Ok. If I tell you the number 666,
you automatically think of the devil,
the bad, the evil one, like this:
the evil one, the bad one, Satan, the demon,
the Angel of Darkness, Lucifer, the prince
of Darkness, the tempter, among
the best, because there are several terms
to designate the Devil. Moreover, I
invite you to go see our video on
the underworld, just here,
about the history of the underworld,
to dig a little deeper into this
question. However, 666, why we associate this
number with the inferno
or with the bad ones? Why? Let's
go, today in History will tell us,
6-6-6.
Subtitles: salvadorarmandoul@gmail.com
There are several theories that explain
why the number is associated with the
devil. The first it would come
from the Bible. Not too surprising,
you say. But in the New
Testament Book of Revelation,
666 would be the "number of the beast".
Not the beast of Gevaudan. Another
beast. Focus! We're talking here about the
famous beast that in present in
the Apocalypse of Saint John, in which
John has a vision of the end of times.
He describes a multi-headed beast coming
out of the ocean. In addition to committing the
worst atrocities to human beings, the
beast marks its victim with the number 666
on the forehead and on the right hand.
Moreover, in chapter 13, verses 17 and
18, we can read, and I quote: "And no
one could buy or sell without
bearing this sign: either the name of the beast,
or the number corresponding to its name.
This is where wisdom is needed. Let him
who has an understanding decipher the
number of the beast.
This number represents the name of a man,
it's: six hundred and sixty
six"; 666. The beast isn't the beast of Asterix.
No.
It's another. It's rather
the beast of the Apocalypse, which
will be widely represented by
several artists throughout
history. We see dragons, stars
falling from the sky poisoning
the oceans they touch or even the
blood of dead people here and there. Ok,
but all this doesn't tell us
why this number is associated with the
devil, because in John's text,
we don't talk about the Devil, but
of a beast; that you know, we've seen it.
In other words: why is the number of
the beast scary? Why is it
associated with demon? Well, the
explanations are multiple and
sometimes contradictory. Roughly, among
historians and theologians there's no
consensus. So let's try to navigate
the Styx of possible interpretations.
A first interpretation would come from the
fact that the numbers, for Greeks
and Romans in ancient times, have a
very strong symbolic charge. For example,
7 was associated with the number of
perfection. Why? Because it's the
marriage of number 4, number of the
world created, and 3, divine figure
par excellence, since it's the number
of the Trinity. Elsewhere, in the
Christian religion, "7" is also the
number of the Creation which
has made in 7 days, at least
that's what the Bible said.
Ok, but why 666
is the number of the devil?
Patience,
patience.
If 7 is perfect, the 6
on its side, is rather the symbol of
the unfinished, the opposite of
God, therefore of the Antichrist.
And why three times 6?
Why 666? Here, some argue that
the number is applied to all
levels of being: body, soul, and spirit. 6
for the body, so an unfinished bofy; 6
for the soul, so an unfinished soul;
and 6 for the spirit, so
an incomplete
spirit. So... 6... 6... and... 6, exactly.
That's a theory. The second
is that we assign numerical
values, therefore
numbers, to letters in Hebrew and
Greek. Thus, the number 666
could be equivalent to the
numerical value of the names Caesar-Nero, in Hebrew,
or "Caesar-God", in Greek. This way of
giving numerical values to the
letters was called GEMATRIA.
Moreover, there are several examples
of GEMATRIA through the Roman
Empire, especially in Pompeii. The sum
of all the letters of Nero in Hebrew
would give the number 666, a diabolical
symbol of persecution of Christians.
Many agree with this since
the first superstitions
about 666 date back to the first
Christians, who were persecuted
by the Emperor Nero.
So, they'd have associated the Roman Empire
with the Devil by developing this sequence
of referential numbers. Even more,
Nero is considered by Christians
as an evil Emperor, because
he's the earthly representative of the evil.
Anyway, many are afraid
today of the number 666. There
is also a name for it. This
phobia is called
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
Hexakosio....
Many have been or still afraid of the
number 666. The most famous case is
undoubtedly that of former US
President Ronald Reagan, who
changed his address in Los Angeles
from 666 St. Cloud Road to 668
St Cloud Road. He just changed numbers but
not the house because he didn't want
the address
666. More recently, Pope Francis
refused a donation from the
Argentine president because
the number 666 was in his check.
And you? Are you afraid of 666?
Are you Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobic?
I didn't even know that
this phobia exist.
Come on, it's over for today.
I hope you liked it this
short video, because we
have to change sometimes. And if you
want more short or
long videos, tell us in comments.
I'm Laurent Turcot from
History will tell us and I'll
see you next time! Bye!