Number 666

If you want to know what it really means, read this article. It is not 'the Devil's number' or anything like that. In fact, there is some doubt about the actual number referred to. In the earliest extant version of the Book of Revelation, it is given as 616. The King James' translation says: "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." It clearly refers to a 'beast' who is a man. Many people think that it is a coded way of giving the name of someone powerful living at the time - someone whose name couldn't be written for 'security reasons'. Numerology was popular and well known and it can be assumed that anyone who knew numerology would know who was being referred to.