Number associated with the beast 666 or 616?
Most people are aware of the biblical number associated with the beast which is traditionally numbered as 666. We find this number in Revelation 13:8
Revelation 13:18 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. KJV
The number 666 is found in basically all versions of the Bible including but certainly not limited to the NIV, ESV, NASb, ISV, NET bible, NKJV, and the ASV. The reading is either written out as per the reading of the KJV or is in numerical form 666 such as in the NIV
Revelation 13:8 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. NIV
This just happens to be the ONLY verse in the Bible where we are given this number, so the verse is the single biblical attestation to the number of the beast.
However, there are some people that claim that the number 666 is actually incorrect and that the true number is in fact 616 due to a textual variant that appears in the reading of the number in this verse.
So what is the correct reading, 666 or 616?
The weight of manuscript evidence certainly would fall on the side of 666
The overwhelming manuscript evidence would support the reading 666 and as already stated all major versions of the Bible do follow the reading 666. In almost all manuscripts that contain this verse the number of the beast is written out as ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ , six hundred and sixty six in English.
The reading 666 is also attested to in the Latin, Coptic and Syriac.
However, Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C) reads, ἑξακόσιοι δέκα ἕξ six hundred ten and six, and so supports the claim that 616 is the original reading. This manuscript is dated to around the 5th century.
This led many to question which number was correct and ask why there should be a textual variant here.
Further evidence used for 616 can be found via Bruce Metzger.
Metzger pointed out that according to Tischendorfs 8th edition, there were also 2 minuscules (no longer in existence at the time Metzger wrote) that read 616, these were minuscules 5 and 11.
Textual commentary on the Greek New Testament B. Metzger pages 751/752
The argument that 616 is the true reading escalated further in the late 20th century with the finding of a manuscript known as P115, which also reads 616. The discovery of this manuscript added great weight to the argument for the original reading being 616 and many people are now convinced that it is indeed the original number, based on this manuscript.
P115 dates to around 250-275 AD and so is indeed a very early witness to the reading 616. The importance of the reading of P115 cannot be underplayed. P115 is regarded as the earliest manuscript witness to this verse and it is for this reason that this manuscript in particular is now used as the main evidence for 616 being the original reading.
In order to correctly ascertain the true number we must first understand Greek isopsephy, or gematria in the Hebrew.
This is the ancient method used in the Roman Empire of writing numbers.
Each letter has a numerical worth as shown in the image below.
P115, part of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri that were discovered in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries utilises this writing method and has the reading (chi, iota, stigma (ΧΙϚ)) 616 and thus supports the reading found in Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus.
P115 (fragment)
So while the weight of manuscript evidence would point to 666, the earliest manuscript evidence would actually support 616. Neither method, age nor manuscript numerical advantage is by itself proof for a reading. When doing textual criticism we cannot be so simplistic, we must look more closely at the evidence at hand.
When it comes to the age of P115, although it is almost certainly the oldest manuscript that we have of this verse it would be wrong to say that this then settles the argument and take its reading as original, just as it would be wrong to simply take the numerical advantage and say that this proves the argument, in this case the two lines of evidence do not agree. You cannot arbitrarily select one over the other. Also when it comes to age , it would be simply disingenuous to ignore P47 which also contains this portion of Revelation. P47 is dated to the late 3rd century, so is of a very similar age to P115. The utilisation of isopsephy is also found in P47.
The reading of P47 is the traditional 666 expressed as χξϛ
We must also consider the strength of manuscript evidence, by this I mean the importance of the manuscript itself, do they contain lots of mistakes or deliberate changes that we can demonstrate. For example, Codex Alexandrinus (A), which is usually considered amongst scholars to preserve the most accurate text of Revelation, reads 666. For many scholars the reading of this manuscript may well be considered more authoritative and more likely to be the original reading over P115 which has age advantage. While others may consider the age advantage to be superior but then they would also have to take into account the reading of P47.
Furthermore, we also need to examine the manuscripts themselves. When the reading of P115 is analysed it cannot go unmentioned that ΧΙϚ is actually preceded by the Greek ή, which when standing alone is actually the Greek word for “or”. The reading found here, actually reads “or 616. The presence of the Greek word for or that precedes the Greek number is not found in other manuscripts and so is in itself a stand alone reading. Although not identifiable due to damage, the full reading of the verse in P115 could very well have been ΧΞϚ h ΧΙϚ 666 or 616.
So it is possible that, although P115 is an early attestation to the existence of the reading 616, it should not be used as evidence that 616 is the correct reading of the two but merely evidence that it was a known reading along with 666 and the scribe that wrote P115 was aware of both readings and was unsure which was the correct reading.
What is clear is that, whether or not P115 is supporting evidence for the originality of the reading 616, or just evidence of the reading, it is actually a fact that the reading 616 dates a lot earlier than P115.
In fact, we know that both readings, 666 and 616, precede any manuscript evidence that is available to us today.
Irenaeus, writing in the late 2nd century, refers to both readings. He actually argued for the number being 666 and against the number 616.
