# Non-Christian Dopers: Would you feel any trepidation about 666 or a mark on your head or hand? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384 "2020-04-22T22:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/81 "2021-02-22T08:47:07Z")
Does Greek have a system of Gematria analogous to the Hebrew? And if so, do we call it Gematria too? (Is “Gematria” a term that specifically refers to the Hebrew system, or does the word refer to similar numerology generally in any language?) I wonder if Greek Gematria is very similar to the Hebrew, perhaps resulting in the same numbers for a lot of words? Note that the Hebrew and Greek alphabets are very similar – if you write the alphabets side-by-side, the letters match up very nearly letter-for-letter. Almost. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/82 "2021-02-22T09:11:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Is “Gematria” a term that specifically refers to the Hebrew system, or does the word refer to similar numerology generally in any language? Gematria is technically an Aramaic word, not a Hebrew one, although it became part of medieval Hebrew, and is now part of modern Hebrew. It looks like it might come from the same Greek word that gave us “geometry.” If it is originally Hebrew, I can’t figure out what the root is. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/83 "2021-02-22T09:18:07Z")
If you say 666 to someone in Mandarin, it means “Awesome” or “Impressive”. (A single 6 doesn’t have any such connotation). Just a factoid. * * * In answer to the OP, if some nation were to start tattooing all citizens with 666, I’d guess that country’s leader is crazy fundamentalist Christian and would think it was a human rights outrage. If the UN suggested all nations do it, then to be honest I would feel some sense of concern that that prediction was a bit on the money. For me, I take claims seriously once they can be used to make valid predictions or inferences. This would be the bible, finally, making one. (If it’s just some stupid shit like “666 can be found on the numbers on the covid vaccine barcode” or whatever, I’d obviously ignore that. I’m talking tattooing specifically) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/84 "2021-02-22T09:30:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Everyone always seems inclined to equate the “Mark of the Beast” with credit card chips or RFID or the like… (snip) Interesting. The 21st century will probably be a period when interfacing between the human mind and external data links becomes increasingly important. If certain groups in America have some sort of religious taboo against this, then they will miss out on any advantages of such interfacing. For myself I’d be more worried about accidental contactless payments if I was standing in line behind someone else at the checkout. But the way things are going, it’s starting to look like standing in line will become a thing of the past in due course. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/85 "2021-02-22T11:29:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Ah, well. My point still stands that the number isn’t “six, six, six.” It’s the value of 666, or DCLXVI, or 600+60+6\*, and that value is derived from the name of the Emperor Nero, _as his name is spelled in Greek_. > > \*or maybe 606, if it’s a mistranslation; I’ve heard that. But any Roman Doper would have noticed something eye-catching about the only Roman number that contains one each of the six letters used as numbers. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/86 "2021-02-22T12:01:59Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > But any Roman Doper would have noticed something eye-catching about the only Roman number that contains one each of the six letters used as numbers. Isn’t M also used? or is that a medieval or modern invention? And yeah, it does make the number kinda eye-catching, especially since it’s all additive, with no subtractions, but given that no one would use the Roman number until, one presumes, Jerome and his Vulgate, we should be looking for this: χξϛ. That is 666 in Greek numerals. I presume that is what the “Mark of the Beast” would be, since the original language of Revelation was Greek. Interestingly the number of the beast begins and ends with the same letters as the Greek word for Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/87 "2021-02-22T14:22:44Z")
> [@eburacum\_45](#): > > Interesting. The 21st century will probably be a period when interfacing between the human mind and external data links becomes increasingly important. If certain groups in America have some sort of religious taboo against this, then they will miss out on any advantages of such interfacing. I don’t think you should assume it’s limited to Americans or that it is always religion based. For me, if you implant something in the body what is the risk of a bad reaction? Second, how do you remove it, or is it even removable? Take the notion of implantable long-term birth control - fine, you implant these things under the skin. When they’re done, how do you get them out? Or don’t you? Is a woman throughout her reproductive years expected to accumulate eternal lumps on her arm(s) that remain the rest of her life? If it has to be surgically removed how much scarring is the result? And is a woman just supposed to put up with repeated slicing up of her arm(s) as part of her reproductive life? Or was this thought up by people who gave no considerations whatsoever to the matter? (Note: I am aware of how this is handled with Norplant, consider this an idealized example of the questions involved). RFID chip in the hand? I’ve heard about these being promoted as, for example, a work ID that lets people in and out of secure areas, acts as a timeclock, etc. OK, fine - when your employment ends will that former employer pay to have that lump removed from your hand, or do you simply retain that lump forever more? Given how people move from job to job does that mean your hand(s) are repeatedly injected with every employer’s own chip? Wow, that could be a LOT of lumps. At what point does that start to risk impairment of your manual dexterity? What about infections, who pays for that? Your current employer? What if it’s from a chip from four jobs ago and your current employer says it’s not our problem? Interfaces between your brain and machinery? OK - what happens if your interface gets hacked? There’s already a problem with implantable defibrillators and heart pacemakers that can be hacked, that’s a real-world problem and not a hypothetical future one (although it hasn’t become a major crisis… yet) None of those concerns are religion based. I do think there should be an answer for them before these additions to humans become mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/88 "2021-02-22T14:39:27Z")
