Number of the Beast
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For other uses, see Number of the Beast (disambiguation).
The Number of the Beast is mentioned in the Book of Revelation of the Christian New Testament and has long been accepted to be 666. In some interpretations of Christian eschatology the "Beast" is believed to refer to an entity controlled by an Antichrist. The number 666 also has many mathematical properties.
Contents [hide]
1 References from the book of Revelation
2 Mentions outside the book of Revelation
3 Interpretations
3.1 666 as a Name or word
3.2 666 as the Mark of Commerce
4 Jewish view
5 Culture and psychology
5.1 Avoiding the number
5.2 In popular culture
5.3 Speculation and trivia
5.3.1 Astrology
5.3.2 Computer-related
6 See also
7 External links
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References from the book of Revelation
Mark of the Beast
Revelation 13:16-18 states:
"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."
Number of the Beast
The Greek manuscripts (actually copies of the prototype were written in Greek, although others argue the originals were written in Hebrew) do not literally render the phrase as six-six-six (three Greek words for six in a row -- εξ εξ εξ) but as χξϛ´ (it is 666 in Greek numerical form) or sometimes six hundred sixty-six (Greek: ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ):
The Greek text of Codex Alexandrinus of the New Testament reads:
Ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν· ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου, ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν· καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ.
Hōde hē sophia estin; ho echōn noun psēphisatō ton arithmon tou thēriou, arithmos gar anthrōpou estin; kai ho arithmos autou hexakosioi hexēkonta hex.
Other manuscripts use the Greek numerical form χξϛ´. It is not clear whether those manuscripts are older or newer than the Codex Alexandrinus.
In the New American Bible, Revelation 13:18 reads:
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 sixty-six.
In the King James Version:
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six.
In the Good News Bible:
This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.
In the Easy-to-Read Version:
A person who has understanding can find the meaning of the animal's number. This requires wisdom. this number is a number of a man. It is 666.
In the Vulgate, or Latin Bible:
Hic sapientia est. Qui habet intellectum, computet numerum bestiae. Numerus enim hominis est, et numerus eius est sescenti sexaginta sex.
In the New International Version Bible, Revelation 13:18 reads:
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
In the New World Translation Bible, Revelation 13:18 reads:
Here is where wisdom comes in: Let the one that has intelligence calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is a man’s number; and its number is six hundred and sixty-six.
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Mentions outside the book of Revelation
The number 666 is also seen in the Old Testament book of II Chronicles; verse 9:13 (KJV) and its parallel in 1Ki 10:14 read:
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold....
The number is also in the genealogy (Ezr 2:13, see also Neh 7:18):
The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty and six.
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Interpretations
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666 as a Name or word
Another interpretation is that 666 is actually some kind of code based on the letters of someone's name or a word. This sparks great public interest since it seems to provide some way to identify the Antichrist. Numerologists like to devise clever ways of assigning numbers to letters so that the letters of a name will add up to this symbolic number. Probably the best-known scheme has A=100, B=101, and so on. With this code, the name "HITLER" adds up to 666. Another commonly cited example is President Ronald Wilson Reagan, where counting the letters of his first, middle, and last name lead to 666. While these ideas are intriguing, they usually require many specific preconditions, like having to start with 100, numbering the surname only, etc. (even though in the former case, you can also number a=1, b=2, and so on and decode his initials 'A' and 'H' as 18, which of course equals 6+6+6.) By adapting the rules however, it is possible to connect most if not all names to the evil number. See also Vicarius Filii Dei. More convincing interpretations invoke more than mathematics to prove their point.
For example, scholars who believe the Book of Revelation refers to real people and events argue that the number represents the value of Nero or Neron Caesar (נרון קסר, Nrwn Qsr*, pronounced "Neron Qesar") in Hebrew letters, which also have numerical values under the form of numerology called Gematria (note that Hebrew is written from right to left):
r s q n w r n
666 = 200 + 60 + 100 + 50 + 6 + 200 + 50
As noted above, some early texts of the Book of Revelation use 616 instead, which would represent the alternative Hebrew spelling נרו קסר, Nrw Qsr (based on the Latin form "Nero Caesar"):
r s q w r n
616 = 200 + 60 + 100 + 6 + 200 + 50
For the representation of the o vowel by the consonant letter waw, see Mater lectionis.
