616 or 666?

Andrew

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My Catholic KJV bible has a note that says "Some transcripts use 616" yet my regular KJV bible and I assume the others have no note and just use 666.
Is this not important? Why two very different numbers?
Catholics point to Nero in cryptology number-to-name (can't think of the actual term) that both 616 and 666 add up to.
So according to the vatican the antichrist had already came, but did he fulfill the mark and the talking statue?
It doesn't make sense, so again why two numbers? Same difference?
It's always bugged me.
 

Imalive

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My Catholic KJV bible has a note that says "Some transcripts use 616" yet my regular KJV bible and I assume the others have no note and just use 666.
Is this not important? Why two very different numbers?
Catholics point to Nero in cryptology number-to-name (can't think of the actual term) that both 616 and 666 add up to.
So according to the vatican the antichrist had already came, but did he fulfill the mark and the talking statue?
It doesn't make sense, so again why two numbers? Same difference?
It's always bugged me.

666? For what? I read that king James was a mason.
 

Andrew

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666? For what? I read that king James was a mason.
The Catholic version is the only one that also uses 616 along with 666. Not KJ in general, that bible especially for Catholics and has Catholic notes, not that I have anything against that bible its the first one I read, but I always stumbled when I came across two numbers that one is supposed to calculate. 616 and 666 do add up to Nero, so is that it? John was speaking in his days no? Yet it's quite the fad for evangelicals on tv and online to solve this number, they use 666, why not both?
I personally have my own theory but its more of an 'understanding', revelations is the only book still indecisive among its readers compared to the understood (for sake of conversation) books prior to this great prophesy.

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NewCreation435

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I don't know why it matters. Nobody I know can figure out what the numbers mean anyway.
 

Andrew

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I don't know why it matters. Nobody I know can figure out what the numbers mean anyway.
but two different numbers? It can only point to Nero just as the beast.. I mean the vatican -suggests
[emoji50]

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tango

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The trouble is that trying to retrofit things to numbers leads to all sorts of silly conclusions.

The actor-turned-president Ronald Wilson Reagan was cited as a possible candidate (count the letters in his three names - 6, 6, 6).

Bill Gates was another - if you add up the ASCII values of the letters in his name (WILLIAM HENRY GATES) you apparently get 663 (I was too lazy to verify this). Not to be thwarted by this minor detail, he is actually William Henry Gates III so add the 3 to the 663 and you get, you guessed it, 666.

Microsoft's creation Barney could also be the antichrist. Barney is a cute purple dinosaur. But the Romans, in charge when the Revelation was penned, used the letter V for U, so Barney would be a CVTE PVRPLE DINOSAVR. Lose the letters that aren't Roman numerals and you get CVVLDIV. Rearrange - DCLVVVI. Add them up - you got it - 666.
 

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Josiah

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This article appeared in the October 2013 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 78, No. 10, page 46).



Years ago I worked summers on a farm in Michigan, near a fundamentalist Christian community. I didn’t know much about them other than that you didn’t want to get behind one of their members in a checkout line, because if their total had the number six in it, they would keep buying things until the sixes disappeared. This behavior came from a fear of having anything to do with the number 666, which some Christians have connected to Satan and see as a symbol of evil.

The whole issue goes back to the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, particularly the verse which says, “One who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six” (Rev. 13:18).

One wonders where all the fear about the sinister 666 comes from, because the author provided some pretty good clues about its meaning right in the passage. First, the number is a definite product of a numerical process which an attentive reader—“one who understands”—could arrive at. Second, it stands for a real person, a specific historical figure.

In the biblical world, the number seven stood for wholeness and completeness, so to be called a “666” was an insult implying that you were short of being the real thing. Also, if you take the Greek form of the name of the Emperor Nero, the Roman emperor around the time of Revelation, and write it in Hebrew, the letters, which can also have numeric values, “add up” to—you guessed it—666.

