What is the meaning of “calculate” in Revelation 13:18?

Question

This is perhaps the most famous prophesy in popular culture:

This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.¹ —Revelation 13:18 (ESV)

The ESV footnote is:

Some manuscripts 616

Please note: The question is not about the significance of the number itself or what it might refer to in the past, present or future. Please avoid any speculation, doctrinally-specific interpretations, and wild tangents.

My question is:

1. How are we expected to "calculate the number"? and
2. If this is so important, how did some copyists get the number wrong?

Does reading in the original Greek shed any light on the problem?

Answer 1

ψηφίζω (Strongs G5585) - to count with pebbles, to compute, calculate, reckon; to give one's vote by casting a pebble into the urn; to decide by voting. This is the same word used in Luke 14:28 in which the builder of a tower will "count the cost" to ensure he has enough to complete it.

As for its usage in this passage, J. Hampton Keathley, III, the author of The Beast and the False Prophet proposes two possible intents:

1. Gematria - the number represents the sum of the letters in a name, if the letters were converted to their corresponding ordinal position in that alphabet.
2. Symbolism - the number or its digits represent something symbolic.

The number itself also seems to be spelled out in Greek. εξακοσιοι εξηκοντα εξ (six hundred sixty six) This was in both the NET Bible and the BibleStudyTools.com interlinear - the one at scripture4all.org had it in a numeric shorthand form, though meaning the same thing. This is also where the word hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (fear of the number 666) comes from, as it's the concatenation of the transliterated Greek words above. So I'm not sure where the alternate reading in the footnote comes from. According to the Liddell-Scott Greek-English Lexicon, sixteen would be ἑξκαίδεκα.

As Soldarnal mentioned, the NET translation notes include some comments on manuscripts that include "616" or other numbers here. What is apparently interesting about 616 in particular is that Nero's name, in Latin, works out to 616 using gematria. However, this seems to be one of the major reasons that Irenaeus rejects this reading.

Answer 2

Bible allusions are simpler than that. It is a simple reference to the numbers of bars of gold collected by Solomon in his first year, breaking one of the three Mosaic laws for Israelite kings (Deuteronomy 17) thus beginning Solomon's, and Israel's, downfall:

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.—1 Kings 10:14-15 (ESV)

The words "wisdom" and "understanding," plus the Old Covenant structure of the passage, point us to the wannabe Solomons, the Herods, their corrupted Aaronic priesthood, and its glorious Temple ("image of the beast" is a reference to the golden calf).

The word "count" is also a reference to Israel. Throughout the Scriptures, it is only Israelites who are counted, and counted by God. David sinned when he counted the troops. In Revelation 7, the converted Jews are counted but the converted Gentiles are not. Counting is either sacrificial (head) or to do with plunder (body).

The reference to "man" is also Jewish. The Jews are the "Adams" who stand before God in the Sanctuary, representing the "animals," the nations. Throughout the Revelation, "men" refers to Jews, and Gentiles are referred to with some variant of "tribes and peoples and languages." So the "man of sin," sitting in the Temple, claiming to be God, is a Herod (Acts 12:20-24; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).

Finally, another interesting point. Revelation is made up of groups of stanzas. Each group has seven stanzas, and each stanza has seven lines. This particular stanza is the sixth stanza of its set, and, get this, there is no seventh stanza in this cycle. Israel's rulers, as a "greater Adam," seized the kingdom offered by Satan, and refused to enter into Sabbath, into God's rest.

Answer 3

As already noted by other contributors to this question, the Greek word means to figure up (to tally) or to figure out (to resolve). In colloquial English, we can say "to add up", which captures the full nuance of the meaning in Greek.

When we "add up" the Old Covenant, we see that the law is written on the mind and heart. The phylacteries (containing Torah) were placed on the forehead and the right hand (compare Ex 13:16 with both Deut 6:6, Deut 6:8, and Deut 11:18), because in the Hebrew Bible it was the right hand that was an extension of the human heart (Is 44:20). Identification with this Covenant therefore was a condition of participation in the visible theocratic kingdom of God. When we "add up" the New Covenant, we see that the law is written on the mind and heart (Heb 8:8-12). Identification with this Covenant therefore is a condition of participation in the invisible kingdom of Christ. When we "add up" the covenant of the beast (pseudo Moses/Messiah), we see that the law is written on the forehead and right hand (Rev 13:16-17). Identification with this Covenant will therefore be a condition of participation in the kingdom of the beast ("to buy and to sell") -- it will be "the law" as such.

The numerical value of the name of the beast here is the reference to his kingdom. For example, in 1 Kings 18:31, the number twelve (12) is correlated to the name of Israel. Thus Elijah in this verse explicitly equated Jacob (the man) with the name of Israel (the nation), which "add up" to twelve (12). The twelve (12) is not parallel with the man, but "add up" to the tribes (nation) associated with the man.

In like manner, in the Revelation the "beast" refers to the kingdom of the beast (Rev 13:1-2) or to the individual (Rev 13:3-4), who is its leader. Therefore in the Revelation, the "mark" of the beast refers to either the name of the person of the beast (Rev 13:17) or to the number of his name that corresponds to his kingdom (Rev 13:18). In other words, the "666" does not have reference to the name of the individual, but to the number of his name, which is his kingdom. (Please see the previous paragraph as to why.) So people are in Covenant with the "beast" are either in league with his direct politico-military control (under his name) and/or in league with the wider economic control of his kingdom (the number of the name). In either case, residents of the entire earth must have the "mark" (which can be either his name or the number of his name) in order to buy and to sell, which will be "the law."

In summary, the Old Covenant was led by the mediator Moses, whose "mark" was the Law (Torah), which was placed on the head and right hand (phylacteries). The New Covenant is led by the mediator Jesus, whose "mark" is the Law of Christ written on our conscience/minds and hearts (Rom 2:13-16 compared to 2 Cor 3:3). And of course the psuedo Moses/Messiah will be the mediator of his own Covenant with the world. His "mark" will be his name, or the number of his name, placed on the forehead or right hand, which "mark" will be the Law of life and living on earth (thus one will not be able to buy or to sell otherwise).

Thus one can "add up" the meaning of the number of the name of the beast. Please note that per the original question, no discussion of the meaning of "666" (or "616") was part of this posting.