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« Does God exist? | Main | Ask me a question! »

666?

Category: Skepticism
Posted on: June 5, 2006 7:21 PM, by PZ Myers

This silly noise about tomorrow being 06/06/06 and therefore tying in to Christian End Times malarkey is all numerological nonsense. There's not going to be anything particularly memorably evil about tomorrow, I suspect.

Except perhaps one little thing.

I'll mention it at 06:06:06am on 06/06/06.

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Umm, didn't experts reveal earlier this year that the number of the Beast was mistranslated hundreds of years ago, and it's actually 616, rather than 666?

I blame Jennifer Stiles.

Posted by: pastormaker | June 5, 2006 7:33 PM

Archaeologists and biblical scholars have known for decades about old manuscript copies of Revelation which say "616" instead of "666" in verse 13:18. I quote from Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible, p. 1213:

To understand this we must realize that down through medieval times it was common to use letters of the alphabet to signify numbers. The Jews, Greeks, and Romans all did this. We are most familiar with the Roman numerals where I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, and M = 1000. It follows that words made up of these letters would also be seen to have a kind of numerical value. [...] This is hard to do in English since only a few letters of the Latin alphabet are assigned numerical values. In the Greek and Hebrew languages, however, every letter was assigned a numerical value. Naturally, then, all words in Greek or Hebrew would have numerical meaning.

Jewish mystics in Greek and Roman times assumed that the inspired words of the Bible had significance numerically as well as literally and spent much time on the analysis of such numbers. This form of endeavor was called "gematria," a corruption of the Greek "geometria" (and our "geometry").

The "number of the beast is an example of such gematria, the only significant example in the Bible. Commentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in the Greek form---Neron---and if his title Caesar is added and if Neron Caesar is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final "n" is left out, the total is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast.

Asimov's Guide to the Bible first came out in 1968, by the way.

Posted by: Blake Stacey | June 5, 2006 7:54 PM

Well, Ann Coulter is releasing her new book Godlessness tomorrow to coincide with 06/06/06. If that's not a sign of the Apocalypse, I don't know what is.

And -- hey! -- for some reason it puts me in mind of the Great Whore of Babylon.

I wonder why?

Posted by: Zeno | June 5, 2006 8:44 PM

Coulter does come up third when I search on "whore of babble on"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22whore+of+babble+on%22&btnG=Search

But I'm still trying to grasp why tomorrow is supposed to be more significant than 6/6/1906, 6/6/1806, etc.

Posted by: PaulC | June 5, 2006 9:19 PM

Umm, didn't experts reveal earlier this year that the number of the Beast was mistranslated hundreds of years ago, and it's actually 616, rather than 666?

666 is so much cooler, with the alliteration thing going on and all.

Well, Ann Coulter is releasing her new book Godlessness tomorrow to coincide with 06/06/06. If that's not a sign of the Apocalypse, I don't know what is.
And -- hey! -- for some reason it puts me in mind of the Great Whore of Babylon.

Things happening tomorrow:

* National holiday of Sweden
* Queensland Day
* South Korean Memorial Day
* National Yo-yo Day - USA

The Antichrist reveled: A championship Yo-yo'er Swedish Queenslander currently living in South Korea.

Posted by: Babbler | June 5, 2006 9:28 PM

I shall welcome June 6th, 2006 with the same vigor and vitality I afford every work day: =|

The marketing ploy for the movie bugs the crap out of me. Not because I'm a devout Christian, but rather it's such a predictable thing. Is it just me, or are like, 1 in 50 movies even vaguely interesting free-time propositions anymore?

This "satanic" movie one is perhaps the worst, most juvenile attempt to get asses on velour devised in about 6 months or so.

Posted by: BlueIndependent | June 5, 2006 9:34 PM

The world isn't ending tomorrow. The world doesn't end until the winter solstice, Dec 21, 2012. At least according to the Mayan, who were a lot better with numbers and math than others.

Posted by: starfall | June 5, 2006 9:37 PM

I'll mention it at 06:06:06am on 06/06/06.

"Central time or Rocky Mountain time?" -Clarence Darrow, Inherit the Wind

Posted by: Bronze Dog | June 5, 2006 9:57 PM

What do BOW you mean tomorrow DOWN ? It is 6/6/06 here in New Zealand already and we AND haven't seen any apocalypse. Granted, the WORSHIP weather is a bit ME chilly, but that's FOOLISH to be expected given MORTALS it's winter.

