666: The mark, number and name of the beast

We begin with the number of the beast as revealed in Revelation 13:18 of our text: 666. The reason why I begin there in this passage of Scripture is because if we understand the number of the beast, we will be able to understand the mark of the beast and the rest of the text that is before us. The reason why that is true is because Revelation 13:17 makes plain that the mark of the beast and the number of the beast and the name of the beast are essentially the same thing. This is the key to understanding the last half of Revelation 13:1–18.

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:17, KJV, emphasis added.

The word or there does not indicate an alternative option (the mark, or alternatively the number, or alternatively the name), but rather it indicates an explanation. …save he that had the mark, or you could say had the name, or you could say had the number, because they are all essentially the same. The mark is merely the expression of the name of the beast, which name in turn is the number of the beast. Hence, if we understand the number of the beast we understand essentially the mark as well.

That also explains why the text calls us explicitly to understand this number – 666 – in verse 18. This passage of Scripture does not call us to first understand the mark. It does not say, Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding discern the mark of the beast, but rather, Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast (Revelation 13:18). Because by understanding the number you understand the rest.

This number, 666, identifies the beast for us – the beast of the worldwide political kingdom with the Antichrist at its head. It identifies it. After all, the number is also the name of the beast (Revelation 13:17), and names identify. If the Scriptures would only tell us the name of the beast, then we would know for sure who the Antichrist is when he comes. And then we would know for sure when the anti-Christian kingdom is here. Well, Scripture does tell us the name of the beast. It is a number. It is 666. That is the name! What does the number mean then? And how does it help us identify the anti-Christian kingdom in this world?

There have been many fanciful interpretations of 666. One popular attempt to understand it follows the fact that in Greek and in Hebrew the letters are used also for numbers. In English we have certain characters that are for letters, but then we have separate and distinct characters that are for numbers. But the Hebrew and Greek languages use the same characters for letters as well as for numbers. The number one in Greek and the number one in Hebrew is the first letter of the Greek or Hebrew alphabet. So many have taken different names and translated those names into Hebrew or into Greek to see if the numbers that the letters in those names represent add up to 666, thinking that if they can find a name that adds up to 666 they will know who the Antichrist is. It is the person that has that name. So some people have discovered, for example, that if you take not just Nero, but if you take Caesar Nero, the numbers that correspond to those letters in his name add up to 666. So some say Nero was the Antichrist. Or some even say that Nero is going to come back from the dead and be the Antichrist at the end. …There is no end to the speculation if one takes this approach to understanding Scripture.

… Scripture says it takes wisdom and understanding – spiritual gifts! A spiritual understanding that God gives to His people.¹

Cory Griess