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Number of the beast
The number of the beast (Koinē Greek: Ἀριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου, Arithmós toû thēríou) is associated with the Beast of Revelation in chapter 13, verse 18 of the Book of Revelation. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the beast is six hundred sixty-six or χξϛ (in Greek numerals, χ represents 600, ξ represents 60 and ϛ represents 6).[1] Papyrus 115 (which is the oldest preserved manuscript of the Revelation as of 2017[update]), as well as other ancient sources like Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, give the number of the beast as χιϛ or χιϲ, transliterable in Arabic numerals as 616 (χιϛ), not 666;[2][3] critical editions of the Greek text, such as the Novum Testamentum Graece, note χιϛ/616 as a variant.[4] There is a broad consensus in contemporary scholarship that the number of the beast refers to the Roman Emperor Nero.[5][6][7]
- ^ Revelation 13:18
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Stewart-Ehrman-Wallace-2011was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
ng616was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle and Aland, 1991, footnote to verse 13:18 of Revelation, page 659: "-σιοι δέκα ἕξ" as found in C [C=Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]; for English see Metzger's Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, note on verse 13:18 of Revelation, page 750: "the numeral 616 was also read ..."
- ^ ”Nero as the Antichrist.” Encyclopaedia Romana. University of Chicago. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/nero.html. “666 (or rather DCLXVI) signifies the Antichrist because that number signifies Nero.”
- ^ Ehrman, Bart (2016). ‘666, The Number of the Beast.’ Bart Ehrman Blog. https://ehrmanblog.org/666-the-number-of-the-beast/..”
- ^ Martin, Dale B. (2012). New Testament History and Literature. The Open Yale Courses Series, Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18085-5. “Modern scholars, though, think the most compelling theory identifies the number with Nero. The letters of the alphabet functioned also as numerals. If one adds up the letters of the name Neron Caesar (spelled in Hebrew, which used the “n” for the ending of the name), the sum is 666. This also makes sense of a textual variant here found in certain ancient manuscripts. Some scribes, thinking of the name as it would appear in Greek rather than Hebrew (and thus without that one “n”), changed the number to 616, which would be the correct addition of the letters of the name spelled in Greek. Thus we know that at least those ancient scribes also took the number to be a reference to Nero.”
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