Number of the Beast (numerology)

The Number of the Beast is a concept from the Book of Revelation of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The Number is 666 in most manuscripts of the New Testament, and in modern translations and critical editions of the Greek text. However, there is some doubt about the original reading, as modern studies have shown that the earliest known manuscript of the Book of Revelation, Papyrus 115, (from the 3rd century) used 616. This topic is a source of contention for many church groups and theologians.¹ Some scholars contend that the number 666 is a code for the Roman Emperor Nero,²³ others that 616 is a code for the Roman Emperor Caligula.⁴

Bible

666

The Number of the Beast is described in the Book of Revelation 13:18. The original Greek reads:

In the Greek manuscripts, the Number is rendered in Greek numerical form as χξϛʹ,⁶ or sometimes literally as ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ, hexakósioi hexēkonta héx, “six hundred and sixty-six".⁷⁸

Scholars such as Dr. Ellen Aitken, Dean of the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, have speculated that the reference to this passage was a way of speaking in code about then contemporary figures about whom it would have been politically dangerous to criticize openly.

Many scholars believe that 666 refers to a Roman Emperor such as Nero⁹ (whose name, written in Aramaic, was valued at 666, using the Hebrew numerology of gematria, a manner of speaking against the emperor without the Roman authorities knowing).

The early Church father Irenaeus knew several occurrences of the 616-variant but regarded them as a scribal error and affirmed that the number 666 stood "in all the most approved and ancient copies" and is attested by "those men who saw John face to face".¹⁰

616

In May 2005, it was reported that scholars at Oxford University using advanced imaging techniques¹¹ had been able to read previously illegible portions of the earliest known record of the Book of Revelation, from the Oxyrhynchus site, Papyrus 115 or P¹¹⁵, dating to the mid to late third century. The fragment gives the Number of the Beast as 616 (chi, iota, stigma), rather than the majority text 666 (chi, xi, stigma).¹ In Eastern Greek 616 is chi-iota-stigma or XIC. Eastern forms of Greek used the Lunate Sigma (which resembles an upper case C) as seen on many ancient Christian religious artifacts. The other early witness Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C) has it written in full: hexakosiai deka hex (lit. six hundred sixteen).¹²

Significantly, P¹¹⁵ aligns with Codex Alexandrinus (A) and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C) which are generally regarded as providing the best testimony to Revelation. Thus, P¹¹⁵ has superior testimony to that of P⁴⁷ which aligns with Codex Sinaiticus and together form the second-best witness to the Book of Revelation. This has led some scholars to conclude that 616 is the original number of the beast.¹³¹⁴

Professor David Parker, Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham, thinks that 616, although less memorable than 666, is the original. Dr. Ellen Aitken said, “Scholars have argued for a long time over this, and it now seems that 616 was the original number of the beast. It's probably about 100 years before any other version."¹⁶

Interpretations

Name

One interpretation is that 666 encodes the letters of someone’s name or title, identifying the Antichrist.

Scholars who believe that the Book of Revelation refers to historical people and events argue that the number represents Nero. In Hebrew gematria, every letter has a corresponding number. Summing these numbers gives a numeric value to a word or name. The Greek spelling, “Neron Caesar,” transliterates into Hebrew as “נרון קסר” or “nrwn qsr”. Adding the corresponding values yields 666, as shown:

By contrast, the Latin title for Nero is spelled simply “Nero Caesar,” which transliterates to “נרו קסר” or “nrw qsr” and has a value of 616, which may explain that variation.¹⁷

The hypothesis that 666 or 616 is a code for a Roman emperor seems to have historical support. The emperors were noted for their oppression of both Jews and Christians. Both communities were known to use numerology, codes and symbols (such as the Ichthys) when living under Roman rule to avoid persecution.

David Parker, professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham said that the correct number, 616, refers to the emperor Caligula¹⁸. Caligula's attempt to erect his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem may have inspired the author of Revelation to speak against the Roman Emperor.⁴ In Hebrew, Gaius Caligula Caesar is גסקלגסקסר (gsqlgs qsr). Adding the values yields 616.

The German Protestant theologian Ethelbert Stauffer, arguing that gematria had been the most popular form of numerology not only among Jews but also in the Graeco-Roman world (Pergamon, Pompeii)¹⁹, conceived a Greek gematrical procedure to explain the number 666. Judging from the precise information that the Book of Revelation gives about the person behind the number 666²⁰, Stauffer concluded that the "beast" can in general only refer to a Roman emperor and argued that this Emperor must be Domitian, because he had reigned during the proposed time of origin of the Apocalypse and supposedly was called "The Beast" as a "secret derisive nickname" by Romans, Greek, Christians and Jews.²¹ 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.²² Domitian's official title in Latin was Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus. This was rendered as Autokrator Kaisar Dometianos Sebastos Germanikos for his Greek-speaking subjects. And in turn, for their coins, this abbreviated to A.KAI.DOMET.SEB.GE which totals 666 in Greek Gematria.

