Origin and History of the number
666
Where does the number 666 come from? Many
have read of it in the Bible or even heard of it from various
sources, but very few know where it actually comes from
or why the book of Revelation speaks about this number
with such negative connotations. Here is a brief
overview of the history of the number 666, where it comes
from, and why the book of Revelation speaks so negatively
of this number.
The number 666 comes directly from the worship
practices of the city of Babylon about the time of the
Bible prophet Daniel. The people of Babylon worshiped
gods that were associated with the sun, moon, visible
planets of our solar system, and certain of the stars
involved with the practice of astrology. The Babylonians
were the principle developers of astrology, as we know
it today. In
their worship system, they had 37 supreme gods, and one
of these, the god associated with the sun, was supreme
over all the other gods. These people believed that
numbers in some way had power over the gods they worshiped. However,
they had to create numbers that they could assign to the
gods so that they could have power over them. To
do this, they counted their gods and assigned a count number
to each of the 36 lesser supreme gods, and then added up
all of these numbers (from one to 36) and assigned the
sum to the sun god. The first god they counted got
the number one assigned to it, and the second god they
counted got the number two assigned to it, and so on up
to all 36 lesser supreme gods. Now, if you have not
guessed it by now, the sum of the numbers from one to 36
totals 666, which they assigned to the god associated with
the sun. They did the calculation like this:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12
+ 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21 + 22
+ 23 + 24 + 25 + 26 + 27 + 28 + 29 + 30 + 31 + 32
+ 33 + 34 + 35 + 36 =
666
However, they went further. They feared
these gods and worried that one of them might strike them
down sometime, so they made amulets with
a 6 x 6 matrix of the numbers one through 36 on them. Today
we call these numeric matrixes magic squares. The
design of the amulets was to achieve a magic purpose, and
they evidently believed that wearing a particular god's
number would protect one from a specific god striking them
down using his power of magic. Now, the amulets had
to be as powerful as possible, so in order to increase
its power, they arranged these numbers in such a way that
the sum of any given row, column, or diagonal is 111, and
therefore the sum of all six rows or all six columns was
666. This was supposed to provide extra protection,
including from the god associated with the sun, since this
god's sum was present on the amulet.
Below is an example of one such arrangement
of numbers in a 6x6 matrix of numbers. Note that
any given column, row, or diagonal adds up to 111. The
ancient Babylonians wrote these numbers out on a small
clay tablet, and after drying and baking it to make the
writing permanent, they would hang it on a support and
wear it around their neck. As long as they carried
the amulet with them, they thought that the amulet provided
protection.
| 6 | 32 | 3 | 34 | 35 | 1 |
| 7 | 11 | 27 | 28 | 8 | 30 |
| 19 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 23 | 24 |
| 18 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 13 |
| 25 | 29 | 10 | 9 | 26 | 12 |
| 36 | 5 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 31 |
The practice of creating amulets with this
arrangement of numbers as part of astrology appears to
have continued well past the time of Jesus. Archeologists
have found amulets with Latin Inscriptions, so we know
that the Romans were indulging in this practice.
Therefore, the 666 number came about because
of the pagan worship practices of the Babylonians and their
practice of astrology.
If you want more information about this
topic, see some of the links at the bottom of the page. You
may also look for a copy of the book by Roy Allan Anderson
called Unfolding the Revelation, in
which explains this topic in detail. That book is
(or at least has been) published by Pacific Press Publishing
Association of Nampa, Idaho. You likely could find
a copy through one of the major online bookstores such
as Amazon.com. Another book of good information about
this is called the Trail of the Serpent, by
Murl Vance and published by Oriental Watchman Publishing
House of Pune, India. This book is no longer in print;
however, you may find a copy of it by checking out some
of the online book auctions.
Nevertheless, you may ask, why does the
Bible speak about this number in such serious tones? Before
responding to this question, another issue requires an
answer.
What About Manuscript's Of Revelation That
Have The Numbers 606 Or 616?
There are several ancient manuscripts of
Revelation that show numbers such as 616 or 606 instead
of 666. This very likely was due to a scribal error
of some sort that somehow propagated down through additional
copies as the scribe copied the manuscripts This
is especially likely given that the original meaning of
the number 666 was concerned with the numbers magical properties. The
numbers 616 or 606 had no magical meaning of any significance,
so that by itself should inform the reader that these were
due to copy errors. Remember that people copied things
by hand before the invention of the printing press. They
did not have copy machines in those days. If you
wanted, a copy of something, had the money, and could read,
you hired somebody to copy it for you, or you did it yourself. Those
were the only choices available. Of course, if you
did not have the money, there was only one choice then
- you did not get a copy of your own and had to wait until
somebody was willing to read it to you! If they did
not read it to you, then you were simply out of luck.