For its original audience, the number symbolized the repressive Roman Empire personified in its “beastly” emperor, which, though it claimed divine authority and had seemingly absolute power, would always be a “six,” never a “seven,” and thus would not prevail in the long run.

Unfortunately some Christians have forgotten the original historical context of the number. Over the centuries many have come to see the numbers and other symbols in the Book of Revelation as a secret code by which they could predict the future or connect the dots between the Bible and the contemporary world to show how God’s apocalyptic plans are unfolding in current events.

This secret-code school of reading Revelation and other biblical prophetic books does get one thing right. The vivid images in the book are symbolic, but symbolic to a particular time and place, not shapeable to whatever someone wants them to mean. Like any passage of scripture, you first have to look at the original meaning. In the case of Revelation, the book was encouraging an embattled Christian community to remain faithful and be wary of conforming too closely to the ways of the hostile world. The number 666 has never had magical powers, good or bad. That’s superstition, not religion.


.



Makes sense to me.... Especially the "short of the real thing" meaning. But I SUSPECT the "Nero as the Pagan, Roman World" part was also intended.




.
 

pinacled

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My Catholic KJV bible has a note that says "Some transcripts use 616" yet my regular KJV bible and I assume the others have no note and just use 666.
Is this not important? Why two very different numbers?
Catholics point to Nero in cryptology number-to-name (can't think of the actual term) that both 616 and 666 add up to.
So according to the vatican the antichrist had already came, but did he fulfill the mark and the talking statue?
It doesn't make sense, so again why two numbers? Same difference?
It's always bugged me.
Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

Sons and Daughters of Yerhushalayim
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the
promise.…

According to the vatican?
As if.....
If someone has told you anything other than what has already been given in the scripture then they have lied to conceal the Truth of the matter. And have done just as was stated about the false shepherds. The gain sayings of Korah serve as a warning. Such rebellion against the House of the Lord and his children of promise will not go well.

The Lawless(Torah less)(man of sin)(son of perdition) the one who comes claiming peace with ill intent and wicked councel. Pay close attention to What our Lord has warned about the serpent, his whore, and two beast. one of the "sea", the other of the "earth"


Only Christ fullfiled the righteousness of the Torah.
 

pinacled

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Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

Sons and Daughters of Yerhushalayim
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the
promise.…

According to the vatican?
As if.....
If someone has told you anything other than what has already been given in the scripture then they have lied to conceal the Truth of the matter. And have done just as was stated about the false shepherds. The gain sayings of Korah serve as a warning. Such rebellion against the House of the Lord and his children of promise will not go well.

The Lawless(Torah less)(man of sin)(son of perdition) the one who comes claiming peace with ill intent and wicked councel. Pay close attention to What our Lord has warned about the serpent, his whore, and two beast. one of the "sea", the other of the "earth"


Only Christ fullfiled the righteousness of the Torah.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

The meek also meaning humble, and earth as being land.

Psalm 37New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 37[a]
Of David.
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

20 But the wicked will perish:
Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be destroyed.

23 The Lord makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.

27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed
;
the offspring of the wicked will perish.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
their feet do not slip.

32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
intent on putting them to death;
33 but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wicked
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

34 Hope in the Lord
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.

37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
a future awaits those who seek peace.[d]
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
there will be no future[e] for the wicked.

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.


Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others.
Keep yourself pure.
Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
 

