From: Tony Costa (tmcos@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon Nov 27 2000 - 18:50:55 EST
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Dear Friends,
I just had a quick question regarding the "mark of the beast" in Rev
13:18. I understand that Greek (and Hebrew) do not contain numbers, and thus
the Greeks had to apply numerical value to the letters of the alphabet. Such
of course is the case with Rev 13:18. I noted some MSS actually spell out
the numbers that add up to 666, while others just abbreviate the number 666.
Commentaries usually argue that this was the name of Nero or another Roman
Emperor. MS C has the number 616, which would indicate that the scribe
wanted to have this number add up to the Emperor Gaius (I believe this is
the correct name), but Irenaeus who knew of this variant in the second
century disputed it and maintained the number 666 to be original. It is also
believed that the original autographa of Rev 13:18 may have contained an
actual name of a Roman Emperor (Nero?)whose name added up to 666. Any
comments on this would be appreciated. Many thanks.
Tony Costa <><
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