In Roman numerals 666 represents all the numbers from 1 to 500 in descending order, namely D (500) + C (100) + L (50) + X (10) + V (5) + I (1), or DCLXVI. Robert Graves suggests in his study of pagan symbolism The White Goddess that this is an abbreviation for the Latin sentence Domitianus Caesar Legatos Xti Violenter Interfecit, or "The Emperor Domitian violently killed the envoys of Christ".
Another reading in Roman numerals regards DCLXVI as an anagram of DIC LVX, which is then supposed to be an abbreviation of dicit lux, "the light speaks."
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666 as the Mark of Commerce
Versions of Christian eschatology which hold that these prophecies refer to future events, typically hold that the Mark of the Beast is one way in which the antichrist will exercise power over the earth, during the period known as the Tribulation in the book of Revelation. Opinions as to what form it will take are varied. If the "beasts" are in fact symbols of what was or what is to come, then it is also logical that the mark of the beast should be symbolic. The literal interpretation is that it will be the number 666 imprinted on the skin, but conspiracy theorists imagine all sorts of devious possibilities tied in with recent technological developments. The notion that the mark is required for all commerce implies that the mark might actually be a special credit card or that we might have to have our fingerprints scanned into a worldwide database in order to be recognized in business. Or the mark might be some kind of smart chip implanted into the body, such as the Verichip, manufactured by the company Digital Angel (AMEX:DOC). One common theory is that people will be tattooed with a Universal Product Code barcode, which already has 3 sets of "guard bars" which appear to be in the pattern of a 6, which would imply that every current UPC barcode contains the number 666. Thomas Heeter, for instance, holds US Patent #5878155 for invisibly tattooing a UPC barcode on human beings for e-commerce purposes.
However, product barcodes do not actually contain the number 666; the barcode pattern for the number 6 is similar, but not identical, to that which represents the guard bar (the barcode pattern for '6' includes a wide white bar, to the right or left of its pattern depending on where within the bar code the number is located; the guard bars do not have this white bar). In a barcode, the only numbers that are actually scanned are those actually displayed in conventional numbers.
The second problem is that, in the verse that immediately follows - 14:1 - there is a description of the 144,000 who had the name of Jesus and the name of the Father written on their foreheads. Most mainstream Christian interpreters see the 144,000 as a non-literal number of people who represent all of God's people - the church. Yet to many interpreters it seems strange to view the mark of the beast as a literal mark, since it logically means that the 144,000 in 14:1 would have a literal mark of Jesus and the Father upon their foreheads also. Many interpreters view both marks as being symbolic of a person's commitment to either God or the Devil.
The third problem is that if the verse is to be understood in a literalistic sense, then the mark can only be effectual if it is placed upon the right hand or the forehead. If the mark is placed, for example, upon the left hand or the shoulder, then it is no longer considered the mark of the beast.
The fourth problem is that if the mark could be considered a microchip implant, then it no longer functions as a 'mark' since it is invisible. The Greek word charagma (mark) denotes a stamp or an impression upon the skin - i.e. something that is visible to the naked eye and whose function depends upon this visibility. Within the Christian community there are many who argue that the word charagma is based on the word charax, which is said to mean stick into, or, sharpen to a point or palisade (fence); they could also say that charasso on which charax is derived also means sharpen to a point. This would support their notion that a microchip is "stuck into" a person's skin. Such an argument, however, does not appear to be backed up by New Testament scholars. Ulrich Witkins, a contributor to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (vol. 9, page 416), writes the following about charagma:
(it) is an engraved, etched, branded or inscribed "mark" or "sign". Closest to (its) original sense... is the earliest example in Soph. Phil., 267, where (it) denotes the bite of a snake. Elsewhere the term means "inscription"... or anything written..., and especially the impressed or branded "stamp" eg a brand to mark camels.
However, the unabridged Greek-English Lexicon by Liddel & Scott gives "money" as one of the meanings of "charagma".[1]
EDIT: In the Revelations 13:16 of the KJV Bible, the direct quote is as such: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark IN their right hand, or in their foreheads:" Although this doesn't argue the third aforementioned problem, the fourth problem is debunked. The KJV is known for its very literal translation of the Bible.
