Number of the beast (thing)

In Jewish apocalyptic literature, 7 is the number of God that represents perfection. The number 6, one less then 7, is used to stand for evil, the devil, or some kind of evil force. The number 3 or the tripling of something stands for completion or consummation; thus, 666--a tripled 6--represents the consummate evil.

But the use of 666 in Revelation is not coincidental. Classical Greek used letters to stand for numbers, but each letter corresponds to a number. Thus, one could take any Greek word and easily interpret its numerical value. Apparently, the name "Nero Caesar," when written in Greek characters, adds up to the number 666. The beast of Revelation is none other than Emperor Nero, whose persecution of Christians was so severe that it was condemned by writers who were not at all sympathetic to Christianity itself.