Six hundred and sixty six (666)

People have always been interested in the significance of the number 666, which is mentioned in Revelation 13.18 as ‘the mark of the beast'. The number is probably a type of ancient code called gematria, based on adding up the numerals of someone's name. There were many examples of this in Roman times; this reference seems to be a Christian take on the idea.

Many biblical scholars think that the number 666 refers to the first century Roman emperor Nero, because the code works for that name in Hebrew (and the later alternative in some texts of 616 works in Latin). Some modern fundamentalist Christians, however, believe that 666 refers to a potential microchip or electronic device that all will be forced to use before the end of the world. The concept of the number as a birthmark, or as the sign of the Devil, comes from the 1974 CE film The Omen, rather than the Bible.