Attempting to Understand 666 in its Context Part I

Few things in scripture have elicited as much speculation and sensationalism as the number 666, identifying the beast in the book of Revelation. Each generation from the first century onward has attempted to identify the man whom the number is supposedly signifying from Hitler to Bill Gates in more modern times. Others have simply brushed it aside in frustration. It is my present opinion that we are able to know exactly who this number refers to, and that we are not to look to the future for his identity, nor even the present, but the past.

As with my other posts on eschatology, I want to start out by saying that the study of such things are not something that should divide fellowship between believers. We can disagree on eschatology in general, and the identification of the number in specific, and not have to question one another’s salvation. This is an intramural debate, and it should be done with grace and love for our fellow Christians. With that, here is the immediate context where we find the cryptic number:

“¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Revelation 13.16-18″

The first few things we must take into account in trying to understand a passage of Scripture are the author, the audience, and the intent in writing. The author identifies himself as John in Revelation 1.1, but there has been debate over who this John is. I will leave that particular debate for another time, and acknowledge that I believe it is the same John, the apostle, who wrote the Gospel which bears his name, as well as the three epistles which also bear the name John. The audience is given to us in 1.4, as well as chapters 2-3: John is writing to seven churches in Asia, which were actual historical churches. The intent of writing is the reason that the author (John) is writing to the audience (first century churches, specifically 7 churches in asia).

The first reason for writing is given in verse 1: John is writing the “revelation of Jesus Christ” which was given to John to “show to His servants the things that must soon take place.” John is writing to reveal, or show, his audience things that were to happen shortly. He is not writing to conceal or make things hard to understand, but to give understanding. Thus, in relation to the issue at hand, we must expect that it would be able to be understood by the original audience. This is an important thing to consider against the wild speculation and sensationalism that we see today. It was also important that the original audience to understand the things therein because John was writing things which was going to “soon take place.” We see this in verse 3, which says “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Those who read, heard, and kept the words John was writing were to be blessed because “the time is near.” Again, there is an urgency for the original audience, because the bulk of John’s writing is discussing contemporary issues, which the original audience was to understand.

Another reason for writing, which is apparent throughout the letter, is to give hope. John was writing to his audience to give them hope during a time of persecution and martyrdom (this is ably defended by many commentaries, and so I will not give space to it here). We know this is a present situation because John says that he is their “partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus” (v 9.). So, in summary, John is writing to several first century churches in order to give them understanding about future events, many if not all which are close at hand to their present situation, and hope in a time of persecution.

The calculation of 666, the number of the man in question in Revelation 13, is then set against this backdrop. In fact, John says, “let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” John is writing so that the number can be figured out (by the first century audience!) who has understanding. As many of you probably know, that letters in the ancient world serve two functions: the letters themselves, and numbers. For this reason, we see many wordplays in the ancient world that yield numerical results. This is readily seen in roman numerals, where I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, etc. John is explicit that the number is representative of the beast’s name, and that the beast is a man. The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anthrwpos) is used, which means “man, human being, person.” From the Pope to Bill Gates, people have figured out ways to get the names of their particular beast in question to equal the number 666 using such number/word games, but I hope that one can now see that within the context mentioned above, this is amusing at best, and woefully ignorant of the context at worst.

Obviously, John is writing so that his original audience can understand the things in his letter, so the person whom 666 signifies must be someone whom they would be able to figure out. Is there anyone who would be contemporary to John and his readers that could fit?

Next: Making sense of the 2 beasts in Revelation 13