin spelling. Such a conjecture would explain the rationale for the deviation: so that the non-Hebrew mind might more readily discern the identity of the Beast."
David Chilton, in his 1987 book “Days of Vengeance,” sheds more light on the issue:
"The form Neron Kesar
(1) is the linguistically “correct” Hebrew form,
(2) is the form found in the Talmud and other rabbinical writings,
and (3) was used by Hebrews in the first century, as archaeological evidence has shown.
As F. W. Farrar observed, “the Jewish Christian would have tried [tested] the name as he thought of the name – that is in Hebrew letters. And the moment he did this the secret stood revealed. No Jew ever thought of Nero except as ‘Neron Kesar,’ and this gives at once . . . 666″ (The Early Days of Christianity, Chicago and New York: Belford, Clarke & Co., 1882, p. 540)...
... Of some related interest is the fact that if Nero’s name is written without the final “n” (i.e., the way it would occur to a Gentile to spell it in Hebrew), it yields the number 616 — which is exactly the variant reading in a few New Testament manuscripts. The most reasonable explanation for this variant is that it arose from the confusion over the final “n.”"
Robert H. Mounce, a Futurist author against the idea of Nero being the beast says,
“John intended only his intimate associates to be able to decipher the number. So successful were his precautions that even Irenaeus some one hundred years later was unable to identify the person intended.”
Did you catch it? Kenneth Gentry highlights the irony in Mounce's statement that John's original 1st-century audience knew the identity of the beast in Revelation 13:18, yet Mounce argues that the figure was a prophesy of a leader who would exist 2000 years later. This means that, according to Mounce, John expected his first-century readers to understand that the beast represented a 21st-century leader of the European Union. The irony lies in the fact that Mounce is proposing a significant disconnect between the intended meaning of the text and its original audience's understanding.
“Neron Caesar” written in Hebrew characters is equivalent to “666”
“Nero Caesar” written in Latin form is “616.” Therefore Nero’s identity is confirmed by both the common rendering as well as the obscure textual variant.
Like Luke, John has numerically spelled it out for us. And with that, it is clear that Nero is the beast John The Revelator speaks of.
In conclusion, the speculation surrounding Nero as the beast in the book of Revelation continues to captivate the minds of scholars and believers alike. Whether or not Nero was indeed the figure described in the text, one thing is certain: the book of Revelation holds important lessons and messages for all of us, regardless of the identity of the beast. May we all take heed of its warnings and continue to strive towards living a life pleasing to God. Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. Stay tuned for more exciting insights and updates on 1st Century Thinker Newsletter.
Footnotes:
1. The earth meant "land". Not the entire planet
γης
G1093
earth
THAYERS LEXICON[ABRIDGED]
Transliteration: gē
Phonetic: ghay
Thayer Definition:
arable land
the ground, the earth as a standing place
the main land as opposed to the sea or water
the earth as a whole
the earth as opposed to the heavens
the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals
a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region
Modern Literal Version Concordance, Dictionary & Lexicon 2019 MLV/Definition: A> land*, B> earth*, C> soil* Supplement: (soil, ground)
Berean Interlinear Bible, BIB: G1093 The earth, soil, land, region, country, inhabitants of a region.
Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary Definition:
earth, soil, Mt. 13:5; Mk. 4:8 (refs2), et al.;
the ground, surface of the earth, Mt. 10:29; Lk. 6:49 (refs2), et al.;
the land, as opposed to the sea or a lake, Lk. 5:11; Jn. 21:8; 9; 11 (refs4);
the earth, world, Mt. 5:18, 35 (refs2), et al.;
by synec. the inhabitants of the earth, Mt. 5:13; 6:10; 10:34 (refs3);
a land, region, tract, country, territory, Mt. 2:20; 14:34 (refs2);
by way of eminence, the chosen land, Mt. 5:5; 24:30; 27:45; Eph. 6:3 (refs4);
the inhabitants of a region or country, Mt. 10:15; 11:24 (refs2), et al.
2. Fire of Rome Date
Encyclopædia Britannica: "The Great Fire of Rome, which broke out on July 19, 64, is remembered as one of the most devastating fires in the history of ancient Rome."
The Oxford Classical Dictionary: "The great fire of Rome in AD 64, which broke out on July 19th or 20th, was one of the most disastrous events in the city's history."
The Cambridge Ancient History: "The fire broke out in July 64, probably on 19 July, and spread rapidly through the densely populated and largely wooden areas of the city."