Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: BINDNER@auvm.auvm.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The Mark of the Beast and the "new world order". Message-ID: Date: 27 Sep 90 07:44:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: The American University - University Computing Center Lines: 23 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu It has also been said by Biblical scholars that 666 was an anagram for Nero, and that the chief purpose behind Revelation was (is) the comfort of oppressed Christians. Has any one else heard this interpretation? Michael [The text says that 666 is a man's name (Rev 13:18), and it's implied that it is obvious to the reader, which suggests that it is a name from the 1st Cent. (or before). The usual explanation is Nero. To get that, you use "Neron Kaisar" (Nero's title in Greek), written in Hebrew script, adding up the traditional values of the letters. Some texts show the number as 616, which is what you'd get writting Nero's Latin title (Nero Caesar) in Hebrew script. A more ingenious theory is Domitian, in the form in which his name appeared on coins. His Greek title was Autokrator Kaisar Dometianos Sebastos Germanikos. If you abbreviate it as A.KAI.DOMET.SEB.GE, you get 666, using Greek values. Given the context, something from coins is very attractive. Unfortunately, the abbreviations used on coins varied, and that exact abbreviation doesn't appear on any of them. There are some other less plausible theories that I'm not going to bother with. This is all taken from G.B. Caird's commentary on Rev. --clh]