People always make jokes about the number 666 and how it's evil and such. What is the basis of this?

A [biblical study in 2023]( https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373453174_Biblical_Earth_Age_Anno_Mundi_5923_Second_Coming_of_Christ_in_Glory_Anno_Mundi_6001_and_an_Interpretation_of_the_Number_of_The_Beast_666_in_Revelation_as_the_Year_Anno_Mundi_5994_a_Biblical_Study) proposes an Interpretation of the Number of the Beast as the Anno Mundi 5994 (=9x666) in combination with the assumption of a Second Coming of Jesus Christ in Glory in the year Anno Mundi 6001 (the latter being well known hypothesis in the Talmud -only of course as a first coming of the Messiah- as well as all along the Middle Ages-see also [Year 6000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_6000)) . According to the Bible, the last seven years prior to the Second Coming of Christ in Glory form the [Tribulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Tribulation) , which is also the final (year-)week of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, found in Daniel chapter 9. During the Tribulation the Beast and the Antichrist reign. The year Anno Mundi 5994 (=6001-7) is right at the beginning of the Tribulation period and might be the year in which the Beast/Antichrist rises to power. So my question is: are there some major medieval theologians who interprete the Anno Mundi 5994 as the year in which the beast will rise to power? Using google I found the following old books - [The Coalition of the Beast of the Apocalypse and His Ten Regal Confederates ...](https://books.google.de/books?id=_UFVAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false) - [Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon Aller Wissenschafften und ..., Band 36](https://books.google.de/books?id=VkxXAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA865) - [The Measure of the Circle. Perfected in January, 1845](https://books.google.de/books?id=SIdaAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87) which all associate the number 5994=9x666 with the Number of the Beast, however not exactly the same way with the 2023 study and not as fully developed hypotheses. And I am not quite sure whether the interpretation has been well known and wide spread all along the Middle Ages (just currently not uploaded to google books). So the historians and theologians among us are asked. Thank you.

Rev. 13:18 in, for example, the Douay-Rheims Bible, is given as follows: > Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man: and the number of him is six hundred sixty-six. Many bibles state similarly. However, the LEB and NirV, for examples, do not state "it is the number of a man", but rather, "it is man's number." So, I decided to look for some Greek, but I did not find the *Koine* Greek; instead, I came up upon https://www.logosapostolic.org/interlinear-nt/revelation/13.htm , which, regarding the phrase in question, provides the Greek: > ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου which (site) offers as the English translation: > for *the* number of a man (with italics, they add) In any case, a visit to DeepL translator https://www.deepl.com/translator#el/en/ἀριθμὸς%20γὰρ%20ἀνθρώπου provides the following translation: > number of man QUESTION: (i) Are there any Catholic Bibles which provide "number of man" in Rev. 13:18 instead of "number of a man"; and (ii) Can anyone point me to a site which provides the Book of Revelation in the *Koine* Greek and suggest (with sound reason) which is correct---"number of a man" or "number of man"?

Greetings to the Community. I come seeking advice from those who currently have much more knowledge about theology than probably I will ever have. Yesterday morning I did this with pencil and paper: C => 100 + 0 => 0 V => 5 I => 1 D => 500 1 => 1 9 => 9 _____ Total: 616 It was a simple sum, came out on the first try. I confess that right after doing it I was a little scared by how easy it was (and of course the meaning it has). I mean, occasionally I've come across articles where complicated mathematical operations are performed to reach certain conclusions. This was not the case. The points that I am handling so far: ### The number the beast is not a number in itself but a product of its name: ### > **Revelation 13:17:** so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. > > (Source ) ### The dialectic around the number 616: ### > The new number 616 isn’t new, it’s old, that’s the point. It isn’t one > man’s opinion either, it’s written as such in the two oldest known > versions of the Bible. The Oxyrhynchus papyrus you mention, but > it’s written too in the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus , both as a > number and text - ‘hexakosiai deka hex’ literally translated as six > hundred and sixteen. This latter book is the last of the four uncial > manuscripts of the Greek Bible named after Ephraem the Syrian. > > (Source ) My questions are: - Could "COVID-19" be the name of the beast? - Assuming for a second that the above is true: would the set of facts related to coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) faithfully correspond to the behavior and actions of the beast, described in detail throughout the book Revelations?

The belief that the number of the beast in Revelation, 666, refers to Nero is a common theory now. When was this identification first suggested?

Regarding the passage of Revelation 13:18, which is likely the most proper way to present the Beast's number? - 600+60+6 (six hundred and sixty six) - 6-6-6 (six six six) - 600+10+6 (six hundred and sixteen) - 6-1-6 (six one six)

Is it true there is only one other place in the bible we can find the number 666 ? I read it was related to the amount of the gold king Solomon could gather in one month (or year, I don't remember).