Comments

  1. says

    Umm, didn’t experts reveal earlier this year that the number of the Beast was mistranslated hundreds of years ago, and it’s actually 616, rather than 666?

    I blame Jennifer Stiles.

  2. says

    Archaeologists and biblical scholars have known for decades about old manuscript copies of Revelation which say “616” instead of “666” in verse 13:18. I quote from Isaac Asimov’s Guide to the Bible, p. 1213:

    To understand this we must realize that down through medieval times it was common to use letters of the alphabet to signify numbers. The Jews, Greeks, and Romans all did this. We are most familiar with the Roman numerals where I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, and M = 1000. It follows that words made up of these letters would also be seen to have a kind of numerical value. […] This is hard to do in English since only a few letters of the Latin alphabet are assigned numerical values. In the Greek and Hebrew languages, however, every letter was assigned a numerical value. Naturally, then, all words in Greek or Hebrew would have numerical meaning.

    Jewish mystics in Greek and Roman times assumed that the inspired words of the Bible had significance numerically as well as literally and spent much time on the analysis of such numbers. This form of endeavor was called “gematria,” a corruption of the Greek “geometria” (and our “geometry”).

    The “number of the beast is an example of such gematria, the only significant example in the Bible. Commentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in the Greek form—Neron—and if his title Caesar is added and if Neron Caesar is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final “n” is left out, the total is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast.

    Asimov’s Guide to the Bible first came out in 1968, by the way.

  3. says

    Well, Ann Coulter is releasing her new book Godlessness tomorrow to coincide with 06/06/06. If that’s not a sign of the Apocalypse, I don’t know what is.

    And — hey! — for some reason it puts me in mind of the Great Whore of Babylon.

    I wonder why?

  5. Babbler says

    Umm, didn’t experts reveal earlier this year that the number of the Beast was mistranslated hundreds of years ago, and it’s actually 616, rather than 666?

    666 is so much cooler, with the alliteration thing going on and all.

    Well, Ann Coulter is releasing her new book Godlessness tomorrow to coincide with 06/06/06. If that’s not a sign of the Apocalypse, I don’t know what is.

    And — hey! — for some reason it puts me in mind of the Great Whore of Babylon.

    Things happening tomorrow:

    * National holiday of Sweden
    * Queensland Day
    * South Korean Memorial Day
    * National Yo-yo Day – USA

    The Antichrist reveled: A championship Yo-yo’er Swedish Queenslander currently living in South Korea.

  6. BlueIndependent says

    I shall welcome June 6th, 2006 with the same vigor and vitality I afford every work day: =|

    The marketing ploy for the movie bugs the crap out of me. Not because I’m a devout Christian, but rather it’s such a predictable thing. Is it just me, or are like, 1 in 50 movies even vaguely interesting free-time propositions anymore?

    This “satanic” movie one is perhaps the worst, most juvenile attempt to get asses on velour devised in about 6 months or so.

  7. starfall says

    The world isn’t ending tomorrow. The world doesn’t end until the winter solstice, Dec 21, 2012. At least according to the Mayan, who were a lot better with numbers and math than others.

  8. says

    I’ll mention it at 06:06:06am on 06/06/06.

    “Central time or Rocky Mountain time?” -Clarence Darrow, Inherit the Wind

  9. Phoenician in a time of Romans says

    What do BOW you mean tomorrow DOWN ? It is 6/6/06 here in New Zealand already and we AND haven’t seen any apocalypse. Granted, the WORSHIP weather is a bit ME chilly, but that’s FOOLISH to be expected given MORTALS it’s winter.

  10. says

    Let’s not forget those other mystical numbers occurring in quick succession, such as 6-6-8, the Neighbour of the Beast, and 6-6-7, the Guy Across the Street From the Beast.

    and of course 6-6-6-a (m?), the Tenant of the Beast.

  11. says

    666 refers to the Roman Emperor Nero. People were so afraid of him that they expected him to rise from the dead. I guess that’s what supposed to happen tomorrow? (I never did get this 666 phobia.) I hope he brings an umbrella instead of his lyre–it looks like a thunderstorm.

  13. says

    I’m 9 mos pregnant at this point, and plan on going to see The Omen in hopes that I will give birth doing it.

    That would be awesome, if only because it would really freak out my mom.

  15. says

    I do know that those of us on the east coast get Satanrise 3 hours ahead of those in California.

    If the earth splits open and Dick Cheney emerges, I’ll post it here immediately so you can all have at least a little warning, to wind up your affairs and such.

  16. natural cynic says

    Heinlein in one of his books The Number of the Beast says that it is 6 to the 6th power to the 6th power. something like

    10314424798490535546171949056

    which only means the number of parallel universes there are. The book is something between a parody and an homage to pulp sci-fi novels. We have a ways to go.

  17. Phoenician in a time of Romans says

    Well, Ann Coulter is releasing her new book Godlessness tomorrow to coincide with 06/06/06. If that’s not a sign of the Apocalypse, I don’t know what is.

    You gotta love this article on it…

    “Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called “gaps” in the theory of evolution are all there is – Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution’s proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the “evolving” peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes.”

  18. Elf Eye says

    My faculty id number is xxx666, and my parents’ phone number is xxx-666-xxxx. Today is MY day! Let me think: flood, tornado, hurricane, or earthquake? Or maybe just give my students a quiz on the book they are currently reading: The Last Temptation of Christ! (No lie. We are watching Scorcese’s film adaptation.)

  20. says

    “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia”

    and let’s not forget the cebut single 6.66 – One hundredth of the number of the beast by Salmonhater.

  21. G. Tingey says

    If this…
    “Writing with a keen appreciation for genuine science, Coulter reveals that the so-called “gaps” in the theory of evolution are all there is – Darwinism is nothing but a gap. After 150 years of dedicated searching into the fossil record, evolution’s proponents have failed utterly to substantiate its claims. And a long line of supposed evidence, from the infamous Piltdown Man to the “evolving” peppered moths of England, has been exposed as hoaxes.”

    Is a genuine quote from the Coulter book, then she is both a liar and a fool.

  22. T_U_T says

    Is a genuine quote from the Coulter book, then she is both a liar and a fool.

    I think she is a succubi high school drop-out.

  24. says

    There’s also a song called “666-6666, The Number of the Daughter of the Beast” by Corky and the Juice Pigs. Very funny.

  25. says

    Look, it’s 6/6/2006. Even for numerological nonsense, it’s nonsense. A ‘6/6/06’ date occurrs once every 100 years; it’s not rare. Wake me up in the year 6666.

  26. Arakasi says

    My favorites are:

    vi vi vi: Text Editor of the Beast

    333: Eric, the Half-a-Beast

  27. Phoenician in a time of Romans says

    If this… […] …is a genuine quote from the Coulter book, then she is both a liar and a fool.

    No!

    Really?

    You think?

  28. SEF says

    Did anyone make any notes of anything back in the year 666 (or 616)? I only recall dates like 1066 being significant.

  29. David Marjanović says

    666 refers to the Roman Emperor Nero. People were so afraid of him that they expected him to rise from the dead.

    To the contrary. They loved him so much that many believed he had just left the empire (gone to Parthia or so) and would return, like Elvis.

    Basically, Nero was an absolutist, way ahead of his time. Compare that to Caligula…

  30. David Marjanović says

    666 refers to the Roman Emperor Nero. People were so afraid of him that they expected him to rise from the dead.

    To the contrary. They loved him so much that many believed he had just left the empire (gone to Parthia or so) and would return, like Elvis.

    Basically, Nero was an absolutist, way ahead of his time. Compare that to Caligula…