Why does the book of Revelation Speak against
Babylon and the Number 666?
When the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon (539
B.C,) they came with their own religious practices
and gods, so had no need of the priests of the Babylonian
religious system. Although the Persians were somewhat
sympathetic towards the Babylonian god Marduk and did
accommodate the priests of this god for a while, it appears from
history that eventually they simply fired the whole crew
of priests and installed their own! Sounds like
things that happen in Washington when a new political
party comes into power. What scholars do know is
that eventually the Babylonian priests left Babylon for
a new location, probably because they were out of a job,
though the exact reason why they left Babylon is unclear.
Therefore, these Babylonian priests, being
out of a livelihood (or whatever the real reason was),
began to look for more fertile ground to work. The Babylonian
priests found it in the city of Pergamum, which was a city
in what is now Western Turkey, with no port or major industry
at that time except education. It was a city of the
universities of its day, where students came to learn medicine
and law, and the Babylonian priests added their religious
schooling there after leaving Babylon. There was
also a major library there, with some 200,000 volumes.
Map
of Asia Minor during the time of the Greeks and
Romans.
This is a large map and may take a minute
or two to load. You should be able to find Pergamum
on the northwest end of Asia Minor in an area known as
Mysia just a little to the south across the strait from
a region known as Thrace. If you look carefully,
you should also be able to see the locations of some of
the other cities mentioned as part of the seven churches
in Revelation, such as Ephesus, Thyatira, and Laodicea.
Some of the Babylonian priests went instead
to Egypt, where they taught their religious practices to
the Egyptians. The Egyptians readily picked up these
Babylonian religious concepts and further extended and
developed some of the ideas that are in astrology. They
also picked up the idea of 37 supreme gods from the Babylonians. One
source the author has run into claimed that the Egyptians
saw the numbers 3, 6, and 7 as having magical properties,
and that was one reason they liked the idea of 37 supreme
gods (it had both 3 and 7 in it). By adding up the
numbers 1 to 36, they could reach the magical 666. Also,
they could multiply 37 by 3 or any multiple of it, and
reach magical numbers such as 111, 222, 333, 444, 555,
666 (the product of 3 x 6 x 37), 777, 888, and so on.
Of course, we use the base ten numbering
system, so three and seven do occur in the number 37. Whether
the Babylonians and Egyptians at that time used the same
numbering system is something the author does not know. However,
it seems very unlikely that they used the base ten numbering
system, so they likely would have seen 37 for its apparent
magical properties in being able to generate numbers such
as 111, 222, 666, etc., and not for containing the digits
3 and 7. Therefore, they may have
extended this idea. Historically we know that the
Egyptians developed several ideas that are a part of modern
day astrology. Now, back to what happened at Pergamum.
The teaching of the Babylonian religious
practices by the Babylonian priests and their direct descendants
went on in the city of Pergamum for centuries afterwards. They
taught astrology and making the amulets with the numbers
1 to 36 on them in the special arrangements they commonly
used. They built a large complex as part of their
worship system, which you can view a
model of by clicking
here. This continued until
about the year 133 B.C, at
which time the last king of the Attalid Empire, who had
his capital at Pergamum, died, and in his will, he gave
his kingdom to the Romans. After putting down a small
rebellion, the Romans easily took over the Attalid Empire
by 129
B.C. Then, or sometime relatively soon after
this, the priests who were still teaching the Babylonian
religious practices saw their opportunity and went to Rome. The
Romans often adopted the religious practices of other cultures,
something that went a long way towards helping their empire
survive as long as it did. The Babylonian priests
rightly calculated that the Romans would be very willing
to learn and follow their teachings.
Therefore, Babylonian priests moved to Rome
and set up shop there. Soon all of Rome filled with
their religious teachings and practices. It eventually
became so pervasive that people called Rome the new Babylon. It
is for this reason that many teach that references to Babylon
in Revelation is in fact a code word for Rome. Of
course, some will dispute this, but for more information
see is
Babylon a symbol for Rome?
