The number of his name

In Revelation 13:16, we see “And he causeth all” to “receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.” The word “mark,” χάραγμα, xáragma ("brand-mark") was originally any impression on a coin or a seal, used by an engraver on a die (stamp, branding iron). The word xáragma later became "the identification-marker" (like with an owner's unique "brand-mark"). I believe that Revelation 13:16, is speaking of the earthly bondage to money. Mammon (n.) "The personification of wealth," mid-14c., from Late Latin mammona, from Greek mamonas, from Aramaic mamona, mamon "riches, gain;" left untranslated in Greek New Testament (e.g. Matthew 6:24, and Luke 16:9-13) retained in the Vulgate, and regarded mistakenly by medieval Christians as the name of a demon. In Matthew 6:24, we see “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” How do we define wealth? Wealth (n.) mid-13c., "happiness," also "prosperity in abundance of possessions or riches," from Middle English wele "well-being.”

We see in Luke 16:9-13, “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. ¹⁰“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. ¹¹“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? ¹²“And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Jesus response to worldly wealth (sin) is found in Revelation 3:17-19, “Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ¹⁸I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore, be zealous and repent.…” The Laodikeiᾳ, or Laodicean, "lukewarm in the Christian religion," 1560s, from Laodicea, Syrian city (modern Latakia) whose early Christians were chastised in the Bible for indifference to their religion [Revelation 3:14-16]. The city is said to be named for the 3c B.C.E. Syrian queen Laodice, the wife of Antiochus II. What Jesus is trying to define for us here is that through abundance “wealth” you because of your sinful disposition will start trusting in that wealth, and not Jesus alone.

In Revelation 13:17, we see “And he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” We see in Ezekiel 9:6, “Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So, they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.” The mark described in Ezekiel 9:6 is God’s mark, and the mark described in Revelation 13:17 is the beast’s mark. In Ezekiel 9:4, “The LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even though the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." So, going back to Revelation 13:17, you will need to take the mark to buy or to sell. This appears to be speaking of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was passed, 7 April 1933, which restricted employment in the civil service to "Aryans." This meant that Jews could not serve as teachers, professors, judges, or other government positions. Jewish government workers, including teachers in public schools and universities, were fired. Doctors followed closely behind. Jews were barred from claiming any rights as war-veterans (35,000 German Jews died in the First World War). In 1935, the Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws, stripping all Jews of their German citizenship, regardless of where they were born. A Jewish quota of 1% was introduced for the number of Jews allowed to attend universities. In the amendment published on April 11 of Part 3 of the law, which stated that all non-Aryans were to be retired from the civil service, clarification was given: "A person is to be considered non-Aryan if he is descended from non-Aryan, and especially from Jewish parents or grandparents. It is sufficient if one parent or grandparent is non-Aryan. This is to be assumed in particular where one parent or grandparent was of the Jewish religion. After the Invasion of Poland in 1939, the Nazis forced Jews into ghettos and completely banned them from public life. But even this was not enough for the Nazis and by 1940, they had turned to genocide, resulting in The Holocaust.

The beast, in this case, is any peoples, culture, nation, or religion that subjugates, and eventually brings the subjugated people into captivity (internment). We see in Revelation 13:10, “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” The word beast in the Greek is thérion "wild animal," diminutive of ther (genitive theros) "wild animal," from PIE root *ghwer- "wild" (see fierce). Fierce (adj.) mid-13c., "proud, noble, bold," from Old French fers, nominative form of fer, fier "strong, overwhelming, violent, fierce, wild; proud, mighty, great, impressive.” People that act contrary to Jesus teachings.

The Oxyrhynchus Papyrus P¹¹⁵, (P.Oxy. 4499), is the oldest identified fragment of the Book of Revelation. This papyrus fragment ascribes the number of the Beast as (chi, iota, stigma (ΧΙϚ) - 616), rather than 666. In Bruce Metzger's book, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible, p.36-37, he lists all the Nomina Sacra text from the Old and New Testament except one – the number of his name.