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”.²³

Some Protestant Bible commentators have equated the "beast" of Revelation chapter 13 with the Papacy.²⁴ To this end, the letters of a title of the Pope used from 8th - 16th century, Vicarius Filii Dei (Vicar of The Son of God), are summed to total 666 in Roman numerals. The earliest extant record of a Protestant writer on this subject is that of Professor Andreas Helwig in 1612 in his work Antichristus Romanus. The title was contained in the Donation of Constantine, a forged document falsely claiming to come from the Emperor Constantine the Great, by which large privileges and rich possessions were conferred on the pope and the Roman Church.²⁵ However, this title was never an official title of the Pope.

Seventh-day Adventists believe that the "mark of the beast" (but not the number 666) refers to a future, universal, legally enforced Sunday-worship. “Those who reject God’s memorial of creatorship — the Bible Sabbath — choosing to worship and honor Sunday in the full knowledge that it is not God’s appointed day of worship, will receive the ‘mark of the beast.’”²⁶ "The Sunday Sabbath is purely a child of the Papacy. It is the mark of the beast."²⁷

Some fundamentalists believe that the mark of the beast refers to the Catholic practice of making the sign of the cross. ²⁸

Martin Luther wrote in a footnote to Rev 13:15-18: "Spirit means / that it is active / and not a dead image / but that it has its rights and offices in its womb. These are six hundred and sixty and six years. So long the earthly papacy remains." During the Reformation, Martin Luther noted that "Benediktos" added up to 666 in Greek gematria, and he thought it might refer to a Pope named Benedict or to Benedictine monks.

Luther has many comments and theories against the papacy in the footnotes to his translation of the Book of Revelation.

Lateinos, Euanthas, Teitan

Other suggested names

Andrew of Caesarea in his Commentary on Revelation gives seven names: Lampetis (the lustrous one), Teitan, Palaibaskanos (an ancient sorcerer), Benediktos (blue bastard), Kakos Odegos (wicked guide), Alethes Blaberos (really harmful), and Amnos Adikos (unjust lamb) each of which gives a total of 666. Most of these names are repeated by Arethas of Caesarea, who in his Commentary adds Teitan from Irenaeus and O Niketes (the conqueror).³¹

Victorinus of Pettau gives the names Teitan, Antemos (opponent), Diclux (double-dealer) and Genserikos; the last he calls Gothic. As it is plainly Genseric, the Vandal king, who captured Rome in 455 AD., the passage as a whole can not go back to Victorinus, who belonged to the third century. It is not, however surprising that the commentary should be brought up to date, after Genseric became notorious through the sack of Carthage or of Rome. Of the other names in Victorinus only Diclux needs mention. It is said to be the Latin counterpart of Teitan and by reckoning each letter at its value in Roman numerals, the total of 666 is again given.³¹

Venerable Bede gives three names: Teitan, Antemos (opponent), and Arnoyme (I deny).

Beatus, a Spanish monk, gives eight names among which are Damnatus (Damned), Antichristus (Antichrist), and Acxyme (for aichime or achine=666). The numerical interpretation of Antichristus is based on the order of letters in the Latin alphabet, a=1 to x =300, but the accusative must be taken and spelled Antechristum.³¹

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, because of the prophetic statement in Revelation 13:16-17 that "the Beast" (θηριον) will require all people to receive the mark (χάραγμα "branded mark or character") in their right hands or foreheads in order to buy or sell, making survival for those on the run much more difficult. A possible translation of the meaning of the number 666 may be: the number 666 will be the number that all currency will be based upon. Exact interpretations of this vary widely. For example:

Some support this barcode theory through reference to the guard bars found in some common barcode systems such as the UPC. The rationale relies on interpreting each of the groups of guard bars as a '6', even though they are not encoded as a '6' using the barcode system. Yet, the only number that shares the end bars pattern of bar, space, bar is the number 6. ³⁵

Other interpretations

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Beast for which 666 stands symbolizes many governments, harmonizing with the symbolic depiction of past governments (denoted as "kings") in the Book of Daniel as wild beasts. 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. ³⁶

In the writings of the Bahá'í Faith, `Abdu'l-Bahá states that the numerical value given to the beast referred to the year³⁹ when the Umayyad ruler Muawiyah I, who opposed the Imamate, took office as Caliph in 661 AD - see also the scholarly accepted year of birth of Jesus about 666 years before as well as the concept of Mawali who were non-Arab Muslims but not treated as other Muslims - who continued to pay the tax required of nonbelievers and were excluded from government and the military, and thus bore a social "mark".⁴⁰

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