What Is the Meaning of the Number 666?
The number 666 is mentioned in Revelation 13:18 as the “number of a person,” which is also “the number of the beast.” If the method of gematria is employed, the number 666 is interpreted as the numerical equivalent of the name of a person. The results of efforts to find such a name vary depending on the choice of the Greek, Hebrew, or Latin alphabet as the basis for the calculation. Since many names yield the numerical value of 666, since names and titles can be combined (and abbreviated) in many different ways, and since there was no fixed orthography of personal names in antiquity, it has to be assumed that John’s readers knew the individual to whom he was referring. John refers, perhaps, to a tradition known to some of his readers regarding the person associated with the number 666. The emperor Nero is the best candidate for such an identification, not least because the numerical value for the Greek term for “beast” is also 666. Since John describes the false Christian