VICARIUS FILII DEI
666, The Number of the Beast
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 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.
Rev 13:18 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.
Note that according to verse 17, there are three different characteristics that distinguish the beast:
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his mark (of authority)
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his name
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the number of his name (666).
It might be argued by some that 666 must be applied to one man's name, and that this will then help identify him as the antichrist. I would offer the following verse to show that 666 need not apply solely to a man's name:
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
The same Greek word translated as name (onoma: G3686) that appears in Revelation 13:17-18 is also used in chapter 19:16, so clearly the word can also apply to a title, and not just one man's name. Now, we are told that it takes a certain understanding and wisdom to discern just how this number is actually applied. Based on the fact that 666 can apply to a title, below are several words and phrases that have been put forth over the centuries as probable solutions to the enigma of 666.
GREEK
The numeric equivalents of Greek letters can also be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica under "Languages of the World", Table 8.
The ancient Greek word for "the Latin speaking man" is LATEINOS
L = 30 lambda
A = 1 alpha
T = 300 tau
E = 5 epsilon
I = 10 iota
N = 50 nu
O = 70 omicron
S = 200 sigma
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666
DUX CLERI
translated means Captain of the Clergy
D = 500
U = 5
X = 10
C = 100
L = 50
E = no value
R = no value
I = 1
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666
HEBREW
The numeric equivalents of Hebrew letters can be found in the Encyclopedia Britannica under "Languages of the World", Table 50.
ROMIITH
means the Roman Kingdom
R = 200 resh
O = 6 waw (vav)
M = 40 mem
I = 10 yod
I = 10 yod
TH = 400 taw
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666
LetterValue
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
M 1,000
The Pope
The Holy Scripture says:
"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." REVELATION 13:18
The pope "and the number of his name" = 666
It is no secret that the pope has the title "Representative of the Son of God", which is "VICARIUS FILII DEI" in Latin, the official language of the Roman Catholic church. We also know that different Latin letters count as numbers. For example, M=1000, D=500, C=100, L=50, V or U=5, I=1. If we discount the letters with no value, it follows that:
"Representative of the Son of God"
V I C A R I U S F I L I I D E I
5+1+100 + 1 + 5 + 1+50+1+1 + 500 + 1 = 666
Another title which expresses the office and the dignity of the pope is: "LATINUS REX SACERDOS", which means "Latin priest-king". It produces the same result:
"Latin priest-king"
L A T I N U S R E X S A C E R D O S
50 + 1 + 5 + 10 + 100 + 500 = 666
The Vatican consists of 11,100 furnished, luxury rooms, carpeted with 85,000 metres of scarlet and purple coloured carpet (see REVELATION 17:3-5).
"Woe to the people who break the tablets of Sinai .... no bishop and no pope can dispense with the duty of belief, the duty of truthfulness and the other commandments .... whosoever breaks one of the commandments of God, is the same as someone who takes away one of the pillars from a ten-pillar bridge, thereby weakening the whole bridge."
666 and CÆSAR NERO
Some will suggest that the book of Revelation was written only for those living at the time, and that 666 most probably applies to Cæsar Nero, who ruled Rome from 54 to 68 A.D., rather than someone from latter centuries. This point of view, which suggests Revelation had an immediate application to the first century, rather than being prophetic, is known as preterism, and is commonly held by the Catholic Church. So, just how is Nero linked to 666?
The preterist takes a relatively uncommon form of Nero's name, Nero Cæsar or Cæsar Nero, and adds an "n", resulting in Neron Cæsar. Next the Latin is transliterated into Aramaic, resulting in nrwn qsr, which when using the numeric equivalent of the letters, then adds up to 666 as follows:
Nun = 50
Resh =200
Waw =6
Nun = 50
Qoph = 100
Samech = 60
Resh = 200
An example of this spelling has apparently been recently discovered in one of the Dead Sea scrolls. If you use the same process, but without the added "n" the result is 616. Interestingly, some early manuscripts have 616 rather than 666, but even scholars such as Irenæus [A.D. 120-202] attribute the 616 to only a copyist error (Against Heresies: Book V Chapter XXX.), "this number [666] being found in all the most approved and ancient copies" [of the Apocalypse] and asserts that "men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony" [to it - 666].
There is a problem though with the above calculation. According to the rules of Jewish numerology, known as gematria, when the letter Nun appears a second time in a word, it is known as a "Final", and takes the value of 700.* So to be precise, NRWN QSR actually adds up to 1316 and not 666.
*Source: Behind Numerology, by Shirley Blackwell Lawrence, copyright 1989, published by Newcastle Publishing Co., Inc., North Hollywood, California, ISBN 0-87877-145-X, page 41.
So the preterist calculation which attributes 666 to Nero, however, is nothing more than a rather desperate attempt to find some likely candidate for the Antichrist other than the Papacy.