And that no man might buy or sell, except he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
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Bede
AD 735
name: That is, who participates in his deceit. For the mark, that is, the note and name of the beast and the number of his name are one. And it is the number of a man, that we may not suppose him, as the opinion of some is, to be either the devil, or a demon, but one from among men, in whom Satan is to dwell bodily. For he is "the man of sin, the son of perdition." <a
buy: By this mention of buying and selling, he teaches, that as the Church has delivered the Creed for good, to be profitable to our salvation; so they for evil confine themselves within such a definition as this, that there be licence given neither of buying, nor of selling, even as merchants who sail in the same ship, are bound by a uniform signal.