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Jewish view
The number 666 is considered a mystical and holy number. 6 represents the six directions (up, down, north, south, east, and west). Six is considered God's number (see Names of God in Judaism) since it is the numeric value of Vav. It also refers to creation, since the world was created in 6 days.
Additionally 666 is the numerical value of: "ועתה יגדל-נא כח אדני" ("Ata yigdal na koach Ado-nai", Now, let the power of my Lord grow.) (Numbers 14:17). This was Moshe's prayer invoking Divine Mercy on behalf of the Jewish People.
Source: Ask the rabbi
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Culture and psychology
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Avoiding the number
The number 666 retains a peculiar significance in the culture and psychology of Western societies. Just as many people try to avoid the "unlucky" number 13 (a fear of which is called "triskaidekaphobia"), so people find ways to avoid the "Devil's number", even in contexts that would seem on first sight to be far removed from superstition. The fear of the number 666 is known as "Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia".
For example, when the giant CPU manufacturer Intel introduced the 666 MHz Pentium III in 1999, they chose to market it as the Pentium III 667 on the pretext that, since the actual clock speed was 666.666 MHz, 667 was the more accurate approximation—conveniently ignoring their own usual rounding practice: as examples, consider the earlier 66.666 MHz 486-66, the 466.666 MHz Celeron 466, or the later 866.666 MHz Pentium III 866.
In another instance, U.S. Highway 666, "the Highway of the Beast," was renumbered in 2003 after controversy over the supposed reference to the Biblical beast. See [2].
There is an urban legend that an order was made at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant for a 666 by 666 (a cheeseburger with 666 patties and an equal number of cheese slices) but the customer instead received a 667 by 667 (that is, with an extra patty and cheese slice.)
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In popular culture
The Left Behind series uses various representations of 666 to identify people who have pledged allegiance to the Antichrist. For example, Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia ordered the number 216 (6 x 6 x 6) for his office suite, for the aircraft model of Global Community One, and for the loyalty mark region number for the United Carpathian States. His relative, Viv(ian) Ivins, has a "666" name, since VI VI VI is Roman for three individual 6s.
In the short film The Backpack, 666 is used as the lock combination to contain the evils of the backpack.
Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange visually represented Alex (Malcolm McDowell) as the Beast during a scene where he is accosted by two police officers who are identified as 665 and 667.
Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" features a briefcase that is opened by the passcode 666. The retrieval of the briefcase is one of the major plots of the movie and belongs to Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), who is portrayed as a soulless, evil man.
SLC Punk contains a scene in which the main character reveals the number "666" tattooed on his buttocks to a pair of fundamentalist Christians conversing about the end of times.
End of Days, directed by Peter Hyams, supposes as a plot point that the number represented in Revelation was actually seen upside down in a dream and should have actually been 999. This ignores the reality that Hindu-Arabic numerals were probably not invented until ca. 400 AD, and only reached the Middle East by 670 AD, whereas Revelation is considered to have been written in the first century AD.
The Omen and its sequels (a series of horror films about the Antichrist) have the Mark Of The Beast found under the hair as an apparent birthmark on the scalp of the character Damien Thorn. The 666 was explained to mean the Unholy Trinity: The Devil, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. The movie was released on 6 June 1976—the sixth day of the sixth month, that is. A remake of The Omen will be released on the 6th of June, 2006 - the 6th of the 6th, 06.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose, directed by Scott Derrickson, has many references to the number "666". Emily, who is supposedly possessed by demons, counts to six several times, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, SIX!!!!". The demons inside her claim that they dwelled also within "Nero" who is presumed to be Nero Caesar.
Pi, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is about a character that is faced with a choice to sell his mathematical mind to Wall Street or to a group of Hasidic Jews, illustrating themes of materialism, numerology, and mysticism. With his elaborate home computer setup and complex algorithm the protagonist deciphers a predictable pattern in the stock market, and the computer spits out a 216 digit number each time before the system crashes, in recurring epiphanic moments of Icarus-like masochism. As the character falls into madness and before he gives himself trepanation, he says again and again "it's not the number; it's what's inside the number." 216 is the cube of 6, or 216 = 6*6*6. The golden ratio is discussed in the movie. The golden ratio's graphical representation is a spiral spun over time with a growing radius, similar to the appearance of the number 6, if the ratio's curve is represented in a single segmented curl.