In an article by Prof. Daniel B. Wallace (Review of prof. Peter M. Head, “Some Recently Published NT Papyri from Oxyrhynchus: An Overview and Preliminary Assessment,” Tyndale Bulletin 51.1) “This early support in Greek, Latin and Syriac indicates a geographical diversity behind this reading. P115 (3rd and 4th century) is now apparently our earliest witness to the AC text of the Apocalypse. This MS includes twenty-six fragments of Revelation, covering portions of chapters 2 through 15. Not only is it an early witness to the AC text (the most important textual strand for the Apocalypse), but it also is the earliest witness to the reading “616” at Rev 13:18.” Wallace again, participating in a presentation at Heights Baptist Church in Liberty, TX. (2013), stated that Oxyrhynchus Papyrus P115, “is a meaningful variant, and a viable variant,” but would take hundreds of hours of research, and even then “we cannot know.” It would take an earlier second-century codex to be found, to prove one way or another.

Although, Irenaeus in the 2nd century identified the number in Vetus Latina to be 616, wrote about it, and conveyed perceived scribal inaccuracies with the text. While he identified the number 616, he did not embrace it and left it out. Several centuries later, when revising the interpretation of Vetus Latina, Jerome decided that 616 wasn’t a scribal error or a variant, and left it in.

The Greek number 616 — chi, iota, stigma (hexakosiai deka hex) is found in the third line of the fragment shown in Figure 1. The variant 616 is found in critical publications of the Greek text, such as the Nestle-Aland editions of Novum Testamentum Graece and other manuscripts, such as Papyrus 115 and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C; Paris, one of the four great uncial codices), reads the number of the beast as 616. Why does it matter what the number is? As we will see it matters greatly. In Revelation 13:18, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six, or six hundred and sixteen. I believe that six hundred and sixteen is the correct number, and I will try and prove my thesis.

In Revelation 20:2, “He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan…” We know from this verse that the “old serpent” is the devil and Satan. Greek etymology of the word diabolos, in Jewish and Christian use, "Devil, Satan" (scriptural loan-translation of Hebrew Satan), in general use "accuser, slanderer," from diaballein "to slander, attack," literally "to throw through," from dia- "across, through" + ballein "to throw.” We know from Ephesians 6:11, (“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil”), that the Devil is the focus of this verse.  Then in Ephesians 6:12 we see from Strong’s that the Greek word, kosmokrátōr (from Strong’s (2889) kósmos, "world" and (2902) kratéō, "to rule") – properly, world-ruler, referring to Satan (demons) influencing the lives of worldly people (used only in Eph 6:12 (“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”)).

First, I don’t believe that the meaning can be found by calculating the number of the beast by using Gematria. Gematria is a Kabbalistic method of interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures by computing the numerical value of words, based on those of their constituent letters. Gematria is extremely subjective, and I don’t think Jesus was a Kabbalist. In fact, I think he would have frowned on its usage. Let’s look at another way of interpreting the number of the beast.

The Greek word êχις (echis) (genitive ἔχεως or ἔχιος) m, sometimes f, third declension, literally means “serpent, snake, adder, viper.” Root “êχις” an adder, viper., συκοφάντης καὶ ἔχις τὴν φύσιν, later Greek ekhidna "snake, viper," from ekhis "snake," from PIE *angwhi- "snake, eel" (cf. Norwegian igle, Old High German egala, German Egel "leech," Latin anguis "serpent, snake").

Ophio- before vowels ophi-, a word-forming element meaning "a snake, serpent," from Greek ophio-, combination form of ophis "serpent, a snake," from PIE *ogwhi-. Traditionally derived from a Proto-Indo-European *h₁égʰi- with cognates including Sanskrit अहि (áhi), Avestan (aži), Arabic (الحارية) and Old Armenian իժ (iž). However, the letter chi (χ) is expected to derive from a palatal consonant (ǵ) and so these terms are now generally connected with ὄφις (ophis), leaving the origins of ἔχις a mystery. But, we learned from Bruce Metzger's book, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible, p.36-37, that one way to use the abbreviated technique of Nomina Sacra is “that draw the reader’s attention.” The abbreviated technique would call the scribe to choose the first two or three characters, and the last to abbreviate the word. This would fulfill that technique when using the Greek word, εχιδνοειδής, meaning “the serpent's mark.”

