use is varied.” These uses include the conventional, rhetorical, symbolic and mysterious or hidden. (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)
“Numbers play a prominent and varied role in the Bible. They appear throughout both Testaments, even though no part of the Bible has a purely scientific or mathematical purpose...Numbers are not only prevalent in the Bible, but their use is varied.” These uses include the conventional, rhetorical, symbolic and mysterious or hidden. (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)
The more scientifically and mathematically oriented our society becomes, the more it becomes necessary to remind ourselves that numbers appearing in the Bible are often not meant to be understood literally, but on a figurative or symbolic level instead. After all, the ancient Hebrew culture was probably one of the least interested in mathematics of any on earth.
With that in mind, let us approach the rather cryptic verse Revelation 13:18, which reads as follows:
“This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for a man's name. Its number is 666.” (TEV)
Unlike the TEV above, a literal rendering of the Greek words in English yields: “Here wisdom is. The one having reason let him count the number of the beast; for the number of a man it is. And the number of it is six hundred and sixty-six.”
First, a few comments regarding the translation of the opening words of this verse are in order. Scholars note the following:
Beasley-Murray represents most commentators when he points out that sophia ('wisdom') is a special endowment of the Spirit, and that the word also appears in 17:9.
Patzia: “Sophia...is the secret knowledge of believers by which they can interpret some of the symbols and apocalyptic mysteries in John's vision (Rev 13:18; 17:9). This appears to follow the pattern of earlier apocalyptic literature, in which wisdom is an eschatological gift to the faithful and righteous.”
Ruiz comments on Revelation 17:9, alluded to above: “'This calls for a mind that has wisdom', like the formula in 13:18, this expression introduces the interpretation of the symbolism of the previous verses.”
Beale concludes that “John is not calling for intellectual, mathematical prowess in his exhortation that his readers 'have a mind to calculate,' but for moral discernment to avoid evil.” Whether or not you agree with this assessment, it becomes obvious that John is not referring primarily to the IQ needed by a reader in order to understand his words. And since three of the above scholars draw a specific parallel between 13:18 and 17:9, a glance at that latter verse is in order before proceeding any further. NRSV renders it as: “This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings.”
It is hard to know how closely we should equate these two passages except to note that 17:9 is in the context of an earthly ruler, perhaps of the Roman Empire due to the probable allusion to the “Seven Hills” of Rome. At this point, we are no doubt on safe ground in stating that there is a good chance that 13:18 is also cryptically referring to an earthly ruler, possibly of Rome or a kingdom resembling Rome in some manner.
The next phrase in Revelation 13:18 which is a little uncertain in meaning is the statement that the number is “the number of a man.” Ford notes that 'the number of a human being' in this verse “may mean a number which is intelligible from a human point of view, that is, does not require supernatural wisdom to understand it (but cf. 21:17), or it may mean 'of a certain individual.'” Almost all translators and commentators take it in that latter sense.
The next logical question one might ask is, “Why didn't John just state in clear words what he meant?”
First consider the situation of the original audience. It is obvious that John is addressing Christians of
his day who were experiencing persecution from the Roman authorities, as John himself was, writing
from exile. Therefore, if many of the visions he was told to share involved advice to the church as to
how to prepare for further persecution from Rome, it would be dangerous for him and his audience if
these writings should fall into unfriendly hands. So he employed a sort of code that they could
understand, but non-Christians couldn't. This may also help explain the extensive use of Old Testament
allusions in Revelation.
Mounce opts for this explanation and applies it to one sort of code described below: “Gematria was
widely used in apocalyptic because of its symbolic and enigmatic quality. It served as a precaution
against the charge of sedition.”
On the other hand, Grant Osborne writes in his book The Hermeneutical Spiral, “I personally believe
that one reason for the use of cryptic symbols was to keep the reader from giving the future fulfillment
too great a place in the message of the book. The writer wanted to turn the reader toward God, not just
toward future events.”
Agreeing with Osborne, Beale says, “It is unlikely that John is cryptically identifying an emperor to
avoid persecution in case his work falls into the hands of Roman officials. He is already in exile and
not afraid of further suffering. Neither is he trying to protect his readers from persecution, since he is
preparing them to be faithful witnesses, even to the point of death.”
Below are just some of the many attempts to make sense of the number 666 in 13:18.
Symbolic Numbers
There are two strong reasons to take this tack in one's interpretation. First is the well known fact that apocalyptic alnguage, such as employed throughout Revelation, is known to present its ideas primarily in the form of symbols, rather than figures of speech (as with poetry) or literal statements (as in the historical books of the Bible). And this symbolism extends to numbers as well as words. That is why Revelation is filled with numbers such as 3 ½, 6, 7, 12, 14, 24, 1000, and 144,000. Any good Bible dictionary or commentary will point out the most commonly accepted symbolic meaning assigned to each of these. The number we are most interested in here is 6.
Since man was created on the sixth day and he is a little lower than the angels, it is appropriate for this number to represent imperfection – something short of the perfect number 7. And when such a created being attempts to raise himself to the status of the three-fold God as a form of rebellion, all he achieves is 666, a trinity of imperfection.
