Why is 666 the devil's number?

+73 votes
asked May 16, 2018 in Culture & Society by carol (610 points)
edited Apr 9, 2019
I have been wondering why 666 is said to be the devil's number, does this have any relationship with the Bible or any other holy Book?

3 Answers

+17 votes
answered Jul 12, 2019 by Lingo (1,200 points)
edited Jul 16, 2019

The manuscript for the New Testament named the number 666 as the number of a certain man, who has link with the beast – an aggressive creature that was briefly mentioned in the vision of the apocalypse. The Greek version of this manuscript represented the number with symbols, while others spell the number numerically.

In some popular modern culture, the number 666, has been widely accepted as the symbol of the long awaited Antichrist, another name for the Devil. Some sects purportedly use this number 666 to bring up the dark powers of the Devil. This number is often referenced among Christians and non-Christians alike. In the modern Western art and literature, the number is referenced as the mark of the beast. There are several of such references in today's cultures and religions.

Revelation 13:17-18New International Version (NIV)

17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

According to the Christian Bible in the Book of Revelation, 666 is the mark of the beast; the Antichrist. However, a fragment of papyrus 115 was found, and it contained the original version of that part of the Bible that talked about the mark of the beast in Revelation. The number as recorded in the papyrus was 616, which could have been the accurate one. The number, which is believed to be a kind of code represents the spelling of Emperor Nero's name, and the two conflicting numbers could have represented two different spellings of Emperor Nero/Neron's name.

+7 votes
answered Oct 16, 2018 by Katelynn (860 points)
edited Feb 20, 2019

Why is 666 the devil's number? This concept comes from Nero Caesar, which is considered as the most evil man by many ancient people. In the Hebrew language, Nero Caesar is spelled as "נרון קיסר". Every Hebrew letter has a number value, and this name's value is 200+60+100+50+6+200+50=666. When translated directly from Latin to Hebrew, you lose an n (נרו קיסר), which reduces the value by 50, and gives you 616 as contained in some older manuscript.

+3 votes
answered Jun 30, 2019 by Mia (790 points)
edited Aug 1, 2019
I know I have read somewhere about the number 616 having something to do with one evil Roman ruler. I can't remember much of the details because they are quite unclear to me. And they say it is the Devil's real identity number.
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