The Victory of the Good Beast, His Image, His Mark, and His Number

The meaning of Scripture to a very large part depends on how it is translated. The translation of something as simple as a preposition can entirely change the meaning of a passage. For example, consider what happens to the meaning of Revelation 15 when the preposition "over" is changed to "with". Note that this is a permissible translation, according to the finest linguistic sources.

I will start by citing the fifteenth chapter of Revelation in its entirety from the King James Version.

Revelation 15

[1] And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
[2] And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
[3] And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
[4] Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
[5] And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
[6] And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
[7] And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
[8] And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

According to Strong's, ek or ex is "a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause; literal or figurative". It translates, "out of, from, by, away from" and is rendered "of 366, from 181, out of 162, by 55, on 34, with 25, misc 98" a total of 921 times in the New Testament.

Verse two of this passage, inserting the original Greek preposition and its possible English rendering, looks as follows:

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over [ek or ex, meaning "with"] the beast, and over [ek or ex, meaning "with"] his image, and over [ek or ex, meaning "with"] his mark, and over [ek or ex, meaning "with"] the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" (Revelation 15:2).

This verse ought, then, to properly read:

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory with the beast, and with his image, and with his mark, and with the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" (Revelation 15:2).

After adjusting for this change the fifteenth chapter of Revelation reads:

[1] And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
[2] And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory with the beast, and with his image, and with his mark, and with the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
[3] And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
[4] Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
[5] And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
[6] And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
[7] And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
[8] And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

We now have an accurate picture of the future.