The Islamic 666 Revisited

By servant@nazareneisrael.org

At present many people are studying about how Islam may fulfill the prophecies
over the Fourth Beast of Daniel, as well as at least one of the beasts of the Book
of Revelation. In this article, we will see evidence that Islam may fulfill at least
one aspect of the 666 as well.

Even though there is a great deal of evidence to support the idea that Islam may
be the Fourth Beast, we cannot say conclusively that Islam is the fulfillment of all
of the beasts of the Book of the Revelation, or that Islam is the only fulfillment of
the 666. Other suggested fulfillments of the 666 include barcodes and the
Internet, and other suggested fulfillments of the beasts of Revelation include the
Catholic Church and the United Nations. Additionally, there are questions about
the possibility of a secret link between Islam, the Catholic Church and the United
Nations. There is much evidence to support all of these theories, and only time
will tell which of these theories is correct. While it seems intelligent to be
educated and aware of how Islam may fulfill the prophecies in Daniel and
Revelation, we also need to be careful not to be ‘blown about by every wind of
doctrine,’ but to remain open to the possibility that YHWH may not have shown
us everything as of yet.

Although it may have a great deal of merit, the Islamic 666 theory is not without
some problems. Chief among these problems is that the face value of the text
calls for the beast to be a man (not a religion), whose ‘number’ is 666.

Gilyana (Revelation) 13:18

18 “Here is wisdom: Let the one having reason count the
number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man, and its
number is 666.”

The Aramaic Peshitta spells out the 666 in longhand, “six hundred and sixty six”
(‫)ומספרו שש מרות וששים ושש‬.

Here is wisdom. To whom there is ‫ מי שיש לו תבונה‬.‫כאן היא החכמה‬

reason compute number of the beast, ‫ כי מספר‬,‫יחשב את מספר חית הטרף‬
because number of man is, and ‫של אדם הוא ומספרו שש מרות‬
number six hundred and sixty six. ‫וששים ושש‬
The Peshitta did not originally contain the books of 2nd Peter, 2nd John, 3rd John,
or Revelation, and therefore the Book of Revelation was ‘backwards translated’
from the Greek. Therefore, it is possible that the original spelling of the 666 may
not have been in longhand, but may have been in gematria (numerical
symbolism).

The Greek Text

Some of the Greek texts do not spell out the 666 longhand, but instead represent
the numerical value 666 using gematria. Gematria is a numerical coding system
by which the letters of certain alphabets are assigned numerical values. Hebrew,
Aramaic and Greek all use gematria.

Reading from left to right, the first Greek letter, χ (pronounced “chi”) has a
numerical value of 600.

The middle Greek letter, ξ, is pronounced “xi”, and it has a numerical value of 60.

The third Greek letter, ς, is pronounced “stigma”. Although its numerical value
has changed since the first century, back in the first century, the stigma had a
numerical value of 6. We might also note that the stigma has a literal meaning of
“scar, mark, or badge of service”.

The numerical sum, then, of Χξς, is 600 + 60 +6 = 666.

Proponents of a Greek inspiration point out that Yochanan (John) wrote the Book
of the Revelation on the Island of Patmos.

Gilyana (Revelation) 1:9

9 I, Yochanan, both your brother and companion in the
tribulation and kingdom and patience of Yeshua Messiah, was
on the island that is called Patmos for the word of Elohim and
for the testimony of Yeshua Messiah.
Back in the first century, the lingua franca (everyday language) of Patmos was
Greek. Since Yochanan was sent to minister on Patmos, it seems reasonable
that Yochanan would have both read and written at least some Greek. However,
it seems unlikely that the Book of Revelation was inspired in Greek, since the
Revelation is written in a grammar that is correct in Hebrew and/or Aramaic, but
which is highly grammatically incorrect in Greek. What seems more likely is that
the Greek text is a translation of a Hebrew or Aramaic original.

The Bismallah (the Name of Allah)

The Islamic 666 hypothesis tells us that Yochanan was not intending to record
the literal number 666 in Greek (Χξς), but that he was attempting to record a
heavenly vision that he saw in Arabic. According to the Islamic 666 theory, the
image that Yochanan was shown was the ‘Bismallah’ (the “Name of Allah”),
shown below.

If we flip the Bismallah (the Name of Allah) diagonally, note the similarity to the
middle character (xi) of the hand-written Codex Vaticanus, which is believed to
be the oldest known Greek manuscript, dated circa 350 CE. The line above the
xi (under the words “A.D. 350”) in the Codex Vaticanus is allegedly not an
underline, but is part of the hand-written text. According to the Islamic 666
hypothesis, while the original inscription was in Arabic, since these particular
Islamic and Greek letters resemble each other, the image was eventually
recorded using Greek letters, along with some extra symbols.
In Islam, crossed swords are commonly used to denote conquest. Therefore, if
we add crossed swords to the left of the middle character (xi), and remember that
the stigma on the right has the meaning of ‘mark,’ we get crossed swords, the
Name of Allah, and the word ‘mark’ (Χξς).

ς (mark)

One can easily see the similarities between the crossed swords, the Name of
Allah (flipped) and the stigma, compared with the image recorded in the Codex
Vaticanus.

According to the Islamic 666 theory, the Greek letters do not have to be identical
to the Arabic Bismallah. That is because (according to the theory) Yochanan
originally recorded the Bismallah as a drawing of what he saw in the vision (and
perhaps he was aware that it was in Arabic, and perhaps he was not). The
Arabic letters were then put over into Greek at the same time the Hebrew and/or
Aramaic manuscripts were put over into Greek.

According to Revelation 13:18, the Mark of the Beast is supposed to be found

both on the head, and on the right hand. Below is a picture of a Hamas
headband. Islamic jihadists typically wear these kinds of Bismallah (‘Name of
Allah’) bands both on their foreheads, and on their right arms. This would be
significant, as the Hebrew word ‘yad’ (‫ ) ַיד‬means both ‘hand’ and ‘arm’.
One can also see these marks (Χξς) in the Chechin (Islamic) revolutionary flag,
here flipped diagonally.

Departing from the Text

There is much to recommend the Islamic Beast hypothesis. The main problem
with the Islamic 666 hypothesis, however, remains that it asks us to depart from
the face value of the passage, which tells us that the number of the Beast is the
number of a man, and his number is 666.

Gilyana (Revelation) 13:17-18

17 “and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the
mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom: Let the one having reason count the
number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man, and its
number is 666.”
If the number 666 is actually a picture that Yochanan saw in a vision and
recorded (whether in Arabic or in Greek), it still does not accord with the face
value of the passage.

Gilyana (Revelation) 13:18

18 Here is wisdom: Let the one having reason count the
number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man, and its
number is [insert image].”

How do we count the number of an image? We cannot. That part of the Islamic
666 hypothesis does not seem to make sense.

Is the ‘wisdom’ to know that we are to calculate the gematria of the Bismallah?
That is circular reasoning. If we calculate the gematria of the Bismallah, we get
the Bismallah. By that line of reasoning, we could insert anything (including a
Greek 666, or a Roman papacy), and it would seem to prove itself.

Nonetheless, we are left with a striking similarity between the two images.

at ς (mark)