From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!ihnp4!ihuxe!aark
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: 666: The Number of the Beast
Article-I.D.: ihuxe.194
Posted: Thu Jan 27 09:10:53 1983
Received: Sun Jan 30 05:20:34 1983
Reply-To: aark@ihuxe.UUCP (Alan R. Kaminsky)


THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

	The number of the beast, 666, is mentioned at the end of the 13th
chapter of Revelation.  In the 12th and 13th chapters, three "beasts"
are presented:

	1. The dragon.  "Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous
red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads."
(Rev. 12:3)  This dragon is explicitly identified as Satan.  The passage
tells how Satan is defeated and thrown out of heaven onto the earth.

	2. The beast from the sea.  "And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.
He had ten horns and seven heads with ten crowns on his horns, and on
each head a blasphemous name.  This beast I saw resembled a leopard,
but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion.  The
dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."
(Rev. 13:1-2)

	3. The beast from the earth.  "Then I saw another beast, coming out
of the earth.  He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon."
(Rev. 13:11)

	After describing these three beasts, the passage concludes, "This calls
for wisdom.  If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the
beast, for it is man's number.  His number is 666." (Rev. 13:18)  In the
original Greek, the number is expressed as "six hundred and sixty and six."

	In Hebrew numerological thinking, 6 is the number of man and 3 is the
number of God.  The symbolism of 6 repeated 3 times is a human, the
beast, elevating himself to be like God, to accept the worship and wield
the authority that should belong only to God, as the preceding passage
describes.

	Space does not permit me to delve into the incredibly rich symbolism
in this one short passage about the three beasts, let alone the entire
book of Revelation.  The book is worth reading.

Alan R. Kaminsky
Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL
...ihnp4!ihuxe!aark