  [8] Eta         (E),

[6] Chi        (X) 

[1] Iota        (I) 

  [6] Stigma   (Ϛ) 

Eta (n.) 7^th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the East Ionic dialect, however, the sound (h) disappeared by the sixth century BC, and the letter was re-used initially to represent a development of a long vowel (aː), which later merged in East Ionic with (ɛː) instead. In 403 BC, Athens took over the Ionian spelling system and with it the vocalic use of H (even though it still also had the (h) sound itself at that time). This later became the standard orthography in all of Greece. I include the Eta (ɛː), to show that it is used as a diacritical symbol, and doesn’t add or detract from the word ἔχις.

Chi (n.) 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, representing a -kh- sound (see ch). The letter is shaped like an X, and so the Greek letter name was used figuratively to signify such a shape or arrangement (e.g. khiasma "two things placed crosswise;" khiastos "arranged diagonally; marked with an X;" khiazein "to mark with an 'X', to write the letter 'X' "). Some dialects used chi to represent the -ks- sound properly belonging to xi; Latin picked this up and the sound value of chi in Latin-derived alphabets is now that of English X. [Late Greek khῑ, from earlier khei].

Iota/Jot (n.) from Latin jota, variant spelling of Greek iota "the letter -i-," the smallest letter in the alphabet, hence the least part of anything. In Strong’s 2503 iṓta ("jot" or "yōd” in the KJV) – "yōd, the smallest Hebrew (Aramaic) letter" (Souter). By analogy, the Hebrew letter yōd refers to the Greek letter, iōta (the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet).

In Matthew 25:41-46 the word “iota” is used when Jesus proclaimed, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

Stigma (n.) Xáragma (charagma) Strong’s 5480 – properly, an engraving (etching); (figuratively) a mark providing undeniable identification, like a symbol giving irrefutable connection between parties. χάραγμα, χαράσσω any mark engraven or imprinted, χ. ἐχίδνης the serpent's mark, (i. e. its bite, Soph.); τὸ χ. τοῦ θηρίου the mark of the beast, New Testament.; χ. τέχνης carved work, New Testament.; τὸ χ. τοῦ νομίσματος the impress on the coin, Plut.: absolute an inscription, Anth. xa/ragma (n.) "Mark made on skin by burning with a hot iron," from Latin stigma (plural stigmata), from Greek stigma (genitive stigmatos) "mark, puncture," especially one made by a pointed instrument, from root of stizein "to mark, tattoo," from PIE *st(e)ig- (see stick (v.)). Figurative meaning "a mark of disgrace.”

Any mark engraved, imprinted, or branded, χ. εχιδνοειδής, or ἐχίδνης the serpent's mark, i. e. its bite, sting, S.Ph. 267; “ἐν ἰσχίοις μὲν ἵπποι πυρὸς χάραγμ᾽ ἔχουσιν” Anacreont.26 B 2; “ἔχειν τὸ χ. τοῦ θηρίου” Apoc.16.2, cf. 13.16; χ. χειρός, i.e. writing, AP9.401 (Pall.); χαράγματα παμβασιλῆος, of an imperial missive, Epic. in BKT5(1).115: abs., inscription, AP7.220 (Agath.), cf. PLond.5.1688.8 (iv A. D.); stamped document, Sammelb.5275.11 (i A. D.); brand on a camel, PGrenf.2.50（a).5 (ii A. D.); “χ. τέχνης” carved work, Act.Ap.17.29; τὸ χ. τοῦ νομίσματος the impress on the coin, Plu.Lys.16, cf. Ages.15, Jul.Mis.355d (pl.), etc.

While researching the dialect of all language variables of the word serpent I came across the Hebrew word אוֺב, ob: a bottle (made from animal skin), and necromancy (n.) from Greek nekromanteia, from nekros "dead body" + manteia "divination, oracle," from manteuesthai "to prophesy," from mantis "prophet.” Couldn’t help but think of Mohammed.

¹⁶And 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: ¹⁷And 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. ¹⁸Here 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 [ten] and six.

      Revelation 13:16-18

⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴²For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: ⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. ⁴⁴Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? ⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. ⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.  Matthew 25:41-46