Revelation 13:11-18

Amplified Bible

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹Then I saw ^[a]another beast rising up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon.^(A) ¹²He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence [when the two are together]. And he makes the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³He performs great signs (awe-inspiring acts), even making fire fall from the sky to the earth, right before peoples’ eyes. ¹⁴And he deceives those [unconverted ones] who inhabit the earth [into believing him] because of the signs which he is given [by Satan] to perform in the presence of the [first] beast, telling those who inhabit the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded [fatally] by the sword and has come back to life.^(B) ¹⁵And he is given power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast will even [appear to] speak, and cause those who do not bow down and worship the image of the beast to be put to death.^(C) ¹⁶Also he compels all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead [signifying allegiance to the beast], ¹⁷and that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. ¹⁸Here is wisdom. Let the person who has enough insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the [imperfect] number of a man; ^[b]and his number is ^[c]six hundred and sixty-six.

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Footnotes

Revelation 13:11 See note v 1.
Revelation 13:18 Regardless of the earthly power of the two beasts (the demonically controlled Antichrist/dictator and his false prophet) described in these verses, they and their mentor, Satan, fall far short of the power, perfection, and majesty of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, whose perfection is represented biblically by the number seven.
Revelation 13:18 This is not actually three sixes (or the equivalent in Greek or Hebrew letters), as commonly represented. Such a combination would not be used; and if it were, the sum would then be only eighteen, because in alphabet-based numbering systems like ancient Hebrew and Greek, place values are not used (10’s, 100’s etc.), but the letters are treated more like Roman numerals. What John is most likely indicating is that the letters of the name will add up to 666 (the best Greek manuscripts have the number spelled out), and there could be many different combinations of letters that would do so. Determining the values of the individual letters is another matter. John probably assumed that the name would be Hebrew or Greek, and in Hebrew vowels for the most part are not represented as letters. Further complications arise when names from other nationalities are considered, and are converted for valuation. For example, at various times it has been argued that the name “Nero Caesar” adds up to 666 when transliterated to Hebrew as NRWN QSR (according to the Greek form); but in the Talmud, the name is transliterated as NYRWN QYSR, which totals 686. Also, the original Latin form of the name (without the second “n”), if converted directly to Hebrew, adds up to 616, and a few ancient manuscripts had that number.