Number of the Beast

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For other uses, see Number of the Beast (disambiguation).

The Number of the Beast is a concept from the Book of Revelation of the Christian New Testament. The Number is 666 in modern texts, although 616 and 665 appear instead in at least one ancient source.<ref name="oxy">The Other Number of the Beast. Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.</ref> The meaning of the most common variant 666 is still debated today. Some scholars contend that the number is a code for the Roman Emperor Nero,<ref>Hillers, D. R. (1963). “Revelation 13:18 and a Scroll from Murabba’at”. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 170: 65. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. Note: website requires subscription.</ref> a view that is supported by the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990. 1009</ref><ref>Just, Felix (2002-02-02). 666: The Number of the Beast. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.</ref>

1 Bible
2 Interpretations
3 Culture and psychology
4 See also
5 Notes

[edit] Bible

The Number of the Beast is described in the Book of Revelation 13:18. From the King James translation:<ref name="gateway-kjv">Revelation 13:18. King James Version of the Bible. Bible Gateway. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref>

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.

In the Greek manuscripts, the Number is rendered in Greek numerical form as “χξς”,<ref name="gateway-stephanus">Revelation 13:18. Stephanus New Testament. Bible Gateway. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref> or sometimes literally as “six hundred and sixty-six”, “ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ”.<ref name="gateway-westcott-hort">Revelation 13:18. Westcott-Hort New Testament. Bible Gateway. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref><ref name="alexandrinus">Revelation 13:18 (JPEG). Codex Alexandrinus. Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref> The oldest known record of the verse, a fragment of an early manuscript of Revelation from the Oxyrhynchus site, gives a different number, 616, as “χιϛ”.<ref name="oxy" /> The early Church father Irenaeus knew several occurrences of the 616-variant but regarded them as a scribal error, although he didn't know the meaning of the number.<ref name="irenaeus616">Irenaeus. “Book V, Chapter XXX.”, Adversus Haereses. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.</ref> The Zürich Bible which is based on the oldest Bible manuscripts also mentions the number 616.

It is important to note that the website for Oxyrhynchus states that the number has been refuted as represented as 616 or 665 and also that 666 can not be a representation of Nero.

[edit] Interpretations

[edit] 666 as a name

One interpretation is that 666 encodes the letters of someone’s name or title, identifying the Antichrist. However, since the reader is free to choose the code, any name or phrase can be matched to the number by finding an appropriate code.

There is a theory that the answer exists in the Bible itself^{[citation needed]}. One interpretation of this idea is that 666 identifies the Antichrist when he goes into the temple in Jerusalem and proclaims that he is God, as recorded in Isaiah 66:6. Since biblical numbering was put in the Bible by man, 66:6 is man's number.

To be convincing, interpretations invoke arguments other than mathematics to prove their point. For example, scholars who believe that the Book of Revelation refers to historical people and events argue that the number represents Nero.<ref name="engels">Engels, Friedrich (1883). “The Book of Revelation”. Progress II: 112–116. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.</ref> This hypothesis was first presented by Friedrich Engels. The value of “Neron Caesar”, written as “נרון קסר”, “Nrwn Qsr”, using Hebrew letters with numerical values under the usual number values of the Hebrew alphabet when used to write numbers, is:

<math>666 = \begin{matrix} \mbox{n} \\ 50\end{matrix} + \begin{matrix} \mbox{r} \\ 200\end{matrix} + \begin{matrix} \mbox{w} \\ 6\end{matrix} + \begin{matrix} \mbox{n} \\ 50\end{matrix} + \begin{matrix} \mbox{q} \\ 100\end{matrix} + \begin{matrix} \mbox{s} \\ 60\end{matrix} + \begin{matrix} \mbox{r} \\ 200\end{matrix}\mbox{.}\,\!</math>

The problem with emperor Nero is that Nero was long dead already in the time when the Book of Revelations was written, and the proposed transliteration is somewhat artificially constructed. Revelations was originally written in Greek, and Greek translitterates C with κ, not with q.

The hypothesis that 666 is a code for a Roman emperor seems to have historical support. The emperors were noted for their oppression of both Jews and early Christians. Both communities were known to use numerology and codes where living under Roman rule to avoid persecution. Accordingly, the German protestant theologian Ethelbert Stauffer conceived a Greek gematrical procedure to explain the number 666.<ref>During Johannean times the gematria had been the most popular form of numerology, also in the Graeco-Roman world (Pergamon, Pompeii). According to Stauffer (1947) the terminus technicus ψηφίζειν clearly emphasizes the gematrical interpretation. Gematria was also used in an "often-cited old-Christian Apocalypse that is doubtlessly connected with Apocalypse 13,18 and that probably goes back to a secret sign in Johannean times, Orac. Sibyll. I, 324-331."</ref> Judging from the precise information that the Book of Revelation gives about the person behind the number 666<ref>1. He has power over all nations, 2. his likeness is worshipped all over the world, 3. his name appears on official signatures, 4. he prosecutes Christianity for its denial to worship his likeness and accept the signing with his name.</ref> Stauffer concluded that the "beast" can in general only refer to a Roman emperor and specifically only to Domitian, also because he had reigned during the proposed time of origin of the Apocalypse. In addition Domitian's "secret derisive nickname" had been "The Beast" with Romans, Greek, Christians and Jews.<ref>E. Stauffer. Domitian was widely known of his depravity. Coniectanea Neotestamentica XI in honorem Antonii Fridrichsen sexagenarii. Lund 1947.</ref> Stauffer computed the Number of the Beast using the short form of Domitian's five titles and names A KAI ΔOMET ΣEB ΓE, as derived from the abbreviations on coins and inscriptions.<ref>Aυτοχρατωρ (A = 1); KAIσαρ (KAI = 20 + 1 + 10 = 31); ΔOMETιανος ( ΔOMET = 4 + 70 + 40 + 5 + 300 = 419); ΣEBαστος (ΣEB = 200 + 5 + 2 = 207); ΓEρμανιχος (ΓE = 3 + 5 = 8). This results in A KAI ΔOMET ΣEB ΓE (gematrially: 1 + 31 + 419 + 207 + 8 = 666), making Domitian the Beast. In: E. Stauffer. Christus und die Caesaren. Historische Skizzen. 6th extended edition. Hamburg 1964.</ref>

Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) claimed that he was the Beast prophecized in the Book of Revelation and took the name “Το μεγα θηριον”, Greek for “The Great Beast”, which adds up to 666 by isopsephy, the Greek form of gematria.<ref>Carroll, Robert Todd (2003). The Skeptic's Dictionary (Aleister Crowley). Wiley. ISBN 0-471-27242-6</ref><ref>Crowley, Aleister. The Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley (Tunisia 1923), Skinner, Stephan (editor). Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728-856-9</ref>

The Reformed scholar, Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., affirms that the code identifies Nero.<ref>The Beast of Revelation, ISBN 0-915815-41-9. Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2002.</ref>^{(dubious; discuss)}

The number 666 can be interpreted to relate the nature of human being as Homo sapiens itself, not as any individual. When the Greek word for "human being", ανθρωπος, is translitterated into Hebrew gematric system, the resulting sum becomes 666. It is also assumed the '6' (smallest complete number) represents human being itself, and 6 tripled represent mind, body and soul; 7 is the number of God and 777 the Holy Trinity.

In the year 438 the Relics of John Chrysostom were transported to Constantinople. It is said that some of the Relics held the mark of the beast. When 666 is added to 438 the initials JCN are formed. It has been claimed that the holder of these initials is the beast. However, the initials JCN can also be seen, in English, as representing Jesus Christ of Nazareth, refuting such an idea.

[edit] 666 as the mark of commerce

Futurist Christian eschatology typically holds that the Mark of the Beast is one way in which the Antichrist will exercise power over the Earth during the period of Tribulation. Exact interpretations of this vary widely. For example:

Keith Krell interprets the mark as a requirement for all commerce to mean that the mark might actually be an object with the function of a credit card.<ref name="krell">Krell, Keith (2005). Here Comes the Beast. Study of the Book of Revelation. bible.org. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref>
Steven D. Miller proposes that the mark of the beast may refer to a social security number or card.<ref name="miller">Miller, Steven D. (August 2001). Is your social security card the Mark of the Beast?. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref>
Terry Watkins supposes the mark to be a microchip in or barcode on the human body.<ref name="watkins">Watkins, Terry (1999). What about barcodes and 666: The Mark of the Beast?. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref>

Alternatively, some who take a historical view of the Book of Revelation identify the Mark of the Beast with the stamped image of the emperor's head on every coin of the Roman empire – the stamp in the hand or the mind of all, without which no-one could buy or sell.<ref>eg Tony Robinson, The Doomsday Code, Channel 4, 16 September 2006</ref>

[edit] Other interpretations

Irenaeus suggested that the number indicates that the beast is the sum of all apostasy committed over the course of six thousand years.<ref name="irenaeus666">Irenaeus. “Book V, Chapter XXIX.”, Adversus Haereses. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.</ref>
Robert Graves suggested that DCLXVI, 666 in Roman numerals, is an abbreviation for the Latin sentence “Domitianus Caesar Legatos Xti Violenter Interfecit”, or “The Emperor Domitian violently killed the envoys of Christ”.<ref name="graves">Graves, Robert (1948). The White Goddess.</ref>
In Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), the number 666 may be considered mystical and holy and may represent the physical universe.<ref name="rabbi">Lauffer, Reuven; et al. (2000-06-10). Ask the Rabbi. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.</ref>
The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Beast for which 666 stands symbolizes many governments. The Beast is said to have "a human number" in that the governments that the beast symbolizes are all of a human origin, they aren't made up of spirit or demon entities. The number 666 is also believed to be symbolic, standing for imperfection. The number seven is interpreted as being a "perfect" or "complete" number from the scripture Psalms 12:6 and that God created the universe in seven days. Just as six is one short of seven, imperfection is short of perfection, and hence six is interpreted as symbolizing imperfection. Six is repeated three times for emphasis, thus getting the number 666. <ref name="jw"> (2004-04-01) “Identifying the Wild Beast and Its Mark”. The Watchtower. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.</ref>
666 multiplied by three, a Biblical number, is 1998, which can refer to the 20th century Gregorian calendar year, albeit no history-shaping Christian event happened in that year. However, some may say that it could be the year a certain technology was developed that would be put into future use, or that it is a birth year of a person whose role to play is yet to come.
666 Interpretation as Name, Number and Mark Altogether

[edit] Culture and psychology

Main article: Number of the Beast (occurrence)

The number 666 retains a peculiar significance in the culture and psychology of Western societies, where some perceive it as “the Devil’s number”, even in contexts usually remote from superstition. The fear of the number 666 is called hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.