666 Number of the Beast



Here is wisdom:, The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

Revelation 13:18

Emperor Nero

Nero Caesar (Roman Emperor from 54-68) was an infamous persecutor of Christians in the period from the Great Fire of Rome in July 64 until his death by suicide in June 68.  His name can be valued at 666, using the Hebrew numerology of gematria, a manner of speaking against the emperor without the Roman authorities knowing. 

Nron Qsr

The Greek version of the name and title transliterates into Hebrew as נרון קסר‎, and yields a numerical value of 666:

Resh (ר)Samekh (ס)Qoph (ק)Nun (נ)Vav (ו)Resh (ר)Nun (נ)Sum
2006010050620050666
Some very early manuscripts use 616, which is often written off as a scribal error. However, the number 616 is the number of Nero in Latin. In Hebrew, the name is Nron Qsr (Pronounced "Nerōn Kaisar"). In Latin it is Nro Qsr (Pronounced "Nero Kaisar"). The second 'nun' is missing (N=50), which results in 616 instead of 666.

Nro Qsr

The Latin version of the name drops the second Nun (נ), so that it appears as Nro and transliterates into Hebrew as נרו קסר, yielding 616:

Resh (ר)Samekh (ס)Qoph (ק)Vav (ו)Resh (ר)Nun (נ)Sum
20060100620050616

Islam?

Revelation was written in classical Greek, which used letters to represent numbers. The Romans similarly used letters to represent numbers, where 666 would be DCLXVI.  Arabic numerals such as used today in the Latin alphabet were introduced later.  The number 666 is rendered in Greek numerical form as χξϛ.

Some take the visual similarity of the Greek χξϛ and the Arabic name for Allah الله as evidence pointing to Islam. For example, the image below has circulated on social media:


However, the similarity depends entirely on stylized writing form and orientation.  Also, Allah is not the name of a man, but rather the Arabic word for God. The Islamic understanding of God, which is monotheistic and of the Abrahamic tradition, is not the same as the Christian understanding of God. In any case, the Islamic understanding would never consider Allah to be a mere man.  Attempts to associate 666 with Muhammad have been shown to rely on versions of his name that were never used.

The Antichrist

Given the possibility that the number 666 refers to Nero as a prototype for a future Antichrist, there have been many figures throughout history thought to be the Antichrist where some were able to find ways to attach the number 666 to their name.  Considering that Revelation was written in the first century in Greek, it should not be expected to have a name written centuries later in a different language to be understood by the recipients of the letter.

Conclusion

The number clearly represents Nero, either as the current emperor and persecutor of Christians (if written during Nero's reign) or as the prototype (if written during Domitian's reign).

Appendix

If you found this article helpful and thought-provoking, you may be interested in some of these other articles I've written on the topic of eschatology:

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