Letter N

N.

NATHAN the Prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, was of the tribe and stock of Tock, sprung from the city of Gabath of Galilee. ¹ This [Nathan], as Epiphanius in the Lives of the Prophets hands down, the day before David sinned with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah ², foreknew that crime, and straightway set out on a journey toward Jerusalem, [intending] to draw the king away from that foulness: but when on the way he had come upon a man lately deprived of life, and could not endure to leave the unburied corpse to be torn by beasts, he buried it, the earth being dug out ³; in which pious office, when the now-darkening day had overtaken him, that same night David fulfilled the ardor of the lust he had conceived. But the Prophet, the matter being known, grieving and sorrowing, returned whence he had come. But when David killed Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, by evil guile ⁴, [Nathan] again, by God’s command, hastened to Jerusalem; and there, an elegant apologue [parable] being composed — concerning the rich man seizing the ewe-lamb of [his] poor neighbor ⁵ — led the king to the recognition of the guilt committed, gravely rebuked [him], and converted [him] to penance ⁶. And not long after, having returned into his own country, he lived there a long time; and there at last, worn out by long old age, he died, having left to posterity two volumes of history ⁷; in the former of which he had written the deeds of David, king of Jerusalem, and in the latter the acts of Solomon, king of Jerusalem. The first book of Paralipomenon, in the last chapter, and the second [book] of Paralipomenon, chapter nine, make mention of these volumes. ⁸

NEHEMIAH HACHALIAH, נחמיה חכליה, or Nehemiah, son of Hachaliah, a Jew by race ⁹, cupbearer of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians and Medes — besides that book which is reckoned among the divine writings under the title of SECOND ESDRAS, wrote one book of commentaries and descriptions: in which he most diligently comprehended all those [things] which befell the Jews returning from the Chaldaic captivity; but especially the finding of the sacred fire, which the priests, when the holy city was destroyed, had buried in a very deep well ¹⁰; and the furnishing of the Library built by him, and the most abundant supply of all books — both sacred and profane — gathered together in it. The second book of Maccabees, chapter 2, makes mention of these commentaries. ¹¹

NICODEMUS the Pharisee, and a master in Israel, who came by night to hear Christ ¹², is said to have written a gospel Of the passion and resurrection of the Lord; ¹³ which is reproved by the holy Church. Its beginning is, ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS.

THE NICOLAITANS, followers of Nicolas of Antioch, an Apostolic deacon — whose most wicked deeds John in the Apocalypse detests ¹⁴ — wrote certain books of pernicious superstition under the name IALDABAOTH, fashioning in them infinite and barbarous nomenclatures of the princes and powers dwelling in each heaven. Epiphanius, in the first book of the Panarion, heresy 25, and Gelasius, distinction 15, number the writings of this Nicolas among the condemned scriptures. ¹⁵

THE NAME OF GOD, inscribed on the foreheads of the saints, is mentioned by John in the Apocalypse in these words: ¹⁶ HE WHO shall have overcome, I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, and my new name. And again, in another place: ¹⁷ AND I saw, and behold a lamb stood on Mount Sion, and with him the number of a hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his father, written on their foreheads. And again, in the same volume: ¹⁸ THE THRONE of God and of the Lamb shall be in it: and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face, and his name [shall be] on their foreheads. The Name of God, inscribed on the foreheads of the elect, according to the exposition of Arethas of Caesarea, is twofold ¹⁹: one, which is impressed on the hearts of the saints in the present life, signifying the knowledge and imitation of those [things] which are signified by the name of God — that is, the knowledge of the divine goodness and justice, and also the meditation of those [things] which God has prepared, in the heavenly Jerusalem, for those who love him. Those, therefore, who in this world retain, with indelible memory, the immortal goods of God and of the heavenly Jerusalem, bear the name of God and of Jerusalem engraved on heart and mind, and possess the pledge of future glory. The other name is that which is also called new, superadded to the foreheads of the saints in the other life — that is, the reward of the divine vision, and the light of the divine splendor, diffused from the blessed and glorious essence of the three Persons into the souls, and from the souls into the bodies of the saints, bringing with it incorruptible felicity, overflowing with an abundance of all delights. Those, therefore, bear the name of the Lamb, and the name of his Father, described on [their] foreheads, who are sealed with the blessed light of the divine countenance itself in the heavenly fatherland.

THE NAME, and the Number of the name, of the beast: concerning this John [says] in the Apocalypse, chapter thirteen [so printed: “capite tertio” = ch. 3; the passage is Rev 13:16–17], ²⁰ AND HE MAKETH, he says, that no one may be able to buy or sell, unless he have the character [mark], or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: he who has understanding, let him compute the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred sixty-six. The character [mark] of the beast, the Name of the beast, and the Number of his name, are one and the same. ²¹ And whosoever communicates in the works of the beast — that is, of the devil, or of Antichrist — bears impressed in himself the character, mark, name, and number of his name. But that thou mayest know what the Number of the name of the beast (which denotes Antichrist in this place) signifies, it must be observed that the Greeks make their number out of the letters of the alphabet — whence any Greek word consists of as many numbers as letters. The numbers of a Greek word being known, therefore, the letters also, out of which the word itself is composed, are easily known. Since, therefore, the Number of the name of Antichrist is 666, the letters comprising this number will contain in themselves the number of Antichrist. But what these letters are, and what names result from them, cannot be held for certain. ²² Yet the ancient authors, for the sake of exercise, gathered various names out of these; which to write down here will not be unseasonable.

The NAME of Antichrist, according to Irenaeus and Hippolytus ²³, is TEITAN (ΤΕΙΤΑΝ), that is, Giant: ²⁴ whose letters render this number — Τ 300, Ε 5, Ι 10, Τ 300, Α 1, Ν 50; and the sum will be 666.

According to Tyconius ²⁵, the Name of Antichrist is ΛΑΜΠΕΤΙΣ [LAMPETIS], that is, Illustrious [Shining]. And the numeral letters which make up the name are these: Λ 30, Α 1, Μ 40, Π 80, Ε 5, Τ 300, Ι 10, Σ 200; sum 666.

According to Arethas ²⁶, his Name is ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ [LATEINOS], that is, Latin: whose letters have these numbers — Λ 30, Α 1, Τ 300, Ε 5, Ι 10, Ν 50, Ο 70, Σ 200; sum 666.

According to the opinion of Primasius ²⁷, the Name of the same Antichrist is ΑΝΤΕΜΟΣ [ANTEMOS]. And the elements of the numbers [are] these: Α 1, Ν 50, Τ 300, Ε 5, Μ 40, Ο 70, Σ 200; sum 666.

[Later-edition addition — not present in our 1586 primary edition; the expanded later edition (the margin-rich copy) appends here an editorial cross-reference. It cannot be Sixtus’s own, since all four authors cited published after his death in 1569:] SEE William Lindanus, in the third [book] of the Dubitantius; Nicholas Sander, in the eighth book On the Visible Monarchy of the Church, chapter 48; Gilbert Génebrard, in the last book of the Chronography; and Robert Bellarmine, On the Roman Pontiff, book 3, chapter 10.