"666" |
Ancient Revelations: Papyrology
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
P. Oxy. LVI
4499
(Late Third / Early Fourth Century)
Earliest
known witness to the "Number of the
Beast"
The
number (chi, iota, stigma - hexakosiai deka hex) in third line
-
666
Wrong Number for Prophetic Beast? - WND "This adds weight to those
who believe that it is a reference to Caligula's attempt to desecrate
the Temple in Jerusalem, by having his statue erected there as part of
the cult of emperor worship. "There may be a reference to it in
Mark [13:14], where he refers to the 'the abomination of desolation.'
But this was overlaid by the Neronian persecutions. People believed that
you could get from '666' to Nero because in Greek he is the emperor
Neron Caesar. And 666 is one number less than the perfect 777. The text
[showing 616] is quite legible to the naked eye. It was published in
1999, but it has taken people time to catch up."
-
666 Not So Evil? '616' Revelation Might Bedevil Metalheads - MTV.com
"Both Greek and Hebrew
letters have numeric values that can be added up to arrive at a total.
One common explanation of 666 is that it comes from the numerical value
of "Nero"
transliterated into Hebrew letters. A small change in the
transliteration can result in 616."
-
AntiChrist Discounted - "So sorry to all the "666" tattoo wearers out there ...
its 616 that's the goin' number. Time to head back to the parlor for an update."
(Blog)
-
Revelation! 666 is not the Number of the Beast (It's a devilish
616) - "This is an example of gematria, where numbers are based on
the numerical values of letters in people's names. Early Christians
would use numbers to hide the identity of people who they were
attacking: 616 refers to the Emperor Caligula." | "satanists
responded coolly to the new "Revelation". Peter Gilmore, High Priest of
the Church of Satan, based in New York, said: "By using 666 we're using
something that the Christians fear. Mind you, if they do switch to 616
being the number of the beast then we'll start using that."
-
Papyrus Reveals New Clues to Ancient World - National Geographic News "..the Oxyrhynchus collection holds a lot of information about the rise of Christianity during the Roman period. (Egypt became part of the Roman Empire after Cleopatra's fleet was defeated at the battle of Actium in 31 B.C.). "[Christianity] starts out as a small social phenomenon, then just takes over everything," Obbink said. "You can see other cultural sea changes taking place—changes in taxes, changes in rule. It's all reflected in the papyrus."
-
Classical Holy Grail or Unholy Hype? "So as of right now, the rest of the papyrological community is waiting to hear Dirk Obbink at Oxford either back up for disavow the claims made in the article. At the very best, the Independent's reporters are covering some kind of new imaging breakthrough in an extremely hyperbolic fashion. And at the worst, they're trying to make a major story out of 20-year-old news. " |
-
Brautigan and Oxy - "I'm sure Brautigan wouldn't have wanted his spoof to be treated this seriously, but I like this idea of the fragments, and falling in love with the sound of them, and with the ghost of what was lost. In this case, and in that of the Oxyrhynchus materials, so little remained that the words could be nothing more than tantalizing. With the discovery of more text for things that were incomplete, some of that mystery will disappear, some of the possibilities will be closed off. " |
BBC History
-
666 and Nero
- "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 of the Bible have 616 rather than 666,
but even scholars such as Irenæus attribute the 616 to only a copyist
error.)
666, 616
and NERO
"The textual variant is Latin, and the Latinized version of Nero’s name is
different than the Hebrew, which goes to 666, but the Latinized name goes to
616. The variant probably existed to keep consistent the meaning of Nero as
the Beast. "
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID
Edward Cook
"My copy of Nestle-Aland (27th ed.) at Revelation 13:18 lists for the
variant reading "616" only "C; Ir mss" (the 5th century uncial manuscript C
and some manuscripts cited by Irenaeus). A 3rd or 4th century papyrus
containing this reading would be extremely significant, although probably
not enough to outweigh the many witnesses for "666."
As Bruce Metzger points out in his Textual Commentary on the Greek New
Testament (1971), the numerical value of "666" is derived from the
Hebrew/Aramaic values for the letters comprising the name נרון קסר, "Nero
Caesar" (in Greek Νέρων Καῖσαρ) The variant "616" results from the alternate
spelling נרו קסר.
For those of you unfamiliar with the numerical values of the Hebrew
alphabet, the values in the above name are nun = 50, resh =
200, waw = 6, nun = 50, quph = 100, samekh = 60,
resh = 200. Add 'em up!
The name "Nero Caesar" (נרון קסר) actually appears in a scroll from the
Judean Desert, Murabbaat 18, dated to the "second year of Nero Caesar"
(55/56 CE)." (Ralph
the Sacred River)
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