Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but was speaking like a dragon. He exercised all the ruling authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. He performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast — that is, his name or his number. This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, and his number is 666. (Revelation 13:11-18 NET)
We’ve seen no end of speculation on what to make of the “666” from this passage. Most people run to the traditions of gematria. From the website My Jewish Learning, we get this definition of gematria:
Gematria is a numerological system by which Hebrew letters correspond to numbers. This system, developed by practitioners of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), derived from Greek influence and became a tool for interpreting biblical texts.
Notice that gematria is not Hebraic, but from the Hellenized Jewish nonsense that brought them the Talmud. It would be familiar to the writers of the New Testament in the same way — as an intellectual practice that is foreign to revelation.
Here’s the main problem: There is no regulating principle for gematria. You can chase it in both directions, reducing letters to numbers, or trying to guess how to make letters come out of the numbers. It’s too easy to monkey around with the results going in either direction because the rules aren’t strict enough to prevent gaming the outcome. How many of us could find a way to make our names in English come out to 666? Most of us.
Notice what the passage in John’s Revelation says: The Beast will rule by making sure everyone bears the ensign/icon of his control. In John’s day, this language refers to operating (the hand) and thinking (the forehead) under allegiance to the Beast. The Hebrew concept of “name” is not at all like it is in English or other western languages. In the Bible, “name” is not a legal identifier, but most often a title or role. God’s “name” represents His authority. To avoid saying His name in vain, Hebrews would refer to ha’shem — literally “the name” to indicate they were talking about Jehovah.
In this sense, a more useful study would be numerology — the symbolism of numbers. The most common example is 7, typically representing something ritually holy (devoted, separated). In the Hebrew language, the phrase “to seven something” means to ritually bind it, to devote it to God. You could be said to “seven yourself” — binding by an oath to God.
While the number 3 is often associated with the Trinity, that’s not where it comes from. It shows up places like Paul’s mention of the “third (level of) Heaven”. The number is structural. It symbolizes how you should expect God to operate, in the sense that, if God did something, it likely will manifest in triples somehow.
You may have seen frequent uses of 40 to represent a time of testing in the sense of preparation. Meanwhile, 3.5 is a time of tribulation under God’s wrath. Note that there are several ways to get to that 3.5 years, counting the days, weeks or months.
The number 12 is “the whole thing”. Any mention of the twelve tribes should be obvious, pointing to the whole nation of Israel in toto. If you see 24 elders in John’s Revelation, it points to the representatives of twelve tribes from two sources, the fullness of Israel and the Gentiles.
In standard numerology, 6 means coming up short of 7. It is the number representing fallen human nature. If you triple 7, it is the structural completion of holiness. To triple 6 means the fullness of what humans can accomplish. Translation grammar for the passage cited above indicates a better rendering of the last verse might be that 666 is the number of mankind as a whole. The Beast will rule as the pinnacle of what man can accomplish outside of the Covenant.
