Of course math or maths all depends on whether John wrote in American or British koine Greek! Another mystery in a mysterious book?
There is so much we will never know or figure out with this book and one aspect that is intriguing is the numbers John ‘plays’ with – numbers that are clearly stated such ‘7’ – 7 Spirits of God; 7 churches; 7 seals; 7 trumpets; 7 bowls; 7 thunders etc. But alongside that are number are numerous other ones, and also combinations of numbers.
John’s favourite numbers are 4 and 7. And there is one combination that has always been intriguing. (This is where I suggest there are hidden, from first sight, uses of numbers that are to enlighten us.) The one that always has stood out for me is that of the 28 cargoes headed to the ‘centre’ (Imperial trade where those at the centre have promised benefits but all roads lead to Rome and the benefits of the elite there)… Contrasting this with 28 times the ‘Lamb’ is recorded (watch out here the NIV misses one of those occurences, seeking to smooth the translation at the expense of literality). Here we have a combination of 7×4 – the totality (7) raped from the earth (4) is the effect of empire with the final cargo being that of υχὰς ἀνθρώπων (human lives – bio power).
In contrast the Lamb slain is taking the resources of heaven (7) and pouring them out to all (4). (And 4 being the way John describes seven times over humanity as ‘peoples, tribes, languages and nations’.
The numbers then (like the book) carry significance and are not something that should be counted to figure something out literally but to be grappled with until we see the significance of them.
Before coming to the big bad number of 666 (or 616 as per some manuscripts) a broad comment on a pattern that comes out in the book.
Square numbers are what we learnt in school (or didn’t learn but were instructed about!). When these appear they represent something positive (eg 12×12= 144).
Triangular numbers are like the snooker table balls, 1+2+3+4+5+… 666 is one of those numbers (1+2+3+ all the way to 36). Those numbers signifiy the opposition to God.
Rectangular numbers are where one side consists of one more than the other side (e.g. 6 on one side and 7 on the other – this would equal 42; or 35×36 = 1260). Those numbers appear indicating the battle between the good and the evil.
All the ‘hiddenness’ to me suggests that the book probably was worked on rather than simply being the result of John and a series of visions that he noted down. It is a highly structured book. There are numerous patterns and structures that are both visible and hidden.
So the big bad number of 666? We are probably familiar with Roman numerals (c=100; x=0 etc) and in the same way Hebrew and Greek used letters to represent numbers (known as gematria in Hebrew and isopsphism in Greek). And the challenge is we are requested to understand the number.
This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number for a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six (Rev. 13:18).
So it seems John is expecting the original readers to work out who he is referring to. The number of the beast is also the number of a person. Beast (θηρίον – thērion) when written in Hebrew letters comes to 666 (the genitive – θηρίου – that is used in 13:18 – ‘of the beast’ comes to 616). Likewise Caesar Neron (as ‘Nero’ was often written with the final ‘n’) comes to 666 and Caesar Nero to 616.
666 is the beast and it is the kingpin that is aligned with the beast. Nero was the archetypal ‘antiChrist’ and although dead the myth was that he never died but will ‘come back’ at the head of the fearful Parthian warriors to destroy Rome. John is not verifying the myth; Nero was, continued to be, and yet was not the one. Anyone and any system that replaces Jesus is antiChrist (ἀντί – anti being both opposed to or ‘instead of’).
[An aside: antiChrist is not the term used here and it only occurs in John’s letters. I believe in many antiChrists and that they are always present in every age. Only by piecing together diverse Scriptures that are not speaking with a unanimity can one come up with ‘antiChrist in the last days’. It is for this reason I am agnostic (and for other reasons) about such a ‘end-time’ scenario… though the odds of a specific global antiChrist is quite high, not becuase of anything prophesied but because of our stupidity!]
I think this interpretation of the 666 fits with the book being written for those who listened to it being read (original ‘readers’ / listeners). They were to understand that the corporate power of Empire and the person embodying it were claiming to be the power that would determine the destiny for people. Caesar is the king over the kings of the earth and if one complies then success is promised; resist and one would not be allowed to ‘buy and sell’. But John challenges that Imperial claim for Jesus is the one who is ‘the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth’ (Rev. 1:5).
And before we get all het up about ‘marks and numbers’ again we have a wonderful contrast with those who were sealed on their forehead (Rev. 7:4; cf Ezek. 9:4). Sealed or marked? The contrast is there to be embraced.
The one message that is consistent in the book is that there is the reality of warfare. There is a purpose that God has – for the kingdom of God to come, for what is in heaven to be present on earth. There is therefore a conflict area and time (42 months / 1260 days / 3½ years) for the saints to be engaged because the beast / the Satan / Empire has a forceful agenda. The period of conflict challenges our sight and beliefs and there is a further challenge to any methodology that is employed, for it is those who follow the Lamb that are promised to be those who overcome.