Number of the beast , who is illustrated here in an engraved interpretation by
Gustave Doré. In the
Textus Receptus manuscripts of the
New Testament, the
Book of Revelation () cryptically asserts 666 to be "the man's number" or "the number of a man" (depending on how the text is translated) associated with
the Beast, an antagonistic creature that appears briefly about two-thirds into the apocalyptic vision. Some manuscripts of the original
Koine Greek, such as
Editio Regia use the symbols χξϛ
chi xi stigma (or χξϝ with a
digamma), while later translations of the New Testament, such as
Westcott and Hort, spell out the number in words. In modern popular culture, 666 has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the
Antichrist or, alternatively
Satanism. Earnest references to the number occur both among
apocalypticist Christian groups and in explicitly anti-Christian subcultures. References in contemporary Western art or literature are, more likely than not, intentional references to
the Beast symbolism. Such popular references are therefore too numerous to list. It is common to see the symbolic role of the
integer 666 transferred to the
numerical digit sequence 6-6-6. Some people take the Satanic associations of 666 so seriously that they actively avoid things related to 666 or the digits 6-6-6. This is known as
hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. There is a broad consensus in contemporary scholarship that the number of the beast refers to the
Roman emperor Nero, who reigned from 55 to 68 AD. The Greek version of his name (Νέρων Καῖσαρ, "Neron Kaisar") transliterates into Hebrew as נרון קסר (NRON QSR), and, using
gematria, yields a numerical value of 666. His Latin name, "Nero Caesar", transliterated as
נרו קסר (NRO QSR), produces the number
616 instead, which is also cited as the Number of the Beast in some early biblical manuscripts.
Other occurrences • In the
Bible, 666 is the number of
talents of gold
Solomon collected each year (see and ). • In the Bible, 666 is the number of
Adonikam's descendants who return to
Jerusalem and
Judah from the
Babylonian exile (see ). == In other fields ==