The Meaning of “666”

This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν· ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου, ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν· καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ.

Revelation 13:18

I had a discussion with a dear friend of mine a couple weeks ago on the meaning of the number “666” in Revelation 13:18. He asked me at the time how I could be “certain” that John was referring to Caesar Nero in this passage over against other possibilities. Of course, I am a mere fallible human being, ergo I can only be as certain as humanly possible. This differs from the supernatural certainty of the existence of God which the Spirit of God produces in the minds and hearts of His people. But the question still remains: how can I be “certain” that John intends to refer his listeners and readers to Caesar Nero in this passage? I believe that the text (and contextual clues in Revelation) is sufficient in accomplishing this task.

Big Clue

First of all, John makes it clear that one requires wisdom and understanding in order to calculate the number of the beast. This means that the task of figuring out what “666” means requires some mental exercise and that this task can be accomplished without some supernatural gift. In fact, John provides sufficient clues in the book of Revelation to perform this task.

The biggest clue that John provides is that the number of the beast is “the number of a man”. Therefore, readers are directed to limit the possible meanings to human possibilities, in particular “men”. In short, the number “666” refers to “a man”. From the get-go, we can eliminate all possibilities that do not refer to “a man”, such as references to abstract concepts or general ideas.

Additional Clues

What other clues does John provide in the book of Revelation that helps readers to narrow down the number of possible meanings of the number “666”? In this same chapter (Revelation 13), John describes the beast that arises from the sea. From a geographical perspective, the Jewish Christians in Judea and Asia Minor would see Rome across the sea, and even “rising up” out of the sea. The sea beast is also described as having sustained a mortal wound, but this mortal wound was healed which causes “the whole earth” to marvel and to follow the beast. When Nero died, the Roman Empire was on the verge of death, and “the whole earth” believed that this was the end of the Roman Empire. However, when the Roman Empire recovered and “came back to life”, the “whole earth” did indeed marvel and followed after it.

Furthermore, in Revelation 17, John provides additional information about this beast, using similar language about the requirement for wisdom and understanding in Revelation 17:9. John reveals that the seven heads of the beast represent seven mountains (a geographical reference to Rome again), but the seven heads also represent seven kings, five of whom have fallen (i.e. have died), one is (i.e. is reigning right now), and one is to come for a little while (i.e. he is not reigning right now, but when he does, his reign will be short). It would not have been difficult for John’s readers to put two and two together, and to think about the “kings” of the Roman Empire starting with its first “king”, Julius Caesar. It is not “random” to choose Julius Caesar as the starting point as numerous ancient historical documents reference Julius Caesar as the first “king” of the Roman Empire.

• Julius Caesar (dead)
• Augustus (dead)
• Tiberius (dead)
• Caligula (dead)
• Claudius (dead)
• Nero (reigning)
• Galba (will reign for a short while)

As can be inferred from the list above, this ordering of Roman kings not only support the interpretation that Nero is referred to in the number “666”, but also supports the position that the book of Revelation was written before the destruction of the temple, that is, sometime in the AD 60s when Nero was still alive and reigning.

In light of the above, John’s readers can deduce the following:

• The number “666” is the number of the beast, which is the number of a man.
• The sea beast is a reference to the Roman Empire in light of the references to the “sea” and the “seven mountains”, both of which are geographical references to the Roman Empire. The “mortal wound” which was healed is also a historical clue which refers to the Roman Empire that almost died and recovered. Therefore, it would appear that the number “666” ought to refer to a Roman man.
• The seven heads of the sea beast represent seven kings, one of whom is currently reigning. The clue provided in Revelation 17 leads readers to consider their current “king”, Caesar Nero, as a possible referent of the number “666”, Nero being a Roman man, in particular a Roman male king.

As such, the book of Revelation contains sufficient clues to narrow down the meaning of “666” to men in general, and then to Roman men in general, and then to Roman male kings, and then to the current reigning Roman male king, that is, Nero. This deduction required some mental exercise, but does not require supernatural insight.

Kaisar Neron?

