From here.
Turns out, thanks to the fancy new imaging equipment at Oxford that the whole 666= mark of the beast, devil, bar codes, etc…was a bit off; the real number is 616.
Wow, so many revisions! Imagine all the Chick tracts that will have to be changed, the tattoos on aging heavy metal singers that will have to be altered…
In the book Asimov’s Guide To The Bible Vol. II, New Testament (1969) there is the following:
"In the Greek and Hebrew languages … every letter was assigned a numerical value. Naturally, then. all words in Greek or Hebrew would have a numerical value.
…
The “number of the beast” is an example. … Comentators have considered virtually every possible candidate for the beast and the one most frequently mentioned is Nero. If his name is written in the Greek form-Neron-and if his title, Caesar, is added … and is written in Hebrew letters, then the total numerical value is indeed 666. If the final “n” is left out, the total is 616, and some old manuscripts of Revelation have 616 rather than 666 as the number of the beast."
And, of course, Asimov who wasn’t a great Biblical scholar got this information from sources that were older than his 1969 book.
In other news, I have today designed a “circular transport-facilitation device”. Y’see, every point on a circle is equidistant from the centre, so if you place your point of support at the centre of the circle, you have neutral equilibrium, and…
Ada is the home of Amway/Quixtar, the most vile and evil company on the planet.
It makes logical sense that the beas mentioned in Revelations lives in Ada, MI and that he works for Amway/Quixtar. Since James VanAndel died last year, we know he can’t be the beast. Therefore the beast must be Richard DeVos.
Where is my tinfoil hat when I need it?
[/Conspiracy Theorist]