Did the number 666 in Revelation come from another culture or religion?
Question:
I have a question concerning “the number of the Beast” which is 666. Does 666 come from somewhere where the author could have copied it in Revelations and used it as the number. To put it simply did it come from any ancient civilization?
Answer:
The answer is no. The number 666 was chosen by John (0r God, depending on how you see it) purely for its symbolic meaning. In Jewish apocalpytic literature the number six Satan’s number. It is the number of imperfection. It is the number of the “world.” It was probably chosen to represent evil because it is one less than seven, which is the number of perfection, symbolically. For the writer of Revelation, the number 666 is used to heighten the sense of the evilness of the beast–Rome! It is like Evil! Evil! Evil! The beast in Revelation is the political and religious power of Rome, which is evil incarnate. That is the message. By the way, there is a common misconception that the number 666 refers to the Antichrist, but this is certainly not true. Antichrist is not even mentioned in Revelation and 666 is not found outside Revelation.
John Oakes
