10 Facts about 666 - The Number of the Devil

 

10 Facts about 666 - The Number of the Devil

The number 666: it scares us all a bit. Because 666, isn't that a devilish number? A number that is eternally connected to Satan, Lucifer, the Antichrist, the evil one, the beast or whatever you call the devil? The fear of the devilish number 666 goes so far that some people do not want a telephone number that ends or starts with 666, that parking spaces with the number 666 are not used and that products with a price of 6, 66 euros are never bought. But where exactly does the number 666 come from? Why does 666 conjure up demonic associations? Read more about the origin and possible meanings of the terrifying number 666.

10. The origin of '666': the Bible

In one of the books of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, the number 666 is associated with the Antichrist. The writer of the book of Revelation, John, speaks in chapter 13, verse 18 about 'the number of the beast': 'Here is wisdom: he that hath understanding reckoneth the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six'. John obviously means the devil by 'the beast', and his number would therefore be 666.

9. 666 and the Roman emperor Nero

Emperor Nero ruled the Roman Empire from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D. with an iron hand. His reign is known as one of the bloodiest in the history of ancient Rome. Nero did not hesitate to kill his own mother, his first wife and probably his second wife too, simply because it suited him. But he is especially notorious for the horrible persecution of the first Christians.

Perhaps the devil number 666 refers to Nero. It is known that John, the writer of the book of Revelation, used the so-called gematria: assigning numbers to words, names and sentences. The number 666 corresponds to the name of Nero in the Hebrew system of gematria. It is quite possible that in the time of John the figure of the cruel emperor Nero was regarded as the devil.

8. Did "666" refer to the entire Roman Empire?

Perhaps it was not only the bloodthirsty emperor Nero that John meant in the book of Revelation. John may also have been referring to the power of Rome, Rome that brutally dominated its conquered peoples. The Romans did not tolerate any criticism of their government. Any beginning of a rebellion against Rome was nipped in the bud. And there was certainly no place for a new religion (Christianity). In antiquity, the number '7' was a symbol of perfection, something 'finished' or 'complete'. By using the number '666' as a symbol of the Roman Empire, i.e. three times the number '6', John perhaps emphasised that the Roman Empire was certainly not 'finished' and that the Roman rulers were anything but perfect.

7. 666' in the Old Testament

Although John in Revelation associates the number 666 with the devil, this is not the first time that 666 appears in the Bible. Also in one of the books of the Old Testament, 1 Kings, 666 is mentioned. In the Old Testament, 666 refers to a certain amount of gold coins. In 1 Kings verse 10 it says: 'Now the weight of the gold that came in for Solomon one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold'. Further in the Bible, gold is associated with immoral things, such as hubris and idolatry. According to some theories, 666 gold coins are a physical sign of the devil.

6. The number 666 in other religions

In Christianity, the number 666 is a symbol of evil. But what about in other religions? For Jehovah's Witnesses there is no doubt: 666 stands for everything that is opposed to the true God. For Jehovah's Witnesses, the number 7 symbolises perfection, whereas three times 6 means absolute imperfection in the eyes of God.

However, there are also religions where 666 represents the exact opposite. In certain currents and mystical ways of thinking in Judaism (Kabbalah), 666 actually stands for the perfection of creation.

5. 666 in the film The Omen

The 1976 horror film 'The Omen', starring Gregory Peck, became a blockbuster. The Omen is about an American ambassador whose adopted son turns out to be the Antichrist. The adopted son, Damien, was born at 6 o'clock on the 6th day of the 6th month. When all sorts of mysterious things happen around the growing child, the stepfather (the American ambassador in London) becomes suspicious. A priest tells him to look for the mark of Satan, 666, on Damien's body. He does indeed find the mark: under Damien's hair the number '6' is written three times. When the stepfather tries to kill Damien, he is shot dead by the police. At the end of the film, Damien is adopted by the American president, so the antichrist continues to grow up around the most powerful man in the world...

It is particularly through the film 'The Omen' that the number 666 became known throughout the world as the mark of the devil. It is also curious that the film 'The Omen' seems to have been booked, read more about it here.

4. 666 and the death of Stanley Kubrick

Some claim that the world-famous film director Stanley Kubrick did not die naturally of a heart attack on 7 March 1999. He was in fact murdered by the Illuminati, a secret society referred to in Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick's murder was planned exactly 666 days before 1 January 2001, in order to link Kubrick to the devil. The year 2001 would of course refer to Kubrick's most famous film '2001: A Space Odyssey'.

Obviously a very far-fetched story, but there are conspiracy theory websites that are completely convinced of this.

3. 666 hidden in the logo of many companies

Because 666 is such a terrifying number, many people see the number of the devil popping up in all kinds of places, images and logos. You sometimes have to look closely, but with a little imagination you can see three sixes in the logos of Walt Disney Pictures, Vodafone, Google Chrome and many other companies. Do these companies all have a connection with the devil? Hard to believe, but some people see a conspiracy in everything.

2. Who is the antichrist?

Many religious groups and sects predict the end of times. The Antichrist usually plays a role in the stories about the downfall of the world. Who exactly the antichrist is and how we can predict his coming is a question that has occupied mankind for many centuries. Someone bearing the mark or number of the devil, i.e. 666, is said to be the antichrist. In the course of history many figures have been claimed to be the antichrist.

This dubious honour was bestowed, for example, on Emperor Nero, Napoleon and Hitler. One can still imagine that these dictators did indeed have demonic traits, but what about Franklin Roosevelt, Barack Obama and Bill Gates? These three figures are also said to be personifications of the devil. Even Barney the Dinosaur, a popular animated character from a successful American children's programme, was associated with the Antichrist...

1. Will microchips cause the end of times?

According to some theories, the 'sign of the beast' means something completely different, namely microchips. How so? Like the microchips that have already been implanted in dogs, cats and many other animals, all humans would eventually (or already) receive implants containing all our personal information. In this way, rulers would be able to perfectly monitor the comings and goings of their subjects and completely control humanity. The reference they see in the Bible is the branding of people with the number '666' as a synonym for the implantation of microchips. Far-fetched, certainly, but we know that it is not the number 666 that is the antichrist, but the high-tech chips that herald the end of time...