Re: [asa] A case of non-biological ID

Some triangular numbers that occur in the text of the New Testament in
addition to 666 are 120, 153, 276, and 300. Most of the other numbers are
either small or round. The occurrence of the numbers 153 (John 21:11) and
276 (Acts 27:37) seem especially interesting because they are so precise
in situations where one might have expected merely rough estimates.
Perhaps some early Christians were wont to take note of triangular
numbers.

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008, Rich Blinne wrote:

>> The difference in numbers has also been explained by the fact that the
>> Greek and Latin spellings of Nero's name transliterate differently into
>> Hebrew (the language used to create the coded numerology). The Greek
>> spelling, "Neron Caesar," transliterates into Hebrew as "nrwn qsr," which
>> equates numerically to 666 (Hebrew letters double as numbers for both
>> practical and theological purposes; see entries at Hebrew numerals and
>> gematria). By contrast, the Latin title for Nero is spelled simply "Nero
>> Caesar," which transliterates to "nrw qsr," or 616.

This interpretation has the advantage of explaining the occurrence of both
variants (666 and 616). There are some things about it, however, that I
have questions about that maybe someone on this list can answer. Nero died
in 68. Revelation is believed to have been written later than that. Also
it seems that with Revelation being written in Greek, it would not be
expected that the answer to the puzzle would be from the Hebrew. I also
wonder whether it was common to transliterate the Latin C and the Greek
kappa into Hebrew as qoph (q) rather than kaph (k).

Gordon Brown (ASA member)

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Received on Thu Jan 10 00:41:05 2008