Number of the Beast
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*Barcodes are reputed to contain 666. Each barcode has three spacer brackets resembling the bars for the number 6.<ref>[http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/rev06.htm Barcodes Equals 666 The Beast!]</ref> Visually they do superficially resemble sixes but the spacer bar and the bar for 6 are slightly different in their positioning vis-a-vis blank spaces surrounding them, so bar code readers do not read them as sixes but as spacer brackets. Somebody designing the Universal Product Code probably had a sense of humor in making the spacer brackets look like sixes and including three of them. Further adding to the paranoia is that bar codes could theoretically be required as a mark on ones hand or forehead (there's even a patent for this, apparently<ref>[http://www.av1611.org/666/patent1.html Patent Issued for Mark]</ref>) without which one cannot buy or sell, but since they aren't really sixes as far as the bar code reader is concerned, and have no conceivable connection to being the "name of the beast" or "the number of a man", this is just silly. | *Barcodes are reputed to contain 666. Each barcode has three spacer brackets resembling the bars for the number 6.<ref>[http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/rev06.htm Barcodes Equals 666 The Beast!]</ref> Visually they do superficially resemble sixes but the spacer bar and the bar for 6 are slightly different in their positioning vis-a-vis blank spaces surrounding them, so bar code readers do not read them as sixes but as spacer brackets. Somebody designing the Universal Product Code probably had a sense of humor in making the spacer brackets look like sixes and including three of them. Further adding to the paranoia is that bar codes could theoretically be required as a mark on ones hand or forehead (there's even a patent for this, apparently<ref>[http://www.av1611.org/666/patent1.html Patent Issued for Mark]</ref>) without which one cannot buy or sell, but since they aren't really sixes as far as the bar code reader is concerned, and have no conceivable connection to being the "name of the beast" or "the number of a man", this is just silly. | ||
*"The Number of the Beast" is also a kickass song by Iron Maiden. | *"The Number of the Beast" is also a kickass song by Iron Maiden. | ||
| − | *In one year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold. <ref> | + | *In one year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold. <ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2010:14&version=KJV 1 Kings 10:14]</ref> |
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 04:45, 20 November 2011
The Number of the Beast refers to a comment in Revelation that is supposedly a mark of evil. It is commonly associated with the Antichrist, especially in popular culture.Traditionally, the Number or Mark of the Beast is 666, however various translations[1] give 616 as the proper number. 616 is, ironically, this is the area code of Grand Rapids, MI - birthplace of Amway.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.[2]
Contents |
666 or 616, and why does it matter?
Most Christians are blissfully unaware that there are no single texts of "The Bible" as "written"[3] just after Jesus's death. Instead, what we have are copies of texts that are themselves translations into Greek and Latin. Commonly, 3 different sources for what most Christians accept as "The Bible".
Two of those sources, the Greek Manuscripts and the Byzantium Manuscripts clearly identify the number as 666 (χξς:). Two Papyrus scraps from untranslated sources state ἑξακόσιοι δέκα ἕξ, hexakosioi deka hex, 616.
And so what? Well, if you are a normal "I go to church now and then but don't really look for a 2nd coming" type of Christian, it's just an interesting fact about the nature of the Bible and how it was translated. If, however, you are trying to predict the End Of The World, or assign Anti-Christhood to particular darker skinned presidents of relevant world power counties, and you believe that the Bible is inerrant, it suddenly matters a lot. All those kids with 666 in their Birth Certificate Numbers might be the wrong kids? We should have been looking at the kid born 50 kids earlier!
Rome
Scholars tend to believe the number refers to Roman Emperor Nero or to a different Roman Emperor. In Hebrew, letters stand for numbers, and the Latin for “Nero Caesar” can correspond to the number 666 in Hebrew, while the Greek for the name of Emperor Caligula can represent the number 616. The Emperor Domitian's name can also fit into the number 666, as can the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Nero died in 68 CE and no worldwide cataclysm followed. The other Roman Emperors and Ronald Reagan died similarly without the world falling apart.
Other sightings
- The prophet Ellen Gould White of the Seventh Day Adventists, using some sleight-of-hand, claimed that the Catholic Church uses "VICARIVS FILII DEI" (Vicar of the Son of God) as the official title of the Pope, and pointed out that the Roman numerals in that title add up to 666. Not to be outdone, the Roman Catholic Church countered that the Roman numerals in ELLEN GOVLD VVHITE also added up to 666,[4] and that the Pope was Vicarius Christi at any rate.
- The Democratic European Union will become the beast of the apocalypse according to some.[5]
- Aleister Crowley is the BEAST of 666 or is connected to the BEAST or something. [6]
- 666 should not be confused with sex sex sex. However, in Latin, 666 would be read as 'sex sex sex', thereby proving that ancient people spoke a better language than you. Also, in the Greek of the original, 666 was written χξϛ — which could, at a stretch, be seen as "sex" spelled backwards. This is very worrying.
- 666 once showed up (albeit in hexadecimal) as a color identification in a template at A Storehouse of Knowledge.[7]
- Barcodes are reputed to contain 666. Each barcode has three spacer brackets resembling the bars for the number 6.[8] Visually they do superficially resemble sixes but the spacer bar and the bar for 6 are slightly different in their positioning vis-a-vis blank spaces surrounding them, so bar code readers do not read them as sixes but as spacer brackets. Somebody designing the Universal Product Code probably had a sense of humor in making the spacer brackets look like sixes and including three of them. Further adding to the paranoia is that bar codes could theoretically be required as a mark on ones hand or forehead (there's even a patent for this, apparently[9]) without which one cannot buy or sell, but since they aren't really sixes as far as the bar code reader is concerned, and have no conceivable connection to being the "name of the beast" or "the number of a man", this is just silly.
- "The Number of the Beast" is also a kickass song by Iron Maiden.
- In one year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold. [10]
See also
External links
- See the Wikipedia article on 616.
- A Fun Collection of Beastly Numbers
- A document claiming a link between the Popes and the Beast
- The Skeptic's Annotated Bible on the BEAST
- The Same Bible Text in Modern English
- The Skeptic's Annotated Bible on the NUMBER of the Beast
- The NUMBER of the Beast in Different Translations
Footnotes
- ↑ The Greek Orthodox Bible, and the Novum Testamentum Graece use 616
- ↑ King James Version
- ↑ The better term would be compiled, but most Christians again assume the authors of each book are one person as named
- ↑ http://www.guam.net/home/wresch/stories/R_Wresch/VicariusFiliiDei.htm
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/GreatBeast.htm
- ↑ http://www.astorehouseofknowledge.info/index.php?title=Template:Tq&curid=2162&diff=18457&oldid=12836
- ↑ Barcodes Equals 666 The Beast!
- ↑ Patent Issued for Mark
- ↑ 1 Kings 10:14
