05-02-2008, 03:40 PM
This depends very much on the eschatological view one holds (preterist, futurist, historist or idealist). Although 666 can be associated with many people, I don't believe that John had Nero in mind. I don't think that 666 is referring to an individual but rather a system or a diety, an excellent book which explores this possibility is "Prophecy Code" by Jeffrey A. Manty. Note the verse says "the number of his name" I think that "number" in this verse is symbolic, as an individual has a name not a number. I believe that more likely it refers to the "movement" the beast belongs to or the diety he worships, or a characteristic of some sort, rather than his personal name, as too many personal names equal 666.
This 666 reading is one of the proofs that Revelation was originally written in Aramaic with square "Hebrew" (Asshuri) script, as gemamtria doesn't actually work properly in the Greek language. (There is also speculation whether 666 is the correct number, as there are Greek mss that have 616, and others that have 656, so it is doubtful that we can make any deffinate conclusions with the sources we presently have. Perhaps we'll make new discoveries in the near future, who knows?)
However this is just my opinion, and I haven't explored this issue indepth yet, while I accept the possibility that Revelation could've been written during Nero's reign (there are equally convincing arguments for a later date), it does not necessarily mean that John was writing about events that would happen in his day. In my opinion John simply recorded what he saw, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.
This 666 reading is one of the proofs that Revelation was originally written in Aramaic with square "Hebrew" (Asshuri) script, as gemamtria doesn't actually work properly in the Greek language. (There is also speculation whether 666 is the correct number, as there are Greek mss that have 616, and others that have 656, so it is doubtful that we can make any deffinate conclusions with the sources we presently have. Perhaps we'll make new discoveries in the near future, who knows?)
However this is just my opinion, and I haven't explored this issue indepth yet, while I accept the possibility that Revelation could've been written during Nero's reign (there are equally convincing arguments for a later date), it does not necessarily mean that John was writing about events that would happen in his day. In my opinion John simply recorded what he saw, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.