666 Not So Bad After All, The Number of the Beast is 616
Posted on May 5, 2005
An ancient 1,500-year-old Greek papyrus has been found that contains a Book of Revelation passage that shows 666 is not the "number of the beast." The correct number according to the text is 616.
This papyrus, which was part of the Oxyrhynchus discovery, predates all other existing Revelations documents.
Dr. Aitken told The National Post, "This is very early confirmation of that number, earlier than any other text we've found of that passage. It's probably about 100 years before any other version."
The Wikipedia entry for "Number of the Beast" notes that the ancient Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus also has 616 as the number when translated.
Professor David Parker, Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism and Paleography at the University of Birmingham, told The Independent, that he thinks 616 is the original number. He says, "This is an example of gematria, where numbers are based on the numerical values of letters in people's names. Early Christians would use numbers to hide the identity of people who they were attacking: 616 refers to the Emperor Caligula."
Iron Maiden will have to update their hit song, "Number of The Beast."
