666 (number)

In Christianity, 666 is referred to in most manuscripts of chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation of the New Testament as the "number of the beast.

[13][14] The 27th indexed unique prime in decimal features a "666" in the middle of its sequence of digits.

[7] In the Textus Receptus manuscripts of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation (13:17–18) cryptically asserts 666 to be "the man's number" or "the number of a man" (depending on how the text is translated) associated with the Beast, an antagonistic creature that appears briefly about two-thirds into the apocalyptic vision.

of the original Koine Greek use the symbols χξϛ chi xi stigma (or χξϝ with a digamma), while other manuscripts spell out the number in words.

[16] In modern popular culture, 666 has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist or, alternatively, the devil.

Earnest references to the number occur both among apocalypticist Christian groups and in explicitly anti-Christian subcultures.

It is common to see the symbolic role of the integer 666 transferred to the numerical digit sequence 6-6-6.

Some people take the Satanic associations of 666 so seriously that they actively avoid things related to 666 or the digits 6-6-6.

The Number of the Beast is cited as 616 in some early biblical manuscripts, the earliest known instance being in Papyrus 115.