The Significance of Numbers in the Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible. It describes the end of the world and the return of the Messiah. It contains many references to numbers, and its heavy use of metaphor and symbolism suggests that numbers are intended to be highly significant in the Book of Revelation. Indeed, biblical scholars consider numbers to be unifying in Revelation, giving it an overall structure.
Other People Are Reading
-
Numerology
-
Numerology--the principle of assigning a literal value to numbers, or finding significance in the numeric value of letters--is more common among Jewish scholars, where it is known as gematria, than it is in scholars of the Bible. But the wide range of numbers in Revelation makes it a popular subject for numerologists. In the U.S., a numerological interpretation of Revelation is occasionally used to predict the end of the world. For instance William Miller predicted the apocalypse twice, in two succeeding years in the 1840s.
Seven
-
The number seven is the specific number most commonly associated with giving the Book of Revelation its structure; it references seven churches, there are seven seals and much of the work is carried out by seven angels. Indeed, the number seven appears six times in Rev 1:20 alone. Seven is particularly significant in the Christian tradition as it symbolizes a complete whole. There are seven days in a week and, according to Genesis, the world was created in seven days. Therefore, the repetition of the number seven helps give the book a structure that signifies completeness.
-
Three
-
The number three is important numerologically, representing the Holy Trinity. Although it is less important in Revelation than the number seven is, the number three also appears frequently in that book. For instance, three plagues unleashed on mankind kill one third of all people (Rev 9:17-18). More famously, in Revelation chapter 21, Jerusalem is described as having a great wall with 12 gates: three to the east, three to the west, three to the south and three to the north (Rev 21:12).
Number of the Beast
-
Probably the most famous number in the Book of Revelation is the "number of the beast" described in Rev. 13:18. The number "666" has entered popular culture as a symbol of evil, but it may have a more prosaic explanation. Gematria, the creation of a mathematical signature, relies on assigning numeric values to individual letters. In Hebrew, the name Neron Qeisar ("Emperor Nero") becomes NRON QSR (many vowels are omitted in Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew), with the values 200+60+100+50+6+200+50, or 666. Roman Emperor Nero was commonly considered the Antichrist as a result of his widespread and brutal persecution of Christians (including blaming them for the fire of Rome with which he is frequently associated).
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
