John and the number 666

[ConstantineTG]

Is it a coincidence or did John intentionally wrote 666 as the mark of the beast when he wrote Revelations, that it could be referencing chapter 6 verse 66 of his Gospel? John 6:66 writes:

[BIBLEDRB]John 6:66[/BIBLEDRB]

So is the people marked with the number of the beast those who have believed in Christ, but turned their back on Him refusing to accept His teaching that for us to gain eternal life we must eat His flesh and drink His blood?

edit: interesting enough the Bible quoting mechanism of CAF seems to be referring to another passage when I put in John 6:66.

From bible.cc, here is John 6:66 in different translations:

New International Version (©1984)
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

New Living Translation (©2007)
At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

English Standard Version (©2001)
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

International Standard Version (©2008)
As a result, many of his disciples turned back and no longer associated with him.

GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Jesus’ speech made many of his disciples go back to the lives they had led before they followed Jesus.

King James Bible
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

American King James Version
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

American Standard Version
Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Bible in Basic English
Because of what he said, a number of the disciples went back and would no longer go with him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him.

Darby Bible Translation
From that time many of his disciples went away back and walked no more with him.

English Revised Version
Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Webster’s Bible Translation
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Weymouth New Testament
Thereupon many of His disciples left Him and went away, and no longer associated with Him.

World English Bible
At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Young’s Literal Translation
From this time many of his disciples went away backward, and were no more walking with him,

 

[Tartini]

Your question is one of those strange, unanswerable ones that lend more fuel to fictions than real truths-but it is a good one that I see often. It is the very thing that lends the myriad of apocalyptic writers to produce works that mislead many, but make for blockbuster movies. The Holy Scriptures have sadly been an open season market for many who attempt to interpret them themselves, even down to the very verse numbers. There is no mystery here. The fact that you cited first to the Douay Rheims bible (your best source) first at least shows you are doing the right thing in the study of the question. Use only reliable Catholic resources in any scriptural question you have, as anything else is playing with trouble.

Now, one must simply read the passage as it is—there is no more to it. I have read several commentaries on the very question that you asked, all mostly by protestant writers who insist on seeing things that are not there. The passage is clear that those who are not for Christ must be against Him, hence the term: anti-christ. The context is to be taken into account when referring to any scripture. What was going on before the passage: Christ was explaining a very difficult aspect to them, some were not willing to accept this and simply left. It is about accepting the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Always read scripture in context to what is occurring in the overall picture. It is the great fault of the practices of sola scriptura that causes great confusion and has always caused more problems than it ever solves. When one practices SS, they set themselves up for misinterpretation (extremely dangerous), as most are not able to understand what they are reading in the first place, or have the necessary research skills to do a through study.

So where is the anti Christ? What of the number 666? What is the practical purpose of such study? Who is the “ant-christ”?

When I tell them to just look about themselves and the things that they hold higher than God, I tell them that they are seeing the anti-Christ in full form. Materialism, modernism, liberalism and hate accompanied by indifference are only the outward qualities of a much worst problem underneath the surface. The scariest things are often the most obvious and seemingly innocent. After a little explanation, it (if the Holy Spirit is willing) soon becomes evident to them. They ask more questions, and from there progress is made. Some refuse to listen at all, and those are the ones who need prayer the most from us. We cannot help those who will not be helped, but at least can attempt and show that we (as Christians) are not intimidated or afraid.

catholic.com/library/Christ_in_the_Eucharist.asp

 

[scriabin]

Research who numbered the scriptures and see if they had a theological axe to grind. Was the person Catholic taking a jab at Reformation theology? When were scriptures numbered with verses and chapters? Around the time of the Reformation?

There are other threads about this same subject by me and others.

 

[revert_jen]

Is it a coincidence or did John intentionally wrote 666 as the mark of the beast when he wrote Revelations, that it could be referencing chapter 6 verse 66 of his Gospel?

How could it be intentional on John’s part? He numbered neither the chapters nor the verses of his Gospel.

It might have been intentional for the person who added the verse numbers in the 16th century, but it can’t possibly have been intentional for John himself.

Or have I misunderstood the question somehow?

–Jen

 

[FaithJoy]

How could it be intentional on John’s part? He numbered neither the chapters nor the verses of his Gospel.

It might have been intentional for the person who added the verse numbers in the 16th century, but it can’t possibly have been intentional for John himself.

Or have I misunderstood the question somehow?

–Jen

Then it came about by chance or by God’s writing hand? If that is the case,then that might prove what God is trying to tell us, in scripture. Not that it was by chance, but God made it come about in that order. More convincing that way wouldn’t it be?

 

[NHInsider]

The chapter and verse numbers are not inspired. They are not consistent from one translation to another and there have been different versions of them since the middle ages when systems of numbering were first attempted.

There are also early ms of the Apocalypse where the “number of the beast” is 616. (which renders “Nero” in Aramaic, whereas 666 renders it in Greek).

Attempting to discern “messages” from chapter and verse numbers are nothing more than parlor games, just like things like “what is the verse in the exact middle of the Bible?” and other such things (hint - the books are not always in the same order . . . .)

The things God wants us to know are not secretly encoded so that we have to “discover” them by clever intellectual tricks. That way lies gnosticism.

 

[patrick457]

Is it a coincidence or did John intentionally wrote 666 as the mark of the beast when he wrote Revelations, that it could be referencing chapter 6 verse 66 of his Gospel? John 6:66 writes:

Well, the whole idea of dividing the books of the Bible into chapters and verses is something that came way after the authors actually wrote them. While the Jews did divide the Torah into readable sections (parashah) at least quite some time, and while the idea of dividing the New Testament into paragraphs already existed since the 4th century, it was only in the early 13th century when the modern chapter-and-verse divisions started to take shape, when churchmen Archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro determined different schemas for systematic division of the Bible, with Archbishop Langton’s scheme eventually becoming the standard.

It’s not like Isaiah or Matthew woke up one morning and said, “Okay, today I’m going to write two chapters, and possibly ten verses if I had extra time.” It’s not like they specifically had some sort of foreknowledge that the books or letters they wrote would later be bound altogether in one volume which would be venerated by a billion or so people in the world and translated into every tongue known to man. They just did the natural thing that human writers do: write a body of text without any particular concern for any particular form of division (when was the last time we included chapters and verses when writing bodies of text? ).

So, while the ‘intentional’ part could be tempting, I’m willing to bet that it’s probably just sheer coincidence - but even then, there’s probably some Providence involved.

That said, I did encounter this quite wacky interpretation of King Solomon being the Beast that riseth up from the sea, which had a mortal wound that was healed a while ago, all because 1 Kings 10:14 talk about him receiving 666 talents of gold on an annual basis.

 

[patrick457]

The things God wants us to know are not secretly encoded so that we have to “discover” them by clever intellectual tricks. That way lies gnosticism.

And this is why I think stuff like the Bible Code - those stuff where you try to scour any literal ‘hidden secrets’ in the pages of Holy Scripture - is basically just a major waste of time.

 

[boeck249]

there is no private revelation of spiritual prophecy .