Another objection to the assertion that “666” is a gematria which refers to Nero is that there are multiple ancient variations for the spelling of Caesar Nero, the sum of which would not add up to “666”. First of all, there are ancient historical documents which evidence the fact that “Kaisar Neron” (נְרוֹן קַיסָר in the Hebrew) was a common spelling for the name of Nero. Therefore, one cannot reject this variation as one of the possibilities that adds up to 666.

K	100
S	60
R	200
N	50
R	200
O	6
N	50
Total	666

For what reason did John choose this specific variation? I believe that John chose this particular spelling because the sum of the letters add up to 666, that is, this number could in fact be symbolical of the number of man (6) in contrast to the number of divine completeness (7). John could have picked a different spelling for Nero, which would have added up to a different sum. However, it makes sense that the number “666” refers primarily to Caesar Nero, but also secondarily emphasizes the number of man (6).

I do not believe that the number “666” refers primarily to the number of man, since John would have said that the number of the beast is “ἕξ ἕξ ἕξ” (hex hex hex) to emphasize the number of man, rather than the number “ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ” (hexakosioi hexēkonta hex). The fact that John intentionally put in the number six hundred sixty six rather than six six six is consistent with the exhortation to “calculate” the number of the beast. His readers are directed to use mathematics to calculate (to compute, to count) the number of the beast. This again supports the assertion that John’s readers are to consider possible male names in the Roman Empire that, when added up together according to the concept of gematria, comes to a total sum of 666. Based on the aforementioned comments, “Kaisar Neron” is a perfect match for all the criteria.

616?

The textual variant of this passage has the number “616” instead of “666”. This textual variant supports the assertion that John intended his readers to understand that this number refers to Caesar Nero.

As the text of Revelation was copied in later generations, and the common language of the Roman Empire transitioned from Greek to Latin, we see that the Latin spelling of Nero Caesar, when transcribed in Hebrew, drops the last N, which reduces the sum of his name from 666 to 616.

K	100
S	60
R	200
N	50
R	200
O	6
Total	616

Therefore, there is a plausible and historical explanation for the appearance of this textual variant. For those who reject the interpretation that 666 refers to Nero, and suggest that 666 is merely an emphasis on the number of man, do not have an adequate explanation for the appearance of this textual variant, as the emphasis on the number of man fails in this case. Again, if John wanted to emphasize the number of man, it would make more sense for him to list out ἕξ ἕξ ἕξ (6 6 6), that is, a threefold repetition of the number 6. We see in the Scriptures that a threefold repetition is the common Jewish manner of emphasizing something, whether it be a characteristic of God or a woe upon man. The fact that John does not utilize this threefold repetition, but rather lists out the actual number six hundred sixty six supports the gematria interpretation of this number.

Too Narrow of an Interpretation?

It is suggested that this gematria interpretation of “666” is too narrow of an interpretation. However, I would suggest that the non-gematria interpretation is the understanding that is too narrow. I believe that partial preterists are comfortable in asserting that the number “666” can refer both to a historical referent (i.e. Caesar Nero) and a symbolical referent (i.e. the number of man in contrast with the number of divine completeness). This means that there can be both a historical and spiritual meaning of the number “666” in this text, though the primary meaning of “666” appears to be the historical referent. On the other hand, those who suggest that “666” only has a spiritual meaning or abstract meaning, such as oppressive human governments or the like, are the ones who have a narrower understanding of the number “666” for these interpreters would reject that “666” refers to Nero, or has a historical significance in particular.

In light of the above, I would suggest that it is more plausible for John to intend both a historical/in-time referent and an ahistorical/timeless referent when he used the number “666”.

Concluding Remarks

All in all, it appears to me that the text is quite clear in pointing John’s readers to the historical referent of “666”, that is, Caesar Nero. In fact, this interpretation is the one that takes into account the contextual clues provided in other parts of Revelation which help readers to calculate/discern which Roman man this number refers to. I would suggest that those who reject this interpretation are the ones who fail to take into account the additional contextual clues found in Revelation, and who are only looking at Revelation 13 alone without regard to these additional clues. When considered together, all of the passages about the beast provide sufficient information for readers to deduce that the number “666” is the number of a Roman man, that is, the number of Kaisar Neron.

Soli Deo gloria!