I would not be comfortable with it for the same reason I would not be comfortable reading aloud a Latin incantation I found in some dusty book in my basement. I’m not the fate-tempting type. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/89 "2021-02-22T16:53:29Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I do think there should be an answer for them before these additions to humans become mandatory. I doubt they will ever be mandatory. But I expect they will become as indispensable as smartphones, once the technology is mature. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/90 "2021-02-22T17:25:22Z")
A smartphone might not be mandatory, but given how many assumptions are now built around them they might as well be. Likewise for what I brought up. There is little to no difference between “indispensable” and “mandatory”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/91 "2021-02-22T22:35:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > > [@Velocity](#): > > > > suppose there were some day some bar code or digital chip, or the number 666, or tattoo/mark that became universally required of everyone in order to buy or sell > > Is it assumed that the bar code or chip also contains the number 666? Because otherwise, the things you listed are not the same thing. The logic I’ve read by some sites is that all barcodes have 666 in them. The idea is that the code for six is two thin lines, and each barcode includes three of those which are not considered part of the code, one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. Though, again, the original text did say 616, using a less standard name for Nero. The fact that it was changed to fit his more common name is often cited as how we know what the symbol meant. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/92 "2021-02-22T23:37:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > A smartphone might not be mandatory, but given how many assumptions are now built around them they might as well be. Pheh! Pheh I say! You can stick your smartphone in your pipe and smoke it! (And, tellingly, the fumes will likely be toxic.) As for tattoos, I don’t want any tattoo on any part of my body for any reason, and I _certainly_ don’t want one in a visible area, and I _double_ certainly don’t want a facial tattoo. Come on, seriously, a _facial_ tattoo? Seriously? I’m a little skeeved out about being chipped too, for the various obvious security and medical reasons. I’d rather be invisibly chipped than tatted, though, because I do _not_ like body art. Once we get away from mutilating or deforming me, then 666 becomes perfectly fine. It’s just a number, and numerological superstition is stupid. Hey, did you know that any physical object can be divided into exactly 666 peices? Better avoid all physical objects now. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/93 "2021-02-23T00:55:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The logic I’ve read by some sites is that all barcodes have 666 in them. The idea is that the code for six is two thin lines, and each barcode includes three of those which are not considered part of the code, one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. It’s funny to think about what this all means taken seriously. So God’s way of warning us “the end is nigh!” was by putting some lines on product packaging, _decades before_ a pandemic (that was not as severe as other ones since the first coming, like the black death and smallpox). And his way of telling us this, was by writing a passage about people being _tattood_ with a number. Oh, and it’s irrelevant anyway since spotting the mark of the beast doesn’t give you bonus points or anything; it’s just one of the things we’re all going to see on the way to a lion-headed, peacock-butted golden griffin appearing or something. Which is imminent, which means it could be millenia away. (Yes I know, one point in the modern context is arguably that non-believers like me should see the mark and realize the bible is all true and repent. But I’m just saying what it’s supposed to mean internally to Christians.) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/94 "2021-02-23T01:06:33Z")
(Not all Christians obviously, just those who believe in the literal nature of Revelations and that barcodes are the mark) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/95 "2021-02-23T01:13:31Z")
In the absence of something utterly obvious, Christians have a tendency to pounce on the slightest thing and call it a sign of the End Times. Arguments that the End Times will be _ **extremely** _ obvious often fall on deaf ears. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/96 "2021-02-23T08:52:45Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The logic I’ve read by some sites is that all barcodes have 666 in them. The idea is that the code for six is two thin lines, and each barcode includes three of those which are not considered part of the code, one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. Yeah, I’ve seen that argument, but it just isn’t correct. EAN and UPC barcodes have end and and central markers comprising two thin bars, made up of the pattern 101 at the ends and 01010 in the middle. The digit 6 is _sometimes_ represented by the pattern 1010000, sometimes by 00000101 (not the same thing - the zeroes or white spaces are absolutely significant) and sometimes by 0101111 (digits have different representation in the barcode depending on their position and other details - it’s not a simple case of ‘these bars mean this’) - none of those are the same as the marker sections, which are not even the right size to represent digits in the symbology, They do superficially resemble _part_ of the sequence of dark and light bars in the digit 6 _in some circumstances_, but that pattern (101) also appears in the digits 0,2,3,4,7,8 and 9 _in some circumstances_ ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/97 "2021-02-23T22:57:39Z")
He’s cracked the bar code!!! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/98 "2021-02-24T19:48:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Now if it were pi to the power of 18.3, now there’s some scary shit. I must be slacking off on my conspiracy theories. What is scary about 1.252 billion? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384/99 "2021-02-28T02:58:53Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I must be slacking off on my conspiracy theories. What is scary about 1.252 billion? If I told you, I’d have to kill you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-christian-dopers-would-you-feel-any-trepidation-about-666-or-a-mark-on-your-head-or-hand/852384.md?page=4)