Revelation 13:18 · Gematria
Why is 666 the number of the beast?
Most likely Nero
Because the Book of Revelation says so, and most scholars think it is a name in code. Revelation 13:18 calls 666 “the number of a man,” and “Nero Caesar” written in Hebrew letters, נרון קסר, adds up to exactly 666. Spell the name the Latin way, without the final n, and it adds up to 616, the number some of the oldest manuscripts of Revelation give instead. Nero was the first Roman emperor to persecute Christians.
Total
666
Now try any name
The verse
“Let him that hath understanding count”
“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
Revelation 13:18, King James Version
The verse asks the reader to count. Its Greek word for count, ψηφισάτω, comes from the pebble used for counting, the same root as isopsephy, the Greek name for adding up letter values. In Greek, and in Hebrew, letters were the numerals, so any name had a number. Medieval Greek manuscripts write 666 as χξϛ: 600 + 60 + 6. The page on Greek numerals shows how those letters work.
The speaker is John, not Jesus. Revelation opens as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” sent “by his angel unto his servant John,” and the book is John’s account of his vision. No saying of Jesus in the Gospels mentions 666.
The Nero reading
A name, added up in Hebrew
Contemporary scholars broadly agree that the number points to Nero. Written in Hebrew letters, his Greek name and title, Nerōn Kaisar, is נרון קסר: nun 50, resh 200, vav 6, nun 50, qof 100, samekh 60, resh 200. That is 666. An Aramaic document from Wadi Murabba’at, dated to “the second year of Emperor Nero,” writes his name this way.
The spelling is also the theory’s weak point. The standard spellings would be slightly different, and scholars who support the Nero reading point to the Talmud, rabbinic writings and that scroll for the shorter forms. Theologians made the case from the 1830s on, and one early African text already says “This Nero is he whose name John called in the Apocalypse 616.”
616, the other number
Some ancient copies of Revelation read 616, written χιϛ in Greek. Codex Ephraemi gives it, and so, as usually read, does Papyrus 115, from the third century, the oldest known manuscript of Revelation as of 2017. That papyrus is damaged, though, and its standard transcription allows either 666 or 616.
616 is exactly what the Latin form Nero gives: drop the second nun and 50 comes off, נרו קסר = 616. The bishop Irenaeus knew of 616 and rejected it as a copying error, trusting “those men who saw John face to face.” One modern suggestion is that 666 won out because of its pattern: it is the sum of 1 to 36.
Many names fit
Irenaeus himself warned that “many names can be found possessing the number,” and listed three in Greek: Evanthas, Lateinos and Teitan. Later writers aimed 666 at popes, at Muhammad and at Napoleon, and Aleister Crowley chose the title Τὸ Μέγα Θηρίον, “the great beast,” because it adds up to 666. In the modern English cipher that multiplies A = 1 to Z = 26 by six, “computer” comes to 666, and so do 67 other words in a list of 9,884 common English words. With enough languages, spellings and ciphers, a match is easy to find, which is why a match proves nothing. Is English gematria real? looks at why.
Real vs legend
666, sorted
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Revelation 13:18 gives 666 as the number of the beast. | Real · most manuscripts |
| Nero Caesar in Hebrew letters adds up to 666. | Real · 50 + 200 + 6 + 50 + 100 + 60 + 200 |
| 666 certainly means Nero. | Likely · broad consensus, spelling debated |
| The oldest manuscript says 616. | Partly · damaged, 666 or 616 |
| 616 fits Nero too. | Real · Latin spelling, minus 50 |
| Jesus said 666 is the mark of the beast. | No · the verse is John’s vision |
| A modern person has been proved to be 666. | Legend · many names fit |
Questions
The number of the beast
How did 666 become the number of the beast?
Revelation 13:18 says “his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Most scholars read it as gematria for Nero Caesar, whose name and title in Hebrew letters add up to 666.
Is 616 or 666 the number of the beast?
Most manuscripts have 666. Codex Ephraemi and, as usually read, Papyrus 115 have 616, although the papyrus is damaged. Both fit Nero: 666 with the Greek form Nerōn, 616 with the Latin form Nero.
What did Jesus say about 666?
Nothing that is recorded. Revelation presents itself as a vision given “unto his servant John,” and 13:18 is John’s narration. The Gospels do not mention 666.
Why Nero?
He was the first Roman emperor to persecute Christians, and his name and title written in Hebrew letters add up to 666. A document from his own reign spells his name that way.
Is 666 special mathematically?
It is the sum of the numbers 1 to 36, which makes it a triangular number, the largest one written with a single repeated digit. It is also the sum of the squares of the first seven primes: 4 + 9 + 25 + 49 + 121 + 169 + 289.
What else adds up to 666?
A great many names. Irenaeus listed Evanthas, Lateinos and Teitan, and later writers found 666 in popes, Muhammad and Napoleon. That abundance is why the method proves little.
Sources
Where this comes from
- Revelation 1:1, 1:9 and 13:16 to 18; 1 Kings 10:14, King James Version: Project Gutenberg.
- Number of the beast, Nero reading, 616, Murabba’at scroll, later candidates: Wikipedia.
- Papyrus 115, date and reading: Wikipedia.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.30, on 616 and names worth 666: New Advent.
- Francis X. Gumerlock, “Nero Antichrist: Patristic Evidence of the Use of Nero’s Name in Calculating the Number of the Beast (Rev 13:18),” 2006: PDF.
- 666 (number), triangular and repdigit: Wikipedia.
- Eric W. Weisstein, “Beast Number,” MathWorld: mathworld.wolfram.com.
- Noam D. Elkies, “The Numerology of the Beast,” Harvard, 2004: harvard.edu.
- Isopsephy and the Greek word for “count”: Wikipedia.
- English word totals: “google-10000-english,” 9,884 common words, checked in Python: GitHub.
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An image of the sum, 666 or 616. Copy link reopens it.
Poster
Nero Caesar in Hebrew letters and the triangle of 666, on one print.