Number of the Beast

Biblical Text

The expression appears in Revelation 13:18. Chapter 13 depicts a beast rising out of the sea (Revelation 13:1–10) and another beast coming up out of the earth. The second beast causes all people to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, so that no one may buy or sell except those who have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name (Revelation 13:16–17). The text continues (KJV):

"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."

Some ancient manuscripts give the number as 616. The second-century church father Irenaeus, a theologian of the early church, was also aware of this variant reading.

Background

In ancient Hebrew and Greek, the letters of the alphabet also served as numerals. It was therefore possible to produce a single number by adding together the values of the letters in a name, a practice commonly called gematria. Many interpreters hold that the expressions "count" and "the number of a man" have this kind of reckoning in view. The figure of the beast is an image drawn from apocalyptic literature that builds on the vision of the four beasts in Daniel 7:1–8.

Significance in the Wider Context of Scripture

In Revelation, the mark of the beast is portrayed as a counterpart to the seal that God's servants receive on their foreheads (Revelation 7:3, Revelation 14:1–5). A warning to those who receive the mark and worship the beast follows in Revelation 14:9–11. Those who have overcome the beast and its mark appear again in Revelation 15:2 and 20:4. A scene in which foreheads are marked also appears in Ezekiel 9:4.

The number 666 occurs elsewhere as well. The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed 666 talents (1 Kings 10:14), and the descendants of Adonikam who returned from exile numbered 666 (Ezra 2:13). Interpreters differ, however, on whether these passages bear any relation to Revelation.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• Preterist interpretation: Holds that the number refers to a Roman emperor of John's day, particularly Nero. A frequently cited argument is that "Nero Caesar" written in Hebrew letters adds up to 666, while a spelling based on the Latin form yields 616.
• Historicist interpretation: Views the passage as a prophecy of events unfolding across the whole of church history. After the Reformation, some Protestants identified the beast with the papacy, an interpretation the Catholic Church rejects.
• Futurist interpretation: Holds that the number refers to the Antichrist who will appear in the last days and to his system. This view is widely held in dispensationalist eschatology.
• Symbolic interpretation: Takes the number as 6, one short of the perfect number 7, repeated three times. On this view it represents the imperfection of human powers that oppose God.

Irenaeus proposed several names as candidates, yet he wrote that it was safer to await the fulfillment than to identify the name with certainty. The text does not explain what the mark specifically is. Identifying a particular technology or object as the mark of the beast is a later interpretation, not something the text itself states.

In the Korean Church

In Korea, claims that barcodes, credit cards, computers, and similar items are the mark of the beast have circulated at various times. In the 2010s, the claim that implantable electronic chips (the VeriChip) were the mark of the beast reportedly gained popularity in some circles. Theologians and pastors from various denominations criticized such claims for forcing the text onto present-day objects in an overly literal manner.