The number 666 in gematria

Significance in the sources

In the Hebrew Bible, 666 is the weight of gold, in talents, that came to Solomon each year (1 Kings 10:14).

In the New Testament, Revelation 13:18 calls 666 “the number of the beast” and “the number of a man” (Revelation 13:18). Irenaeus, writing in the second century, says it should be reckoned “according to the Greek mode of calculation by the value of the letters”. He also says that some copies had “vitiated the middle number in the name, deducting the amount of fifty from it”, which gives 616. He warns against guessing names to fit the number, since “many names can be found possessing the number mentioned” (Against Heresies 5.30.1).

Modern scholars have often pointed out that “Nero Caesar” written in Hebrew letters, נרון קסר, totals 666, and the spelling without the final nun, נרו קסר, totals 616, matching the variant. That is arithmetic you can check. We do not apply the number to anyone living; as Irenaeus notes, almost any name can be made to fit.