Ellul: “It seems to me that it is not at all the number of the human, the imperfect, as is often said, but
the number of that which accumulated imperfections, and which by that way attempts finally to reach
seven, by multiplying sixes, that is, attempts to reach perfection; in other words have itself taken for
God. But precisely the one who imitates God thus discloses his own imperfection.”
Morris also opts for the symbolic interpretation and explains its significance in the following words:
“John will then be saying that unregenerate man is persistently evil. He bears the mark of the beast in
all that he does.”
Gematria
The Jews as well as the Romans had developed the concept of gematria in which letters in their
alphabet were equivalent to particular numbers. Thus, the letters of any word could be added up to
reach its identifying number. Conversely, any number could be broken down into possible
combinations of letters that would add up to it. Ford explains that this Hebrew method was also known
as isopsephia in Greek. “It is a cryptogram and special insight is necessary to decipher it.” The
possibilities for 666 based on this hidden code method are quite numerous and fall into several
categories, as shown below.
Names of Individuals
Ford reviews a number of mythic or legendary identities proposed as the solution over the years. These
include: Lampetis, daughter of the Sun God; Teitan, or Titan, the pagan god of vengeance; and
Palaibaskanos, a legendary sorcerer.
Bruston, in a rather novel suggestion, bases his numerical interpretation on the founder of the
Babylonian Empire, Nimrod, whose name means “rebellious” (Genesis 10:8). According to this
interpretation, it explains why Babylon is featured so prominently in the book of Revelation.
Even more common, are those historical personages over the centuries who have been identified as the
Beast on the basis of the numerical values of the letters in their names. These include the Jewish
historian Josephus, Luther [based on Loutherana or Saxoneios (Saxon)], Muhammad (Maometis),
Nabonaparti (Napoleon), Hitler, and Henry Kissinger.
Additional possibilities are endless. But the most likely are those individuals active during the time of
writing of Revelation since the name of the beast apparently had to be coded to protect the author and
recipients of the document. Nero is the best bet since Revelation 13:3 says that the beast had been
healed of a mortal wound. There was the belief in the Roman Empire that Nero either didn't really die
by suicide or had died but would come back again in a resurrected form.
Thus, Beasley-Murray states that “in recent years a large measure of agreement has arisen that the
name John had in mind is Nero Caesar in Hebrew. If one asks how Greek-speaking congregations
could have known that, the answer is that it almost certainly arose among Hebrew- and Aramaic-
speaking Jews.” Another piece of evidence is that use of the Latin form “Nero” in place of “Neron”
adds up to 616, which is the alternative reading found in some ancient NT manuscripts in place of 666.
But not everyone agrees that Nero as the intended person. Morris points to the problems involved in
deriving his name from 666. For one thing, it involves using the Greek form of a Latin name and then
transliterating it into Hebrew letters.. Secondly, one must use a variant spelling which omits the letter y.
And lastly, if this was such an obvious solution, it is interesting that no one thought of it even though
other parts of Revelation seem to point to Nero.
Bruce: “Another attractive suggestion is that John had in mind a type of coin circulating in the
province of Asia, on which the abbreviated style of Domitian in Greek ('Emperor Caesar Domitian
Augustus Germanicus') yields the total 666. But complete certainty is unattainable.” In rebuttal, Davids
states that “while we know of the abbreviations of Domitians's title, they do not appear together
anywhere, which weakens the...theory.”
As you have probably noted, a major problem with these methods is that they often have to resort to
picking and choosing which language to use in their calculations, whether they use a full name or only
an abbreviation, and whether the person's title should be substituted for the name or perhaps added to
it. And beyond that major drawback, Beale points out: “There is no evidence of any other number in
the book being used in such a way. All the numbers have figurative significance and symbolize some
spiritual reality and never involve any kind of literal gematria calculations.”
Groups
Early Protestant sources identified 666 as standing for the Catholic Church, based on “Italika Ekklesia
(Italian Church), He Letana Basileia (the Latin Kingdom), or Papeiskos ('pope'). However, the early
Christian writer Irenaeus felt it might have stood for lateinos (the Roman government). Even the letters
of Ku Klux Klan can be seen to add up to 666 according to this method.
Yet another attempt to utilize gematria adds up the initial letters of all the Roman emperors during a
certain period of time. However, you need to omit one of the emperors in the middle of the list in order
to arrive at 666. (Beasley-Murray)
Schmitz and other scholars point to the phrase 'the number of a man' as proof that “This excludes all
attempts to decode the number which do not relate to a human figure.”
Descriptors
Then there are those early commentators who felt that 666 stood, not for the Beast's exact name, but
for his description, expressed in terms of gematria. These include different Greek or Hebrew words
which can be translated as Blue Bastard, Wicked Guide, Double-Dealer, Opponent, Beast, Damned,
and Antichrist – each of which can be made to add up to 666.
Gunkel believes the number identifies the Roman Empire with the OT monster typifying the chaos
which God overcame and from which the portrait of the dragon and the beast in this book is derived.
His evidence is that the letters for 'Primal Chaos' in Hebrew add up to 666.