Posted by: Phoenician in a time of Romans | June 5, 2006 10:08 PM

#10

Let's not forget those other mystical numbers occurring in quick succession, such as 6-6-8, the Neighbour of the Beast, and 6-6-7, the Guy Across the Street From the Beast.

and of course 6-6-6-a (m?), the Tenant of the Beast.

Posted by: Monado | June 5, 2006 10:20 PM

#11

666 refers to the Roman Emperor Nero. People were so afraid of him that they expected him to rise from the dead. I guess that's what supposed to happen tomorrow? (I never did get this 666 phobia.) I hope he brings an umbrella instead of his lyre--it looks like a thunderstorm.

Posted by: Kristine | June 5, 2006 10:28 PM

#12

FYI 668, Neighbour of the Beast was title of an album by Canadian punk group My Dog Popper, released in 1984.

Posted by: tim gueguen | June 5, 2006 10:45 PM

#13

I'm 9 mos pregnant at this point, and plan on going to see The Omen in hopes that I will give birth doing it.

That would be awesome, if only because it would really freak out my mom.

Posted by: plucky punk | June 5, 2006 11:37 PM

#14

Ahhh my number is 0.666.
I'm just a little bit evil.

Posted by: Higheel | June 5, 2006 11:43 PM

#15

I do know that those of us on the east coast get Satanrise 3 hours ahead of those in California.

If the earth splits open and Dick Cheney emerges, I'll post it here immediately so you can all have at least a little warning, to wind up your affairs and such.

Posted by: woofsterNY | June 5, 2006 11:59 PM

#16

Heinlein in one of his books The Number of the Beast says that it is 6 to the 6th power to the 6th power. something like

10314424798490535546171949056

which only means the number of parallel universes there are. The book is something between a parody and an homage to pulp sci-fi novels. We have a ways to go.

Posted by: natural cynic | June 6, 2006 12:37 AM

#17

Well, Ann Coulter is releasing her new book Godlessness tomorrow to coincide with 06/06/06. If that's not a sign of the Apocalypse, I don't know what is.

You gotta love this article on it...

"Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called "gaps" in the theory of evolution are all there is - Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution's proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the "evolving" peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes."

Posted by: Phoenician in a time of Romans | June 6, 2006 12:43 AM

#18

My faculty id number is xxx666, and my parents' phone number is xxx-666-xxxx. Today is MY day! Let me think: flood, tornado, hurricane, or earthquake? Or maybe just give my students a quiz on the book they are currently reading: The Last Temptation of Christ! (No lie. We are watching Scorcese's film adaptation.)

Posted by: Elf Eye | June 6, 2006 1:29 AM

#19

Well, aparts from the 666 thing being all bunk, apparently an earlier piece of parchment has been found that states thet the number is 616. So apparently, 666 has been devalued to 616. lol

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44169

Posted by: beepbeepitsme | June 6, 2006 3:10 AM

#20

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia"

and let's not forget the cebut single 6.66 - One hundredth of the number of the beast by Salmonhater.

Posted by: The Amazing Kim | June 6, 2006 3:29 AM

#21

If this...
"Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called "gaps" in the theory of evolution are all there is - Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution's proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the "evolving" peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes."

Is a genuine quote from the Coulter book, then she is both a liar and a fool.

Posted by: G. Tingey | June 6, 2006 3:54 AM

#22

Is a genuine quote from the Coulter book, then she is both a liar and a fool.

I think she is a succubi high school drop-out.

Posted by: T_U_T | June 6, 2006 4:05 AM

#23

I'm not scared. The one that will REALLY scare me is 13/13/13.

Posted by: CCC | June 6, 2006 4:11 AM

#24

There's also a song called "666-6666, The Number of the Daughter of the Beast" by Corky and the Juice Pigs. Very funny.

Posted by: plucky punk | June 6, 2006 6:38 AM

#25

Look, it's 6/6/2006. Even for numerological nonsense, it's nonsense. A '6/6/06' date occurrs once every 100 years; it's not rare. Wake me up in the year 6666.

Posted by: Mike Nilsen | June 6, 2006 9:49 AM

#26

My favorites are:

vi vi vi: Text Editor of the Beast

333: Eric, the Half-a-Beast

Posted by: Arakasi | June 6, 2006 10:07 AM

#27

If this... [...] ...is a genuine quote from the Coulter book, then she is both a liar and a fool.

No!

Really?

You think?

Posted by: Phoenician in a time of Romans | June 6, 2006 5:20 PM