Here's my latest newsletter article.  You can sign up to receive it free yourself at the bottom or at the website http://www.EscapeAllTheseThings.com

Is the Number of the Beast 666 or 616?
Some Interesting Thoughts...

You may have seen in the news recently that a fragment of the "oldest NT manuscript" was found to say in Rev 13:18 that the number of the beast was 616 instead of 666. Since several people have asked me about this topic, I'd like to comment on it.

First, here's an excerpt of the report of the discovery:

A newly discovered fragment of the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament indicates that, as far as the Antichrist goes, theologians, scholars, heavy metal groups, and television evangelists have got the wrong number. Instead of 666, it's actually the far less ominous 616.

The new fragment from the Book of Revelation, written in ancient Greek and dating from the late third century, is part of a hoard of previously unintelligible manuscripts discovered in historic dumps outside Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. Now a team of expert classicists, using new photographic techniques, are finally deciphering the original writing.

Professor David Parker, Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham, thinks that 616, although less memorable than 666, is the original. He said: "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."

The Book of Revelation is traditionally considered to be written by John, a disciple of Jesus; it identifies 666 as the mark of the Antichrist. In America, the fundamentalist Christian right often use the number in sermons about the coming Apocalypse.

They and satanists responded coolly to the new "Revelation". Peter Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan, based in New York, said: "By using 666 we're using something that the Christians fear. Mind you, if they do switch to 616 being the number of the beast then we'll start using that."

So, if you did not know better, you might already be heading to your Bible with a red marker to cross out the 666 and write in 616! After all, we have an expert of the NT, even in the very important field of Textual Criticism, telling us 666 is wrong. But not so fast!

I have a few reasons to keep this one on the shelf, and even to doubt it. Note that none of these are proofs that 616 is wrong. They are just my thinking on why I believe 666 is correct still at this point.

1.The article cites just one man's conclusion. But I'm the type of person who likes to check things out for himself, rather than trust someone else to do my thinking. I want to see the data and reasoning he used to conclude 616 is correct, even though it's in the minority of manuscripts. For example, when I decided that Y'hovah was probably the correct transliteration for God's name in the Old Testament, I did not do so because Nehemia Gordon said so. I did so after looking through the OT manuscripts myself, looking at the vowel points and carefully reasoning out what they likely were telling us were the original vowels.

2. One thing that would settle this question would be if a man appeared on the scene fulfilling everything else for the "First Beast from the Sea" in Revelation 13 and other prophecies related to what is (erroneously) called "the Antichrist". If we "calculated" the "number of his name" as instructed and it came to either 616 or 666 we would have our answer. There is such a man. Prince Charles of Wales' heraldic achievement (coat-of-arms) literally consists of the very beasts described in Rev 13 and Dan 7, he is a Prince (Dan 9:27) and he is from the old Roman Empire that destroyed the Temple (Dan 9:27). So what does his name add up to? Rather than 616, his name adds up to 666 using the ancient gematria system. And not only does this work in the English, but also in the official Hebrew transliteration (Nasich Charles Mem Wales). What are the odds anyone would have a name that calculates to the same number in two languages (without tampering with the transliteration like is done to Javier Solana's name to make it equal 666 in Hebrew)?

3. The Book of Revelation introduces very little that is new and tends to mostly expand on concepts or symbols that have already been used elsewhere in the Bible. You must use the rest of the Bible to decipher much of Revelation. It is noteworthy therefore that 616 appears nowhere else in the Bible while 666 appears four times. It very interestingly appears in this verse related to another exalted and adored king, one whom no doubt the coming Antichrist will want to emulate in many ways.

1 Kings 10:14 -- The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,

(Thanks to my dear brother Robert for pointing this verse out). If anyone gets a good textual criticism report on 616 vs 666 please let me know as I'd like to get to see why someone would conclude 616 is the original.

Meanwhile, I hope this helps you keep this one on the shelf as well.

- Tim
http://www.EscapeAllTheseThings.com

Not Subscribed? Fill out this form to sign up... Sign up now to receive your FREE subscription to my newsletter.  It's full of innovative insights into Bible Prophecy and End Times events as well as announcements of new offerings such as my next book Revelation Secrets.  Plus, receive the first secret FREE for signing up. E-mail:

Privacy Policy:  We hate spam as much as you do, so we never give out your email.  Unsubscribe at anytime.