The Phantom of the Opera musical, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opens with an auction, in which the lot number of the restored chandelier is 666.
The Heretic Anthem, by hard rock band, Slipknot, features the lyric "If you are 555, then I am 666." In this case, 555 refers to man as 777 refers to God. It is not meant to be satanic but a denial of being a part of mankind.
While the association is not clearly Satanic in nature, and usually is not construed to promote Satanism, a reference to the number "666" may be the cause for the controversial assignment of the "Parental Advisory" designation to the HIM album Razorblade Romance, generally considered innocuous as it contains no profanity or sexually explicit language yet contains a song called "Your Sweet 666".
In Robert A. Heinlein's book Number of the Beast, "666" is actually six to the sixth to the sixth power, which in the novel is the number of possible dimensions/universes that may be reached in one step using the main inventor's device.
The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden has made an album titled The Number of the Beast. The title track quotes from the Bible and the lyrics refer to "six six six - the number of the beast". Flotsam and Jetsam made a song called "6 Six VI". The Australian black metal band Deströyer 666 also used Satanic imagery and lyrics, though in somewhat of a tongue-and-cheek way. Entombed have made an album called DCLXVI - To ride straight and speak the Truth (DCLXVI is the Roman numeral for 666).
The Greek progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child made a concept album 666 based on the Book of Revelation.
The band Saviour Machine's Legend trilogy, based on end-time Biblical prophecy, contains numerous references to the Number of the Beast in both lyrics and background vocals (such as readings from the Bible). The fifth track on the album Legend Part II is specifically named "Mark of the Beast."
ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Yahoo! give the Slovakian-born ice hockey player Miroslav Šatan the ID number of 666 in their databases, likely as a joke about his last name, which is similar to Satan.
The relatively popular, and controversial Xenosaga video game series thus far features three characters named Albedo, Rubedo (Jr.), and Nigredo (Gaignun), and as U.R.T.V. are the 667th, 666th, and 669th clones of Dmitri Yuriev respectively.
It is often quipped that 667 is "the Neighbour of the Beast" although this is possibly country-dependent as 668 (and 664) would be next property on the same side of the street in most, but not all, countries (assuming that the neighbours referred to are next-door neighbours). There are also at least two filk songs on this topic. Additional quips suggest that 1-888-666-6666 is "the Toll-Free Number of the Beast", $665.99 is "the Retail Price of the Beast", 00666 is "the ZIP Code of the Beast", 0.666 is "the Number of the Millibeast", Route 666 is "the highway of the Beast", 6.5013 is "the natural logarithm of the Beast", 333 is a devil doing a half-hearted job, the root of all evil being √666 = 25.8068, etc
Canadian comedic band Corky and the Juice Pigs has a song, on its eponymous 1993 album, titled "666-6666". The song is about dating the devil's daughter, with the main lyric being "666-6666... that's the [phone] number of the daughter of the beast."
6.66, One Hundredth of the Number of the Beast is the name of the only song by the fictional Australian rock band Salmon Hater. Adam Spencer and Wil Anderson, then hosts of the Triple J [3] radio breakfast show, invented the band as a joke one morning. A fan of the show soon composed this song for the pretend band, and a video clip was also made later. Now with the speculation that the number 616 is the real number of the beast, it has come to light that 616 used to be the country number and area code of Canberra, the Capital of Australia, and home to the nation's Government. However the area code was changed from 6 to 2 in 1997. 666 AM is the frequency for ABC local radio in Canberra. Comedian Andrew Denton once noted on The Money or the Gun that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's contact address (GPO Box 9994), when turned upside down read "666... and some kind of upside-down cross."
The third and final book in the Before They Were Left Behind series is scheduled to be released on June 6, 2006, or the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year.
June 6 is also the day that Saint Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers was dead.
In The Pixies song "Monkey Gone To Heaven" the lyrics state that "If man is 5...then the devil is 6...then God is 7" suggesting that man is represented as 555, the devil as 666, and God as 777.
