Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
These things being so, and this number being set down in all the ancient, most approved, and old copies, and those who saw John face to face bearing witness to it, and plain logic itself showing us that the numerical value of the beast's name, worked out by the Greek system of letter-counting, totals six hundred and sixty-six — namely, tens matched to hundreds, hundreds matched to units (the digit six, recurring at each stage, signaling the repeated summing-up of that entire apostasy: one at the world's start, one in time's midpoint, one still to come at the close) — it is unclear to me how certain people went astray, following a notion of their own devising and misreading the middle digit, reducing it to fifty, preferring a single ten in place of six tens. [I think this was a copyist's error, as commonly happens, since numbers too are represented by letters, and it is easy for the Greek letter that signifies sixty to be mistaken for the Greek letter iota written out in full.] Afterward, some accepted this without examination; others simply and ignorantly made use of the number ten; while others still, through ignorance, dared even to search out names containing a false and erroneous number. But as for those who did this simply and without malice, we think God will grant them pardon. But as many as, out of vainglory, fix upon names containing a false number, and determine that the name they themselves have invented belongs to the one who is to come — such people will not come off without harm, since they have deceived both themselves and those who trust them. And the first harm is that they fall away from the truth, imagining to be what is not the case; and next, that no small penalty awaits the one who adds to or takes away from Scripture, which such a person must necessarily incur. And another danger, not to be dismissed, will follow upon those who falsely presume to know his name: for if they suppose one name, while he who is coming actually bears another, they will easily be led astray by him, thinking he is not yet present — the very one against whom they ought to be on guard.
It is fitting, then, that such people learn this, and return to the true number of the name, so that they not be reckoned among the false prophets. But, holding fast to the settled figure that Scripture sets down — namely six hundred sixty-six — let them instead wait: first, for the splitting of the realm into ten parts; then, once those rulers have taken their thrones and begun putting their domains in order and expanding their power, for the one who will arrive without warning, claiming the kingdom for himself, and will terrify the aforesaid kings, bearing a name that contains the aforesaid number — let them truly recognize this one as the abomination of desolation. This the Apostle also says: 'When they shall say, Peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them.' Jeremiah, moreover, made known not only his sudden coming but also the tribe from which he will come, saying: 'From Dan we shall hear the sound of the swiftness of his horses; at the sound of the neighing of the rush of his horses the whole earth shall be shaken; and he shall come and devour the earth and its fullness, the city and those who dwell in it.' And for this reason this tribe is not numbered in the Apocalypse among those who are saved. It is therefore safer and more certain to await the fulfillment of the prophecy than to guess and divine at random what names might fit, since many names can be found bearing the aforesaid number, and the same question would still remain. For if there are many names found that have this number, which of them will belong to the one who comes? — this is the question.
Now, that we say these things not for lack of names bearing the number of his name, but out of fear toward God and zeal for the truth: EYANTHAS, for instance, has the number in question, but we affirm nothing about it. LATEINOS also has the number six hundred sixty-six, and it is quite plausible, since this is the name of the kingdom that now exists last of all; for it is the Latins who now reign — but we shall not boast in this. TEITAN, too, [its opening syllable spelled with the pair of Greek vowels epsilon and iota], stands out among all the names we have found as the one most deserving of trust. For it contains the aforesaid number, and consists of six letters, each of its three syllables made up of three letters, and it is both ancient and set apart; for none of the kings who have arisen among us has been called Titan, nor does it belong to any of the idols publicly worshipped among Greeks and barbarians. It is thought by many to be a divine name, so much so that the sun itself is called Titan by those who now hold this belief, and it carries a certain semblance of one taking vengeance and exacting retribution, in that he pretends to avenge those who have been ill-treated. Besides this, it is also an ancient, credible, and royal name — indeed, rather a tyrannical one. Since, then, this name Titan carries such persuasive force, it has enough plausibility that we might well conjecture, on many grounds, that perhaps he who is to come will be called Titan; yet we will not run the risk of asserting positively that this will be his name. We know that if it had been necessary for his name to be plainly proclaimed at the present time, it would have been declared by the one who also saw the Apocalypse, for it was seen not very long ago, but almost in our own generation, toward the end of Domitian's reign.
For the present, though, only the numerical value of the name has been disclosed, so that we might recognize and stand guard against him upon his arrival; the actual name he has withheld, since it is not fitting for the Holy Spirit to announce it openly. Had it been announced ahead of time, he might well have persisted that much longer in his deception. As things stand, since he 'existed, and exists no longer, and is to rise up from the abyss on his way to destruction,' being in that sense a non-entity, his name likewise goes unspoken — for what has no being is given no name. Once this Antichrist has ravaged everything within this present world, his rule will last three years and six months, seated in the Jerusalem temple; at that point the Lord will descend from heaven amid the clouds, wrapped in the Father's splendor, consigning him together with his followers to the lake of fire, while granting the righteous the kingdom's appointed seasons — that is, the rest of the hallowed seventh day — and giving back to Abraham the inheritance once promised him. Within that kingdom, as the Lord tells us, a great many will arrive from every direction and take their place at table alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.