Irenaeus is the earliest writer that comments on this verse. He stated that the number 666 was found in all of the most approved and ancient copies of Revelation (ancient in the late 2nd century which would make them very close to the original as Revelation is generally credited to having been written by John around the turn of the first century) and that those men that saw John face to face, literally those that met John, testified of the number.
- Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony [to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six; that is, the number of tens shall be equal to that of the hundreds, and the number of hundreds equal to that of the units
He continued that he did not know how some people had changed the middle number by deducting 50 from it but that it was most certainly an erroneous reading.
“I do not know how it is that some have erred following the ordinary mode of speech, and have vitiated the middle number in the name, deducting the amount of fifty from it, so that instead of six decads they will have it that there is but one. [I am inclined to think that this occurred through the fault of the copyists, as is wont to happen, since numbers also are expressed by letters; so that the Greek letter which expresses the number sixty was easily expanded into the letter Iota of the Greeks.] Others then received this reading without examination; some in their simplicity, and upon their own responsibility, making use of this number expressing one decad; while some, in their inexperience, have ventured to seek out a name which should contain the erroneous and spurious number.”
Please note the section in brackets is likely an interpolation as it does not appear in the Greek text of Eusebius of Caesarea.
Irenaeus also argues that those that had changed the reading should go back to the true number so that they would not be reckoned amongst false prophets.
- These men, therefore, ought to learn [what really is the state of the case], and go back to the true number of the name, that they be not reckoned among false prophets. But, knowing the sure number declared by Scripture, that is, six hundred sixty and six,
Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 30)
This then demonstrates that both 666 and 616 were indeed attested to at least to the time of Irenaeus, even if he himself rejected the reading 616, considered it erroneous and pointed out that the most ancient manuscripts at his time read 666.
After weighing up the numerical manuscript advantage, the attestation of Irenaeus and after a closer analysation of the text of P115, the most likely reading of Revelation 13:18 is the traditional 666 but it is clear that 616 has been around for a long time and was considered, at least by some, to be the correct reading.
How would 666 become 616
One answer is that this could simply have been a copyist error. A scribe could have been in a hurry and copied down the wrong letter. Errors like this are not uncommon in biblical manuscripts.
There could, however, be a much more specific reason to the change that is simply overlooked. Edward Cook, A dead sea scrolls Scholar wrote a blog back in 2006 and gave a possible explanation, the following is a summary of that blog.
In the verse in Revelation John commands that the one with understanding to “count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man”.
Revelation 13:18 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.
Throughout history literally hundreds of peoples names have been calculated with the number 666 in order to try and “prove” that they are the person that is being referenced in the verse. Names have included Jesus Christ himself to specific Popes or even just the office of the Pope and some even have made this number fit Barrack Obama and Donald Trump.
One of those names was Caesar Nero. Nero lived in the mid first century and it was believed by many that he was the man associated with this number.
This is where the importance of Greek isopsephy, or gematria comes into play.
If we take the Greek name of Nero, Neron Caesar and put it into Hebrew characters נרון קסר this name is equivalent to the number 666. However, if we take the Latin form of his name, Nero Caesar and put it into Hebrew characters this changes just slightly to נרו קסר which has a numerical equivalence of 616.
Therefore, it is possible that someone, who believed that Nero was indeed the name that was to be associated with the beast, took the Latin form of his name, transliterated that into Hebrew and came to the number 616. As he wanted to convey that it was indeed Nero, he inserted the number 616 that correlated to the Latin form of Nero into the verse found in Revelation. The scribe would have fully understood as to why he used the number 616 rather than 666 but this would simply show as a textual variant to later scribes and the true reason for the use of the number 616 would not have been known.
As Bruce Metzger states in his Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (page 751)
If this is the case then the textual variant, although being textually incorrect, would simply be a different way of referring to the same person.
It must be noted that if one sticks to the Greek and does not first translate Nero into Hebrew, then Greek isopsephy would not in any way implicate Nero as his name would amount to 1005 and not 666 or 616.
Professor David Parker believes that the correct number is 616 and refers to Emperor Caligula.
“This is an example of gematria, where numbers are based on the numerical values of letters in people’s names. Early Christians would use numbers to hide the identity of people who they were attacking: 616 refers to the Emperor Caligula.”
Professor David Parker, Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham
Revelation! 666 is not the number of the beast (it’s a devilish 616) | The Independent | The Independent
(Gaios Kaisar is the name of Emperor Caligula in Greek)
Lastly we must at least be aware that 616 does not appear anywhere else in the Bible, but 666 does. We can find one biblical reference to 666 in 1 Kings.
1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
So Solomon is associated with the number 666…..the importance of which…..I have yet to ascertain. Let me know if you have worked it out.
So, having said this, the evidence supports the original reading 666 but we must certainly acknowledge that 616 has evidence to support it also.
If you liked this study please subscribe here
You can buy my books on Amazon there is a link here
Join our Patreon membership here or you can buy me a coffee through paypal
0 Comments