In the role-playing game In Nomine, rolling three dice in one go and getting a six on each one produces a result that is favourable for a demon character and detrimental to an angel character. Some Christian organizations and persons who viewed Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy RPGs as harmful games (see RPG controversy) objected to any rules where rolling 6+6+6=18 on three six-sided dice lead to the most beneficial results. (For example, classic D&D uses 3d6 for rolling ability scores, and 18 is the best possible score.)
In the video game Quake, the pentagram of protection powerup gives the player 666 armor while it is active.
The video game Max Payne refers to the number 665, used as the code for an electronic lock, as "the neighbour of the beast". In the sequel, Max Payne 2, a door is opened by the combination 667, being the other neighbour of the beast.
-2·Sin(666°) evaluates to (√5 + 1)/2 which is the Golden Ratio.
New Zealand pizza company Hell Pizza plays on the number of the beast for its phone number, which is then followed by a 111, which is the emergency phone number in New Zealand. It is commonly quipped that the number means "go to hell for an emergency."
In John Carpenter's Escape From L.A., the code that will shut down the world's power and in the end civilization is "666".
In Kingdom of Loathing, an item called the 668 scroll summons the Neighbor of the Beast (see above), who then grants the player a random boon or bane (for example, it might give or take money or experience, among other effects)
In The Simpsons episode, Treehouse of Horror VIII,A FOX censor says that the episode is supposed to be rated TV-G. But a hand with a sword appears on the TV-G rating icon stabbing the censor repeatedly changing the TV-G rating to TV-PG, then TV-14, then TV-M, then TV-21, and then TV-666. TV-21 and TV-666 are not real TV ratings.
The film The Doom Generation has a running gag about the cost of everything purchased in the film adding up to $6.66.
In Mike Leigh's film Naked, the character Johnny goes on an extended rant about the ubiquitous barcode being the Mark of the Beast (since it contains a 6-6-6 pattern).
In the role-playing game Deus Ex, in Castle Clinton at the start of the Battery Park level, there is an electronic keypad to open the door. The keypad number is 666.
In Season Two of Futurama, The Honking Bender is alarmed to see the binary code 0101100101 in a mirror (resulting in 1010011010). 1010011010 is the binary representation of 666.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The American TV series 'Seven Days' is about a government-based team who can go back in time by one week only. In the episode 'Revelation' they encounter a man claiming to be their successor from seven years in the future. This distant time-traveler (Major Michael McGrath, played by Robert Picardo), has a time-traveler's barcode tattooed in his arm -- the number 666. McGrath has come to assassinate an outspoken Muslim peace activist in an effort to spark World War 3.
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Speculation and trivia
Former U.S. president Ronald Wilson Reagan had six letters in his first, middle, and last name. He also lived in Bel-Air California, in house number 666 on his block, until wife Nancy Reagan had it changed to 668. Some Rastafarians and others believed he was the Beast.
Other Christian groups led by Herb Peters and Constance E. Cumbey point the finger at Javier Solana. Coincidentally, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran was often reported as referring to the U.S. under President Reagan as "the Great Satan". Actually this was a (perhaps deliberate) mistranslation. The Farsi word used could mean either enemy or Satan. All enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran were therefore "Satan's", America being the greatest.
Nelson Mandela's Robben Island prisoner number was 46664.
Javier Solana was appointed High Representative of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, by joint action number 666 by the European Council.
The first Apple Computer, the Apple I was sold for $666.66.
The film The Exorcist, dealing with diabolical possession, was edited at 666th Fifth Avenue.
The numbers on a roulette table (1 to 36) sum to 666.
Stanley Kubrick (director of 2001: A Space Odyssey) died 666 days before January 1, 2001.
0.666 is approximately two-thirds of one whole, one short of all three thirds. Because three is the number of the trinity, it may be that the number is meant to represent being in communion with God only in the mind and spirit (but not the body). A recurring theme in most Christian Bible versions of the latter chapters of Revelation is Satan's attacks upon the human body.