Eventually, when the Christian Church came
along, the practices and beliefs of the Babylonian religion
followed right into the church. Historians have noted
that at one point it seemed almost the entire city of Rome
converted virtually overnight to Christianity, but what
actually happened is the Babylonian religion was simply
brought into the church and the three supreme gods of the
Babylonian religion were simply renamed as God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Other lesser
gods became saints of the church. The pagan Babylonian
religious practices came into the church right along with
it. This made it easy for the followers of the Babylonian
religion to "convert" to Christianity, but it
certainly was not a genuine conversion. Because of
the movement of pagan religious practices into the Christian
church, Revelation condemns Babylon. Since the practice
of writing out the sum of the numbers one through 36 on
amulets continued and was brought into the church, this
is used to help identify who the beast is - the church
which imported the pagan religion into the church against
God's wishes. God condemns pagan religious practices,
but in spite of that, they brought these practices into
the church anyway.
History supports this. The pagan Babylonian
priests had a chief priest who held the title Pontifex
Maximus (translated to Latin and essentially meant
that he was head pagan priest). You have no doubt
heard of the word "Pontiff" applied to the pope. History
explains where that term comes from. Originally,
the king of the Attalid Empire held the title of Pontiff,
and he passed it on to the Babylonian Priests before he
died and they went to Rome. This title was given
to Julius Caesar in 63 B.C, thereby
making him the supreme priest of the Babylonian Religion
and its gods. (This shows that
the Babylonian priests arrived in Rome before the time
of Julius Caesar or this event could not have happened.) This
meant that the Babylonian religion literally moved into
Rome and took it over, becoming head of the Roman government. This
title passed from emperor to emperor, all of whom served
as chief priest of the Babylonian Religion from then on,
until, in 376 A.D, the Roman
Emperor Gratian became the first since Julius Caesar to
refuse the title Pontifex Maximus. Before Gratian
refused the title Pontifex Maximus, Pope Callistus I passed
a decree, which he called himself the Pontifex Maximus
or the bishop of bishops. To read more about Pope Callistus
I, see Pope
Callistus I from Catholic Encyclopedia Article (219-223
A.D. as Pope). When Pope Callistus I took the title of
Pontifex Maximus this made him head of the Babylonian religion. Here,
you have the man that Catholic Church claims as one of
the early popes. Callistus I was the head of the Christian
Church in Rome, and took the title as head of the pagan
Babylonian Religion and its collection of pagan gods. Therefore,
did the Babylonian Religion move into the Christian Church? History
says most definitely YES.
Some might dispute that Church leaders incorporated
pagan religious practices into the Christian Church of
that time, but even Catholic historians admit to it. Cardinal
Newman, in his Development of Christian Doctrine, pages
272, 273, says that the Church incorporated many pagan
religious practices into the church. Cardinal Newman
claims that the church sanctified them and that made it
safe to bring these practices into the church. Here
is what historians have to say about the influx of Babylonian
religious practices into the Catholic Church, - Go
about 1/4 of the way down the page and look for the section
titled "Ecclesiastical characteristics" While
some of these practices may have been relatively innocuous,
what do you believe God thinks of the less innocuous ones?
Consider that many Catholic Pilgrims every year kiss the
feet of the Roman god Saturn, thinking they are kissing
the image of Peter (see Links below on Historical Pictures
of Christianity). Do you think God approves of this? These
people are kissing the feet of a pagan god idol. God condemns
idolatry, the making of images for worship, and even bowing
down before images as part of an act of worship. Yet many
images are in Catholic Churches and the Church teaches
people to bow down before them. The worshiper may be praying
to someone else while bowing before the image, but the
act of bowing down before the image, regardless of what
or whom one is actually worshipping at the time God condemns
in Exodus 20:5.
Ultimately, this traces back to the Babylonian
religious practices. The Roman Catholic Church does this
in direct violation of the command by God not to do this.
Many do so ignorantly, and God will be fair and just for
these individuals, but God still does not approve bowing
to an image. In ancient Israel, they too brought
pagan practices into their "church" (synagogue),
but in spite of the evident belief among them that this
made these practices safe to bring into the synagogue,
God condemned this practice. Why would it be any
different for the Christian Church today? Has God
changed (consider Malachi 3:6 - For
I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed.)
Who is the supreme authority in this universe,
God or the pope? It appears the Catholic Church thinks
the Pope is because it long ago dropped the commandment
against the making of, or worship of images, from the list
of the Ten Commandments. However, a long time ago
God told Isaiah.