JRT

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The Koine Greek that Christian scripture was composed in used the Miletus number system not the Roman number system. Like the Roman system, the Miletus system used letters (Greek) to repesent numbers. This system required 27 letters to stand for numbers, Nine letters were used to represent the numbers 1, 2, 3, .... 8, 9; another nine were used for 10, 20, 30, .... 80, 90; nine more were used for 100, 200, 300, ... 800, 900. So the number 666 would consist of the three letters (chi, xi and vau) representing 600 + 60 + 6 not the DCLXVI as it would be in the Roman or Latin system. There has been much conjecture on the precise meaning of the number 666. Much is made of numerology in which words are given mystical meanings by assigning numbers to the letters. Some claim it refers to Caesar Nero (AD54 – 68) who was the first Roman emperor to seriously persecute the Christians while others suggest it was Caesar Domitian (AD81- 96) who was the emperor at the time Revelation was written. Domitian was worse than Nero as far as persecutions were concerned and he was widely believed at the time to have been a reincarnation of Nero. It could hardly represent the Roman Catholic Church or the Papacy since these institutions were centuries from being formalised. It is likely the 666 refers to the Roman Empire in some way. Incidently some people have made much of the three sixes in 666. However, 666 is a place value decimal system with Arabic numerals both of which were centuries in the future. In the Miletus system there was only the one 6. It is also interesting to note that in a few ancient manuscripts the number is 616 not 666.
 

NewCreation435

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but two different numbers? It can only point to Nero just as the beast.. I mean the vatican -suggests
[emoji50]

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Why do you think it is Nero? Nero is going to look like a preschooler compared to the real antichrist.
 

Andrew

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Why do you think it is Nero? Nero is going to look like a preschooler compared to the real antichrist.
Exactly, watch Morgan Freeman on the story of God, he visits the vatican and they briefly discuss the mark of the beast, the spokeswoman tells him that the Holy See accepts that 616 and 666 both add up to Nero the antichrist. Funny how 'the beast' hides her role in revelation by pointing the finger at Nero.

My understanding is simple, check it out...
The mark of the beast is the opposite of having the Mark of God, you cant have both. Is God in your heart and mind/forehead daily? In your works/hands? That's the mark of God! Thank the Lord that we are free from the mark of the beast cause we have already the permanent mark of God!

But here's a video directed to a catholic audience on why Nero can not be the anti-christ. (My gut tells me that they changed early transcripts and put 616 so people could point to Nero when not too long after protestants pointed the finger at the Pope)
https://youtu.be/YWCo4XQjql0

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Andrew

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catholic.com
Excerpt:

Full Question

What is "the mark of the beast"? So many people said that once you receive it your name will be erased from the book of life, but isn't God's mercy and love greater than that?

Answer

[The beast] forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads,*so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name.

Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six*(Rev. 13:16-18).

The Book of Revelation makes great use of symbolic imagery and theological themes. It used the events contemporaneous to its composition to deliver a message about the ultimate triumph of Christ. The beast symbolizes the various Roman emperors who persecuted the early Christians but mainly is a symbol of Caesar Nero (whose name in Hebrew has the numerical value of 666). The so-called "mark of the beast" is presumed by most scholars to allude to the coins of the Roman Empire that bore the image of the emperor.

The Book of Revelation states quite clearly that this mark was forced upon all the people;*there is no mention of it being voluntary. The only thing that Revelation mentions regarding the Book of Life and the beast is that those who choose to worship the beast do not have their names in the Book of Life. However, this is quite distinct from the forced mark of the beast.



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tango

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The Book of Revelation states quite clearly that this mark was forced upon all the people;*there is no mention of it being voluntary. The only thing that Revelation mentions regarding the Book of Life and the beast is that those who choose to worship the beast do not have their names in the Book of Life. However, this is quite distinct from the forced mark of the beast.

The beast forced all to take the mark - it was technically voluntary in that those who refused would simply not be able to buy or sell, and would be put to death if found. In that regard it is still notionally voluntary, just like obeying the law of the land is arguably voluntary - you just go to jail if you decide not to obey.
 

Andrew

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The beast forced all to take the mark - it was technically voluntary in that those who refused would simply not be able to buy or sell, and would be put to death if found. In that regard it is still notionally voluntary, just like obeying the law of the land is arguably voluntary - you just go to jail if you decide not to obey.
That's what I get out of it too.
The whole site is a Catholic q and a.


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