A widespread conspiracy theory concerns the EAN or UPC bar codes, instituted in 1974, and found on most consumer products. The "control codes" in the left, middle, and right of the code appear on initial inspection to represent the number "6". Because of this, all EAN/UPC codes (so the theory goes) contain the number 666. One interpretation of the Book of Revelation indicates that the Number of the Beast is required for all business transactions — a role that the EAN/UPC code certainly fits. Also the inventor of the UPC code, George J. Laurer, has six letters in his first, middle, and last name [4], and, as of 2004, exactly 666 prefixes (out of possible 1000) are assigned in the EAN-13 namespace [5]. (Unfortunately, the control codes only appear to represent the number six if one is unaware that both the black bars and the spaces in between them are used to encode information.)
The "three sixes" of the BankcardThe Australian Bankcard symbol has been said to represent three sixes, superimposed (yellow over orange over red).
The anti-impotence drug Viagra has a molecular weight of 666.7 g/mol.
All Garda (police) station phone numbers in Dublin, Ireland start with 666. [6]
The A666 is a main road from Pendlebury to Langho in England. In the 1980's that prompted CB radio users to codename it "The Devil's Highway".
In the Dutch translation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel Angels and Demons (translated title Het Bernini Mysterie), the discussion of 666 is on page 333. 333 is 666 divided by 2. The numbers 2 and 5 have special significance to the Illuminati, a group that is pivotal to the novel's plot.
In Marvel Comics, parallel universes are represented by numbers. The main Marvel Universe (which is also supposed to be the same universe as ours) is known as Universe 616.
The bassist of the animated band Gorillaz, Murdoc Niccals, was born June 6th, 1966 (jokingly referring to his membership in the Church of Satan).
In Japan, the yen comes in coins of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500. If you have one of each coin, you have 666 yen.
The code for the mysterious briefcase in Pulp Fiction is 666.
Many phone numbers in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Hernando County, Florida, and Houston, Texas begin with "666."
In Canada, dialing the seven-digit number "666-6666" with the area code of "604" will give you a non-working branch of the Canadian government.
In Mexico, local phone numbers were updated from an 8-digit format with variable-length area code/number combinations to a standard 12-digit fixed combination (3-digit area codes, 7-digit phone numbers except for Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.) The City of Tijuana ended up with area code 666, but after various protests from the local townspeople it was changed to 664. Ironically, because of high drug-related crime rate, the city is known as the Mexican Sin City'.
One of the ZIP Codes for Topeka, KS is 66606. The ZIP Codes in the Topeka area starts with 666.
The popular Japanese manga and anime Galaxy Express 999, created by Leiji Matsumoto, which is rife with symbolism, involves a space-fairing train with the numbers 999 emblazoned on its front. This may be interpreted as being the number 666 turned upside down. In the story, the hero, Tetsuro Hoshino, travels on the space train to the planet Andromeda(which is manmade) to obtain a mechanical body to get vengeance upon the cyborg who murdered his mother.
In one formula, where A=100, B=101, etc., until Z=125, the name Hitler adds up to 666 when the values of each letter are added. It was apparently speculated thusly that Adolf Hitler was the antichrist.
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Astrology
On 06/06/06 (June 6, 2006) the sun will be between the horns of Zodiac sign Taurus.
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Computer-related
The octal number 666 is used in setting up authorizations in the Unix Operating System. It offers read and write access to all users, and is only limited by the permissions of directories above or different permission schemes, e.g. ACLs. This matches the Revelation ('13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the Mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ') in that this could be a way to allow or disallow people to buy anything (the Mark of the Beast as a personal body mark easily readable by automated cashiers in a cashless society).
This also leads to speculations that software manufacturer Microsoft, and its founder, Bill Gates, are evil [7], as Bill Gates, evaluated in ASCII, sums up to 663, which, when added with 3 (his complete name is William Henry Gates III,) becomes 666. Counting the space as one, Windows 95 also sums to 666.
The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is "waw" (or "vav"). This is the closest approximation of the English letter "w". Also in the Hollerith Card (sometimes called an IBM Punch-Card) a zero zone punch and a six numeric punch in a column signified the letter W. Thus the ubiquitous acronym "www" could be the Number of the Beast. Also, the number 6 in Roman numerals is represented as VI. 666 = VIVIVI, and it has been suggested that visions from the past mistook WWW for it (In the time revelations was written, U, represented as V, had the sounds U and W, which lends this support).