Isa 48:11 For mine own sake,
even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my
name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
Look at that phrase again, "I
will not give my glory unto another". It
seems unlikely this is speaking of the light that surrounds
the presence of God, of that we may be sure. Verses
around this text speak of the great power of God as creator
and his ability to foretell the future, so it strongly
suggests that it is speaking of his power, his authority,
and most of all, his position. The Popes have usurped
that authority and claimed they have the right to interpret
or change the Law of God (see link below about the authority
they have claimed for themselves). When the Catholic
Church claims it has the authority to change the Law
of God, did this give the Church an authority equal with
God? Consider again, about what God says, "I
will not give my glory unto another." Something
we need think about very carefully.
Many individuals in the Catholic Church
are genuine Christians who will be in heaven, but it is
also true that as a religious system, God condemns it because
it is a conglomeration of paganism and Christianity. So,
do not mistake the destiny of the individual member of
that church for the destiny of the system of which they
are a part. They are not necessarily synonymous. God
loves all people everywhere and wants to save everyone,
but not all will choose salvation and will be lost as a
result.
Nevertheless, God is now calling all genuine
Christians out of this system so that they will not have
to suffer the same fate that is going to come to the system
as a whole. The end of this world is near and God
tells us in the Bible that this system, along with all
other forms of evil in this world, is soon to be the subject
of the judgments of God. To prevent the destruction
of good people along with those who do evil, God is calling
those who will follow him to come out of Babylon.
Rev. 18:1-4 And after these
things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having
great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold
of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people,
that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Note that Revelation 17 portrays a woman
that symbolizes Babylon and it says she is the mother of
harlots, which clearly indicates she has daughters. There
are many who believe that a woman in Revelation symbolizes
a church, so this woman of Revelation 17 symbolizes a corrupt
church. The Catholic Church is the only church that
claims it is the mother church, so, the daughters must
be the protestant churches that will corrupt themselves
by joining with Babylon at the end and by doing the same
thing the mother did - commit fornication with the kings
of the earth of this world. Therefore, this call
applies to the protestant churches as well.
The only way to salvation is through Jesus,
for Acts 4:12, says, speaking of Jesus, "Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Note
that Peter, whom the Catholic Church claims was the first
pope, spoke these last words. It also claims the
right to determine salvation for other people. Nevertheless,
here Peter himself declares it is Jesus alone who saves.
The Pope or the church cannot save you. Many
of God's people are in the Catholic and Protestant churches
and He is calling all to return to worshipping him the
way He approves. Look to Jesus and His word (the
Bible) for direction and help for this because He is the
sole source of salvation. He will help you if you
sincerely ask Him and are willing to follow where He leads. Jesus
gave His life for you, so He is very willing to help. Consequently,
you can trust Him to lead you in the right path. Please
choose to follow Him wherever He leads. You will
not be disappointed in the end.
Now, the Bible speaks of the number 666
is very serious tones. Probably the most serious warning
in the Bible is in connection with the mark of the beast
and the number 666 (see Revelation 14). Nevertheless, since
you should now understand what Babylon is, how it is identified
(through its description in the Bible and the number 666),
and know that it is about to be destroyed. You should be
able to understand that God is trying to save the lives
of those caught up in this system by giving a warning of
what is about to happen so that people may get out to safety.
As a result, if God is calling you today, please follow
Him wherever He leads you. You will be glad you followed
Him.
The Links below provide additional information. Please
come back when done!
To see amulets and several arrangements
of the 6 x 6 magic square, click here and
go about 90% of the way towards the bottom of the page.
This is a web page with pictures of the amulets
and the 6 x 6 magic square. This page is part
of a web site showing Historical
Pictures of Christianity. This an excellent
web site that describes how paganism entered the Christian
Church at Rome.
Alexander Hislop's book, The
Two Babylons, documents the movement of paganism
into the Christian Church. You can read it online.
Here
is some of the history of Babylon.
The following chapters from the book, A
Woman Rides the Beast, by Dave Hunt, you can
A
Women Rides the Beast.
A well documented site that describes some
of the Babylonian religious history as it relates to Rome. The
Pope's Seat
A source of rather interesting information
on the city of Pergamum is on the introduction of this
web page. The remainder is a Commentary on the text
in Revelation relating to Pergamum. History
of Pergamum.
Information on the history of how the Babylonian
religion transferred to Rome. Amazing
Discoveries.
Would you like to know more about what the
Papacy has said regarding the powers it has? Papal
Documents!
The number 666 has some interesting mathematical
relations to other numbers that has nothing whatsoever
to do with Revelation and everything to do with mathematics. Number
of the Beast.
