Probably 666 is the best known number in the Bible. The movies, books, and speculations that have sprung from this figure have been many more than the literal number that the famous number represents. The interest in interpreting it is not new; teachers like Irenaeus, who lived in the second century, also grappled with its meaning.
At present there seems to be an obsession with identifying some character in history with the Beast, say Hitler, a Pope, or some political leader. If we simply want to associate 666 with some person or event, the possibilities become endless, from Ronald Reagan to . What does this number actually represent? And what kind of discernment is necessary when John invites us to interpret it?
The mark that John mentions in Revelation 13:11-18, which is “given” on the right hand or on the forehead, is the name or number of the beast without which no one can buy or sell. To understand this mark, we have to first understand what the passage tells us about the beast and its number.
three possible interpretations
Below I want to summarize the possible interpretations for this number.
1) Technology. The most common and striking interpretation has to do with identifying the number with some present or future technology, since the passage explicitly says that whoever does not have the mark cannot buy or sell (Rev. 13:17). How could a global government control who buys or sells if not with some kind of chip, credit card, or barcode?
The main problem with this interpretation is that it lends itself to too much possibility and speculation, and no technology (at least not the one we have today) would explicitly link a person’s faith to the use of that technology. We must also consider how the original readers would have understood such a prophecy. Certainly first century Christians experienced social and economic discrimination by not participating in the guild festivities to the gods of each nation. In those cases, “the mark” they did not have was involvement in pagan festivals.
In fact, the church of Smyrna was already experiencing such a situation (Rev. 2:8-11). It may be that there is a future technological system to identify Christians; however, the clear reality of the passage and applicable to the majority of Christians that have existed is that there is social discrimination against Christians who seek to follow and be faithful to God above all things.
two) Gematria. This is one of the most used but most debated recent interpretations in the Church. At the time when Revelation was written, it was very common for letters to have numerical equivalents, and for every name to have a number as well. The vast majority of interpreters agree that Nero was a figure of the antichrist for the early church. Nero has been one of the clearest examples of evil and anti-Christian political leadership in history. In gematria, the transliteration of the name “Caesar Nero” from Greek to Hebrew results in the number 666. In support of this theory, some later Latin manuscripts of Revelation change the number 666 to 616, which is the equivalent of ” Caesar Nero” in Latin.
For those who interpret the apocalypse in a preterist way, the book was written in the 60s AD. C., and is predicting Nero’s attacks on the first church, which for them were to come. The futurist view sees John looking back in history a few years (having written Revelation around AD 90) to the persecution that triggered the destruction of the temple in AD 70. C., so Nero is rather a historical figure that precedes and points to the last antichrist. All this would be as if John were saying, the last antichrist will be another (and more severe) Nero. For a more detailed explanation on the gematria interpretation of 666, you can listen to .
3) man symbol. Most commentators see more weight in interpreting 666 as a number to be interpreted symbolically. In light of the rest of Revelation, where the numbers have a meaning known to their original readers, it makes sense to understand that 666 represents more than just a commercial and economic mark, or a person’s name. If we take into account that the number 7 is the equivalent of perfection in the Bible, then 6 tripled represents the antichrist’s efforts to imitate God, but always falling short.
And if we want to see it within a broader panorama, 666 not only represents the final beast, but all fallen humanity that has always tried to position itself as its own god and savior but can never achieve it (it is the number “of man”). ”, not “of a man”).
Man was created on the sixth day, and the seventh day—the Sabbath—is the Lord’s day. Kim Riddlebarger says:
“The number 666 is ‘perfectly imperfect’ in contrast to the number of perfection, seven. The number six repeated three times implies endless work without rest. The pattern of creation, for humans, was to work six days and rest on the seventh, as the Creator did. But in this case, those who bear the mark of the beast work endlessly and never enter the expected Sabbath rest.”
The mark of the beast that John speaks of represents the loyalty of his followers. This mark on the right hand or on the forehead is not a literal mark, but the opposite of what we read in Exodus 13: 9, where God commands his people to carry his law on their foreheads and in their hands. The symbolic meaning of this mark is also established by seeing the contrast with the mark of God’s chosen in Revelation 9:4 and the similarity to the blasphemous name on the heads of the beast (Rev. 13:1). The forehead and the hand represent both the conviction of a truth and the actions that reflect that conviction.
conclusion
Satan always imitates God. Throughout the entire book of Revelation, Satan —symbolized by the dragon— and his representatives on Earth (called “beasts”, which are a kind of parody of the Trinity), have performed signs and wonders, including a apparent resurrection. Finally, Satan has his followers marked, just as God has his followers marked. It is my understanding that the meaning of the marks in Revelation reflects the ancient custom of marking slaves as a symbol of having a master, just as Roman soldiers were marked to identify their allegiance and loyalty to the Roman Empire.
All of humanity, from the beginning until now, is divided into two categories: those who are with God and those who are against God. There is no intermediate category. In that sense, the mark of the beast (the number of man), which always wants to be its own God, wants to be independent of God, and which in the end is against God, has always existed. There have also always been antichrists (1 Jn. 2:18-23). As we approach the future tribulation and the manifestation of the final antichrist, this difference will be more clear and marked, and with consequences of global discrimination for the Church of Christ.
I understand that, beyond endless speculations about political and religious figures, and about present and future technologies, we must remember that from the beginning there is a battle against the serpent (Gen. 3:15). All of humanity is divided into two categories (Mt. 25:31-34), and although for a time it may seem that the world is dominated by Satan and his influence, in the end God always wins (Rev. 19:20-21 ; 20: 9-10).
K. Riddlebarger, (Baker), p. 113
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