The number of the beast, 666, from the Bible’s Book of Revelation has been a cause of fear, fascination, and speculation since ancient times. In modern times, the imagination has truly been given free rein, fueled by books and films.
Over time, many have tried to guess or figure out who or what “the beast” could be. There have often been guesses about the Roman emperor Nero. Or about a later, a contemporary, or a future figure.
But they are all wrong …
The prophet John received his visions on an island in the Greek archipelago – while in his mind he was in a completely different place, namely with his people, the Jews, in Judea. Because in Judea and Jerusalem everything was chaos, his countrymen had fought a war against the Roman occupying power – and lost. The Roman generals Vespasian and his son Titus had besieged Jerusalem for four years, and in the year 70 the city had been captured and the temple burned down. For John this was the end!
Certainly John was a follower of Christ, but he was first and foremost a Jew. In typical prophetic fashion, he interpreted the terrible event with mystical symbolism and desperately tried to understand how what had happened fit into God's plan for Israel.
The following text is from the book ’The King Mystery. Yahweh and the Daughter of Zion’, chapter 42. And of course it is taken out of context. But with a little good will, it can stand alone here. However, read also ‘Introduction and Summary’ for a quick understanding of the book’s interpretation of ancient symbolism and mysticism. The text excerpt from the book reads:
The angel said to John, ”… Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality …” [Revelation 17:1-2]. The ancient prophets had called the Daughter of Zion a prostitute who played the harlot with everyone who passed by. John also used that image. Jerusalem was Yahweh’s wife, who should have been chaste, but who was always an unfaithful prostitute.
In Ezekiel’s days, it was the great power Egypt that she committed adultery with [Ezekiel 16:15-36], but here it was Rome, ”… I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.” [Revelation 17:3]. The animal on which she sat, was the cherubic guardian animal of Rome, the mighty military power of the Roman Empire.
The angel led John, in the spirit, to the woman who was, ”… dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls …” [Revelation 17:4]. John saw that it was written on her forehead, that she was, ”… MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” [Revelation 17:5].
But John prophesied, that the judgment of the great harlot would be severe, ”“The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! …” [Revelation 18:9-10].
The fire and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was interpreted by John in classical prophet fashion as God’s judgment on the sinful city of Jerusalem. John heard an angel say, ”… Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.” [Revelation 14:8].
It is obviously a metaphor when John calls Jerusalem for Babylon. Earlier, he called Jerusalem for Sodom and Egypt [Revelation 11:8].
Many have mistakenly seen “the great harlot” as the city of Rome which, under Emperor Nero, burned a few years before Jerusalem did. Including also the church father Bishop Eusebius (263-339)[1].
But John’s heart was in Jerusalem, Rome was much more peripheral. The harlot on the big red beast was the sin-stained Daughter of Jerusalem, who now approached her doom.
The apostle Peter also used Babylon as a metaphor for Jerusalem. He ends his first letter, ”She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son.” [1 Peter 5:13]. But Peter never came to Babylon, and the ”chosen sister” was, of course, the congregation in Jerusalem.
Moreover, he was not alone in using the expression ”chosen sister” about the congregation in Jerusalem. The apostle John also used it, ”The elder (himself cfk). to the chosen lady and her children …” [2 John 1:1], and at the end of the letter, ”The children of your chosen sister greet you …” [2 John 1:13].
The prophet John tells, with his mystical symbolism, that the beast which destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple was the Roman “military machine”. He writes, that the beast could also be described by a number, ”Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six..” [Revelation 13:18].
Countless attempts have been made since ancient times to figure out who this demonic figure with the number 666 could possibly be[2]. In our day, the number from John’s Revelation has almost taken on a life of its own as a symbol of Satan, the Devil. The myth of the magical and evil number 666 has in modern times been greatly inflated by books and films and has been blown completely out of proportion.
All the writings of the New Testament were originally written in Greek, including the Book of Revelation. The oldest Bible in existence is the Codex Sinaiticus from around the year 350, and it is also in Greek. Here the number 666 corresponds to us writing six hundred and sixty-six or six-hundred-sixty-six, 600-60-6. Also the World English Bible has the number of the beast written as six hundred and sixty six[3].
And that is exactly how John saw it. Because that was how the Roman army, the beast, was constructed. Josephus writes, that General Vespasian’s legions contained 6000 foot soldiers, legionnaires[4].
The Roman army unit, called a legion, changed a lot during the centuries when Rome was a major power factor, and its size and structure are not always transparent to us. It was not trivial, even for the Romans themselves. The Roman author Flavius Vegetius Renatus wrote in the year 390 about the once so magnificent Roman army which was now in decay, ”I shall therefore explain the organization of the ancient legion according to the military constitution. But if the description appear obscure or imperfect, it is not to be imputed to me, but to the difficulty of the subject itself …”[5].
The leadership structure in the army had overall three transverse lines: The top leadership in each legion consisted of 6 tribunes or commanders of a thousand[6], They referred directly to the general (the legatee).
Under them the legion was led by 60 centurions, or leaders of hundred. The smallest unit was led by a decanus, a leader of ten. He was the leader of a tent unit, which consisted of up to ten legionnaires. There were 600 decani. Flavius Vegetius Renatus writes, ”They had also Centurions appointed to each century … and Decani, who commanded ten men …”[7].
The prophet John did hardly have deep insight into Roman military structure. He saw only the broad lines which he used in his own symbolism. But it is undoubtedly in this way that John has reached the number of the beast:
| 6 | tribunes or leaders of thousand. |
| 60 | centurions or leaders of hundred. |
| 600 | decani or leaders of ten. |
| 666 | (600-60-6) was the number of the beast, the Roman army, which had destroyed everything that meant something to John. |