It is the number of his NAME.
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the NUMBER OF HIS NAME.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.
Revelation 13:16 -18
The following is excerpted from an web article posted on www.jewfaq.org:
Each letter in the Hebrew alefbet has a numerical value. These values can be used as numerals, as the Romans used some of their letters (I, V, X, L, C, D, M) as numerals. The table [above] shows each letter with its corresponding numerical value. Note that final letters have the same value as their non-final counterparts.
The numerical value of a word is determined by adding up the values of each letter. The order of the letters is irrelevant to their value: the number 11 could be written as Yod-Alef, Alef-Yod, Heh-Vav, Dalet-Dalet-Gimmel or many other ways. Ordinarily, however, numbers are written with the fewest possible letters and with the largest numeral first (that is, to the right). The number 11 would be written Yod-Alef (with the Yod on the right, because Hebrew is written right-to-left), the number 12 would be Yod-Bet, the number 21 would be Kaf-Alef, the number 611 would be Tav-Resh-Yod-Alef, etc. The only significant exception to this pattern is the numbers 15 and 16, which if rendered as 10+5 or 10+6 would be a name of G-d, so they are normally written Tet-Vav (9+6) and Tet-Zayin (9+7).
Because of this system of assigning numerical values to letters, every word has a numerical value. For example, the word Torah (Tav-Vav-Resh-He) has the numerical value 611 (400+6+200+5).
I have received several e-mails pointing out that the numerical value of Vav (often transliterated as W) is 6, and therefore WWW has the numerical value of 666! It's an amusing notion, but Hebrew numbers just don't work that way. In Hebrew numerals, the position of the letter/digit is irrelevant; the letters are simply added up to determine the value. To say that Vav-Vav-Vav is six hundred and sixty-six would be like saying that the Roman numeral III is one hundred and eleven. The numerical value of Vav-Vav-Vav in Hebrew would be 6+6+6=18, so WWW is equivalent to life! (end of excerpt).
There are others who would contend that the number of his (the beast’s) name will be counted by using Greek letters, which also have numerical value (known as gematria), since John the Revelator wrote the book of Revelation in Greek, rather than in Hebrew. If that be the case, many have already been classified as the beast using this system, and have even Englishized the Greek gematria to point out that Adolf Hitler is the beast.
Here is the Greek gematria table:
a (alpha ~ a) = 1
b (beta ~ b) = 2
g (gamma ~ g) = 3
d (delta ~ d) = 4
e (epsilon ~ e) = 5
V (stau ~ st/v) = 6*
z (zeta ~ z) = 7
h (eta ~ e) = 8
q (theta ~ th) = 9
i (iota ~ i/j) = 10
k (kappa ~ k) = 20
l (lambda ~ l) = 30
m (mu ~ m) = 40
n (nu ~ n) = 50
x (xi ~ ks) = 60
o (omicron ~ o) = 70
p (pi ~ p) = 80
J (dikappa ~ q) = 90*
r (rho ~ r) = 100
s (sigma ~ s) = 200
t (tau ~ t) = 300
u (upsilon ~ u) = 400
j (phi ~ f) = 500
c (chi ~ ch) = 600
y (psi ~ ps) = 700
w (omega ~ o) = 800
' (digamma?) = 900*
(End of excerpt)
New bible per-versions change the scripture altogether. Though the bible clearly tells us that "it is the number of a man", the new versions seem to want everyone to put their guard down by not pointing to the clear fact that there will come "THAT MAN OF SIN" to be wary of. The new versions all claim that it is the number of "man" (mankind in general). With such a broad and sweeping generalization, why would anyone watch for a particular entity? Of course new version editors know EXACTLY why they wouldn't want anyone to watch for a particular individual, as well as why they change the Word of God into a lie in so many THOUSANDS of other places as well.
I don't pretend to know everything, but I certainly pass on what I DO know. As God has given each of us different gifts and callings, you can rest assured he has people he's gifted with both spiritual discernment and watchfulness, as well as with a strong command of both the Hebrew and Greek languages. These are the people who are literally watching the prophetic events unfold, observing the "players" and COUNTING the number of their names. BE READY!
