666

What Does 666 Mean in Gematria?

The number 666 is the most famous number in gematria, known as the 'number of the beast' from Revelation 13:18: 'Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man; his number is 666.' The most widely held scholarly reading links 666 to the Roman emperor Nero through Hebrew gematria: נרון קסר (Neron Kaisar) = Nun(50) + Resh(200) + Vav(6) + Nun(50) + Kaf(20) + Samekh(60) + Resh(200) = 666. Some early manuscripts read 616 instead, a variant Irenaeus already knew of (Against Heresies V.30). The Latin form of the name, נרו קסר (Nero Kaisar, without the final Nun), totals 616, which many scholars take as support for the Nero reading. In Greek manuscripts the number is often written with numeral letters as χξϛ (chi, xi, stigma) = 600 + 60 + 6. To reproduce it in this site's Greek calculator, enter χξϝ: digamma ϝ carries the same value (6) as stigma ϛ. The Nero identification is a scholarly interpretation, not a settled fact, and other readings have long existed.

Significance

Revelation 13:18 says wisdom is needed to 'calculate' the number, which many commentators read as an invitation to gematria-style reckoning. Readers who favour the Nero identification point to his persecution of Christians in Rome after the fire of 64 CE, described by Tacitus (Annals 15.44). Others read 666 symbolically, for example as a triple falling-short of seven, the biblical number of completeness. That reading is also traditional. In English ciphers, words such as 'COMPUTER' and 'VACCINATION' total 666 in the English Extended system (each letter's ordinal value × 6, so any word whose ordinal value is 111 reaches 666). Such matches are a property of the cipher and are easy to find. They are not evidence of a hidden connection.

Related Concepts

Words That Equal 666 (English Ordinal)

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