Ellul concludes from all of this that “it is known that the deciphering of this number, in particular by
the gematrical method, has given innumerable and fantastic results...”
Combination of Approaches
Van Daalen: “This number...is not, as is sometimes thought, a conundrum to be solved by readers in
order to discover the identity of the beast described in that chapter. The identity of the beast is clear: it
is the absolute state as personified in the Roman Emperor Nero. The emperors claimed divine authority
and their power seemed invincible. John wanted his readers to understand that the state and its rulers
were neither divine nor invincible. They were human and carried the seed of their own destruction;
their number is only 666, and does not reach the completion of seven. The number was arrived at by
presenting Nero's name Kaisar Neron in Hebrew letters, which also function as numbers...so qrs nrwn
adds up to 666. (Some western manuscripts read ' six hundred sixteen'; the scribes possibly did not
understand John's usage of Hebrew numbers, and thought in terms of the Greek kaisar theos, the 'god-
emperor,' which would add up to 616 using the Greek letters as numerals; but it is more likely that they
simply dropped the final n: qsr nrw for Kaisar Nero, making 616).” That last possibility is perhaps
confirmed by an early Aramaic document which refers to Nero as Kaisar Nero.
Note that Van Daalen actually combines the interpretive methods of symbology and gematria in his
approach to identify both an individual and the group which he typifies.
There is another approach which combines these two. “Christian readers would have noticed the
contrast between the number of the beast, 666, and the number of Jesus, 888 (the sum of the Greek
letters Jesous). In 888 could be seen superabundant perfection, the three-fold 7+1. On the other hand
666 indicates the three-fold failure to reach perfection, 7-1. This showed how precarious and how
doomed to failure the reign of the beast must be.” (Ford)
Beasley-Murray also elaborates: 'It is pointed out that the Sibylline Oracles (1:328) remarks that the
number of the name of Jesus is 888, one better than perfection.”
Other Numerical Methods
One approach is to look for an individual with a first, middle, and last name, each of which contains six
letters – thus 666. Political and religious conservatives would probably be horrified to know that
Ronald Wilson Reagan has been identified by some as the Beast using that method. And if we wished
to play the same tricks used by some gematria experts, we just have to include Hitler's title to come up
with Fuhrer Adolph Hitler, another 666. That is my personal entry into this identification game.
The Pythagorean method, the study of triangular numbers, has also been proposed. Beale notes that “a
number of commentators discuss the significance of triangular numbers in the ancient world (e.g., 10 is
the triangular of 4, since 4+3+2+1=10). The number 666 is a triangular of a triangular: 36 is the
triangular of 8 and 666 is the triangular of 36 and therefore integrally related to 8. Some believe,
therefore, that 666 is another way of speaking of the beast who is identified as 'an eighth'` in 17:11.”
Others using this same Pythagorean language arrive at 8 but reason instead that, employing gematria,
the number 8 stands for the Hebrew letter H. And since that verse in Revelation also mentions the
word “wisdom,” which in Hebrew is hokmah, it is felt that this methodology points to “wisdom” as the
meaning of 666. How the beast could stand for wisdom is beyond me to comprehend.
“Literal” Understandings
These approaches abandon any mathematical calculations altogether and simply look for any place
where they happen to see the three numbers 6-6-6 together in one place. You don't have to search very
far to find these since there are popular books written on the subject; and the internet is filled with
fanciful examples, some are obviously tongue-in-cheek, but most are deadly serious. Two of the most
popular understandings of 666 arose in the last half of the 20th century. The first one dates from the
1970's and is still around: It involves the inauguration of the NCR computer with 6-core memory, 60
bytes/word and 6 bits/character, advertised as 6.60.6. With this powerful computer, (we are told) evil
forces in the government can track the activities of everyone in America, especially coupled with the
government-mandated Social Security numbers for all newborns beginning in 1989. This interpretative
approach has been updated periodically to refer to other computer hardware or software.
Another popular interpretation beginning in the 1980's involves the fact that all bar codes have three
numbers hidden in them: 666. In reality, they are not the numbers 666 or any numbers at all but simply
guard bars to separate the manufacturing code from the product code. However, they happen to
resemble the number six. We are told by some prophecy “experts” that we will soon have a bar code
tattooed on our body or in the form of a computer chip implanted in us, and we won't be able to buy or
sell without it.
A 60th anniversary UN picture has also appeared on the internet with flags in front blocking the view of
the zeros, thus leading to 666. Therefore the UN is the beast of Revelation according to some.
Note that all these “literal” approaches seem to ignore the clear statement given in the text that it is the
number of an individual, not a technology or organization.
Conclusion
Mounce: “In view of the widely divergent and highly speculative solutions to the riddle it seems best to
conclude that John intended only his intimate associates to be able to decipher the number. So
successful were his precautions that even Irenaeus some one hundred years later was unable to identify
the person intended. An additional 1800 years of conjecture have not brought us any closer to an
answer.”
Of course, futurists simply reply that Revelation was not primarily written for the people of John's time
at all or even for anyone in the last 2,000 years, but only for the enlightenment of those such as
themselves who happen to live during the last days. They will be the only ones to fully comprehend it.
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