Few things in the book of Revelation have raised as much interest as the "Number of the
Beast" mentioned in 13:18. That verse says,

"Here is wisdom: let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast,

for it is the number of a man: his number is 666."

While this verse may seem mysterious to modern readers, its basic meaning was clear to
those to whom the book of Revelation was originally written. They interpreted the verse
as a reference to gematria.

"Gematria" is the name given to the assignment of numeric value to letters of the
alphabet (a code in which A=1, B=2, Z=26 is an example of this). In Greek – the
language in which Revelation was written – there are no numerals. The Greeks (and
people in general who wrote Greek, whether they were descended from people in Greece
or not) in the ancient world used the letters of the Greek alphabet as numerals.

Here is the usual gematria for ancient Greek:

a (alpha ~ a) = 1

b (beta ~ b) = 2

g (gamma ~ g) = 3

d (delta ~ d) = 4

e (epsilon ~ e) = 5

V (stau ~ st/v) = 6*

z (zeta ~ z) = 7

h (eta ~ e) = 8

q (theta ~ th) = 9

i (iota ~ i/j) = 10

k (kappa ~ k) = 20

l (lambda ~ l) = 30

m (mu ~ m) = 40

n (nu ~ n) = 50

x (xi ~ ks) = 60

o (omicron ~ o) = 70

p (pi ~ p) = 80

J (dikappa ~ q) = 90*

r (rho ~ r) = 100

s (sigma ~ s) = 200

t (tau ~ t) = 300

u (upsilon ~ u) = 400

j (phi ~ f) = 500

c (chi ~ ch) = 600

y (psi ~ ps) = 700

w (omega ~ o) = 800

' (digamma?) = 900*

( * = obsolete letters. Ordinary Greek had only 24 letters. The actual characters are not represented in this font.)

To indicate that the letters were intended to represent numerical amounts, a small dash

was placed beside or above the character.

It should be emphasized that this was not a secret code. It was common. If one
examines Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, one may observe that in many cases
the page-numbers were marked via gematria (so on page 14 one would find the letters
ID¢). In some copies of Revelation, also, the "number of the beast" is written simply as
cxV '.

The early Christian writer Irenaeus suggested "Lateinos" and "Euanthas" as possible
explanations. He admitted that both of these were only guesses. ("Lateinos" is a
substandard spelling of "Latinus," the kingdom from which the Roman Empire gradually
emerged. Irenaeus didn't say what "Euanthas" was.) "Teitan" was another guess. As
you can see by calculating the values of the individual letters on the chart, "Lateinos"
and "Euanthas" and "Teitan" add up, individually, to a value of 666.

So, 666 may be the numerical value of the characters in a certain name. Many
interpreters believe that the name will belong to a worldwide government, or to the
leader of a worldwide government that will emerge in the last days. To the original
readership of Revelation, though, the "mark of the Beast" was a description of certificates
which the Roman government issued to to citizens who had made loyalty-oaths to the
Roman Emperor.

These loyalty-oaths involved either a statement that Caesar was God, or the offering of
incense to a statue of the Emperor. The description in Revelation 13:16 of "a mark on
their right hand or on their foreheads" figuratively describes the act of willfully (that is,
with one's head) and physically (that is, with one's right hand) affirming that Caesar is
Divine. The lack of a certificate would disqualify a person from making business
transactions (which interlocks with Rev. 13:17, which says, "... no one may buy or sell
except those who have the mark: the name of the beast, or the number of his name").

So, to the original readers of Revelation, the Mark of the Beast was simply a way of
describing loyalty-oaths to Caesar which involved the performance of an act of worship to
Caesar. Taking the Mark -- willfully making the loyalty-oath -- was to be avoided at all
cost; those who made such an oath could expect to be "tormented with fire and
brimstone" as "the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever" (Rev. 14:9-11).

It is possible that the loyalty-oaths which the early Christians were tempted to make
may be a sort of prototype of a loyalty-oath which Christians in the last days will be
tempted to make.

(As a diversion, I mention here some theories of the past about 666. 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. Also, it was discovered during WWII that if one creates an English form of
gematria, in which A=100, B=101, and so on, the letters in "Hitler" add up to 666. Other
theories about 666 that do not involve gematria have been proposed, such as the idea
that President Ronald Wilson Reagan must be the Beast's leader, since his first, middle,
and last names each had six letters. But history has tended to disprove such views.)

Another view is that the "Beast" is a "world system" which is at work in every generation,
rather than one specific government. So, the loyalty-oath certificates of the Romans
might validly be called the Mark of the Beast, but so could any such license which stated
that its owner has made an act of worship toward anyone or anything other than God.

Some interpreters reject the view that 666 is to be explained by gematria, believing that
the text should be translated as "the number of man," making 666 nothing but an
expression of the imperfection of mankind.

I believe that the meaning of 13:18 involves gematria. Whether it is meant literally or
symbolically is another question. Those who think it should be taken literally should be
on the lookout for governments and political or military leaders whose names have a
numerical value of 666. Those who take it symbolically have a nifty sub-point to appeal
to: in Greek, the name "Jesus" (Ihsous) has a numeric value of 888. Thus the number
666 could be simply an indication of the "Beast's" tendency to imperfectly mimic Christ.

Also, some interpreters believe that John intended to depict the persecution ordered by
Roman Emperor Domitian as a return to the days of Emperor Nero, who had persecuted
Christians in Rome. In sync with this view, it has been claimed that the numerical value
of the name "Neron" in Latin gematria is 666, and that "Nero Caesar," if it is spelled a
certain way in Hebrew, has a numerical value of 666 in Hebrew gematria. In this
interpretation, the head whose "fatal wound was healed" is a symbolic reference to the
return of the reign of Nero under the Emperor Domitian. However, while the Roman
Empire is certainly portrayed as the persecutor of the saints in Rev. 17, the facts that
John was writing in Greek (not Hebrew or Latin), and that the numerical value of Ihsous
(Jesus) is 888, still favor the idea that John had Greek gematria in mind.