A known one-liner refers to the editor vi: VIVIVI, the Editor of the Beast.
The internet access provider firm Demon Internet http://www.demon.net/ has many telephone numbers (voice, and computer dialup) that contain 666, and sometimes sequences of three copies of other digits.
Another speculation is that computer=666. If we encode the English alphabet where every letter is a multiple of 6: a=6, b=12, c=18, ..., z=156 then we have "computer" = 666 = (3*6)+(15*6)+(13*6)+(16*6)+(21*6)+(20*6)+(5*6)+(18*6). Since "beasts" such as oxen, horses and donkeys were used as machines in ancient times, one can infer “beast” in modern times meaning "machine" or "computer". Since computers were developed by English speaking people it is plausible that the numerical decoding should be via English, such that one interprets “leading the development” as “riding the head of the beast”.
TCP/IP port 666 is officially registered to ID Software, the publishers of the Doom series of games, for multiplayer game communication across a network; this is obviously a gimmick. Port 616 is officially registered to SCO System Administration Server, much to the amusement of SCO's critics.
The video game Ultima 8: Pagan by Origin Systems, Inc uses obsidian coins as currency that can be grouped together up to the number of 666. Extra coins are separated to form a new pile. The game features several other paganistic elements and as such this is most likely an attempt at humor.
Version 0.32 of the DOS Sega Genesis emulator Genecyst has an executable (GENECYST.EXE) size of 666,666 bytes.
The size of Google's Web API Developer's Kit is 666k.
Python for Asterisk (VoIP) contains a file agi.py which uses 666 as the value of the variable 'agi_extension'.
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666 (number)
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For other uses of 666 see 666 (disambiguation)
List of numbers — Integers
<< 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 >>
666
Cardinal Six hundred and sixty-six
Ordinal 666th
Factorization
Roman numeral DCLXVI
Binary 1010011010
Hexadecimal 29A
Base32 KQ
Base36 II
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In mathematics
666 is an abundant number. It is the sum of the squares of the first seven prime numbers.
Since 36 is both square and triangular, 666 is the sixth number of the form n2(n2 + 1) / 2 (triangular squares) and the eighth number of the form n(n + 1)(n2 + n + 2) / 8 (doubly triangular numbers.)
There is no number whose value of Euler's totient function φ is 666, making it a nontotient.
The harmonic mean of the digits of 666 is an integer: 3/(1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6) = 6. 666 is the 54th number with this property.
In base 10, 666 is a palindromic number, a repdigit and a Smith number. A prime reciprocal magic square based on 1/149 in base 10 has a magic total of 666.
The Roman numeral representation of the number 666 (DCLXVI) uses once each the Roman numeral symbols with values under 1,000, and they occur in exact reverse order of their respective values (D = 500, C = 100, L = 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1).
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In other fields
666 is commonly known as the Number of the Beast in the Book of Revelation.
666 is also the value of the kilohertz frequency of the Bodenseesender, a big AM radio station in South Germany, which is receivable at night in all of Europe. It is also the frequency of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Canberra station.
In the United States, 666 is a brand name of cough syrup.
666 is the port number used by the game Doom (by id Software) when playing against another player via TCP.
In Unix and similar operating systems, a file permission of 666 (which is not uncommon) grants all users read and write permissions on the file.
Using the web coding language CSS, one may attribute a dark gray color to any web page object using the shorthand hexadecimal format: #666.
666 is the sum of all the numbers on a typical roulette wheel. (A typical roulette wheel is numbered from 1 to 36, with one (in Europe) or two (in North America) zeroes. See the point on triangular numbers, above.)
CSX Transportation currently has a GE AC6000CW with the number 666 and some of the crews hate that unit.
666 is a nickname for Benzene Hexachloride, a powerful insecticide and pediculicide. Its chemical formula is C6H6Cl6.
Similar to the Roman numeral occurrence, combining one of each of Japan's coin currency yields 666 (500, 100, 50, 10, 5, 1)
Apple's first computer, the Apple I, was priced at $666.66.
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Categories: Integers | Famous numbers