What Is the Mark of the Beast?

Revelation 13:16Revelation 13:16 · King James VersionAnd he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:Revelation 13:16 · King James VersionOpen source (1) says the mark is received in the right hand or in the forehead. The next verses tie that mark to buying and selling, to the name of the beast, and to the number of his name, six hundred threescore and six. The Greek word is charagma. The churches quoted on this page do not agree how to read the vision, and none of the fetched texts describes a chip, a barcode, or a tattoo. This page quotes them. It does not decide.

Key Points

• Revelation 13:16–18Revelation 13:16–18 · King James Version^13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ^13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ^13:18 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.Revelation 13:16–18 · King James VersionOpen source puts the mark, the name, and the number in one paragraph. The number is “the number of a man,” and the King James reads “Six hundred threescore and six.”
• The Greek noun is χάραγμα, Strong’s G5480. The Dodson lexicon on that word page glosses it “sculpture; engraving, a stamp, sign.”
• The number in the Greek of Revelation 13:18Revelation 13:18 · King James VersionHere 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.Revelation 13:18 · King James VersionOpen source is the letters χξϛ, filed on this site as G5516. That is not Strong’s G666, which is a different word.
• Revelation 14:9Revelation 14:9 · King James VersionAnd the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,Revelation 14:9 · King James VersionOpen source says that anyone who worships the beast and receives his mark drinks of the wine of the wrath of God. Revelation 20:4Revelation 20:4 · King James VersionAnd I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.Revelation 20:4 · King James VersionOpen source speaks of those who had not received the mark.
• Catechism 675 (7) calls the supreme religious deception that of the Antichrist. It does not describe a commercial device.
• An Orthodox Church in America clergy answer (8) rejects reading a birthmark as the mark of the beast, and it reads the harlot as the Roman Empire. It is a priest’s answer, not a synod.
• Dallas Theological Seminary, Article XIX (11) places Revelation 6:1–19:21 in the period after the church is translated. The statement does not say what the mark looks like.

What the Mark Is

Revelation 13:16Revelation 13:16 · King James VersionAnd he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:Revelation 13:16 · King James VersionOpen source (1): “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.” Revelation 13:17Revelation 13:17 · King James VersionAnd that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.Revelation 13:17 · King James VersionOpen source (2): “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

The Greek word translated “mark” is χάραγμα. The word page charagma gives the Dodson gloss “sculpture; engraving, a stamp, sign.” The verse names a mark in the right hand or the forehead, and it names buying and selling. It does not name a machine.

Who Is the Antichrist? is the figure the same chapter’s beast is often read beside. Who Wrote the Book of Revelation? is the John who received the vision. Is the Rapture Biblical? quotes churches on the catching up and the thousand years, and it does not decide.

Where the Bible Speaks of 666

Revelation 13:18Revelation 13:18 · King James VersionHere 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.Revelation 13:18 · King James VersionOpen source (3): “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 verse calls 666 the number of the beast and the number of a man. It sits in the same paragraph as the mark and the name. It does not say that the mark is a logo of the digits 666. The Greek letters of that number on this site are χξϛ, G5516. Strong’s G666 is apousia, glossed “absence, deficiency, waste.” What Is Strong’s Concordance? is why those two numbers are not the same entry.

What the Mark Looks Like

The paragraph names a place, the right hand or the forehead, and a function, buying and selling. It does not give a picture of a chip, a barcode, a tattoo, or a birthmark. The Orthodox Church in America answer (8) says of one modern reading: “While the birth mark in no way resembles the numbers 666, if one traces them in a certain manner one can arrive at this conclusion.” The same answer says the harlot “is interpreted by the Orthodox Church to be the Roman Empire, not the Roman Catholic Church, which did not exist at that time—and even if it did, it would be ridiculous to say that the Roman Catholic Church drank the blood of the Christian martyrs!!” Those words are the priest’s. The page says he has been a priest for 27 years. It is not a synod.

When the Mark Comes

Revelation 13 is inside the vision. It does not print a year. Matthew 24:36Matthew 24:36 · King James VersionBut of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.Matthew 24:36 · King James VersionOpen source (6), words of Jesus: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” The year 2033 is not in Revelation 13, and it is not in that sentence.

Dallas Theological Seminary, Article XVIII (11) says the next great event is “the coming of the Lord in the air to receive to Himself into heaven both His own who are alive and remain until His coming and also all who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” Article XIX says “the translation of the church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel’s seventieth week,” and that “the latter half of this period will be the time of Jacob’s trouble, which our Lord called the great tribulation.” The article cites Revelation 6:1–19:21 for that period. It does not use the word mark, and it does not name 2033. The statement is a seminary’s, not a synod. What Is Bible Prophecy? says the same about dating a verse to a modern year.

What the Churches Say

Catechism 675 (7): “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.” Catechism 677 (7) says God’s triumph “will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.” Those paragraphs do not describe a stamp used in a market.

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (9) publishes the American revision of Westminster 25.6: “There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof.” That sentence stops there. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (10) publishes the 1647 text of the same paragraph, which continues, “but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.” Its proof texts include Revelation 13:6. The word Antichrist in that clause is the confession’s. This page does not adopt it as a name for Catholics. The paragraph is about the head of the church. It is not a description of a mark on the hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Does the Bible Say 666 Is the Mark of the Beast?

Revelation 13:16–18Revelation 13:16–18 · King James Version^13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ^13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ^13:18 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.Revelation 13:16–18 · King James VersionOpen source names the mark, the name of the beast, and the number of his name in one paragraph. Verse 18 says the number is six hundred threescore and six. The verse calls that number the number of the beast. It does not say the mark is a drawing of the digits.

What Are the Different Interpretations?

The texts above are four readings that were opened for this page. The chapter itself names a mark, a name, and a number. The Catechism speaks of a final religious deception. The Orthodox clergy answer warns against identifying a contemporary birthmark and reads the harlot as pagan Rome. The 1647 Westminster paragraph, kept by the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, uses Revelation 13:6 among the proof texts for its sentence on the pope of Rome, and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s text of that paragraph does not. Dallas Theological Seminary places Revelation 6–19 in the tribulation after the church is translated, and it does not describe the mark. This page does not add a fifth reading that those documents do not contain.

Why Is the Year 2033 so Important?

It is not a year in Revelation 13 or in Matthew 24:36Matthew 24:36 · King James VersionBut of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.Matthew 24:36 · King James VersionOpen source. The verse says no one knows that day and hour except the Father.

What Does Revelation Say About Receiving the Mark?

Revelation 14:9–11Revelation 14:9–11 · King James Version^14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, ^14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: ^14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.Revelation 14:9–11 · King James VersionOpen source (4) says that if any man worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark in his forehead or in his hand, “the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Revelation 20:4Revelation 20:4 · King James VersionAnd I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.Revelation 20:4 · King James VersionOpen source (5) speaks of those beheaded for the witness of Jesus “and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.” The sentences are about worship and the mark. They do not add a separate method.

Keep Reading

• Who Is the Antichrist?
• Is the Rapture Biblical?
• What Is Bible Prophecy?
• Who Wrote the Book of Revelation?
• χάραγμα (G5480)
• χξϛ (G5516)