The Number of the Beast: A Numerological Primer
Revelation 13:18
The Identity of the Beast
The Validity of Numerology
Links
Java Applet
Java Source Code
Appendix 1: Isopsephia
Appendix 2: Significant Numbers in Literary Works
Our starting point is the last verse of the 13th chapter of the
last book of the Bible (Revelation 13:18). In the King James Version,
this verse reads:
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, three score and six.
Scholars of every persuasion are almost unanimous in interpreting
the
beast in this passage to be the Antichrist.
For practically every verse in the Bible, manuscripts
offer variant readings, and this verse is no exception.
One of the variants in this verse is the actual number
of the beast. While most manuscripts read 666, some read 616 instead.
We'll look at one possible explanation of this discrepancy below.
Before the discovery and widespread use of what we call Arabic
numerals (0123456789), letters of the alphabet did double duty
as numbers. It is this twofold function (letters serving as numbers,
as well as letters) that lies behind the pseudo-science of
numerology, known also as
gematria (in Hebrew),
isopsephia (in Greek), and abjad (in Arabic).
In the following sections, we'll examine the claims of several candidates to be
the Beast:
The list could easily be expanded. Perhaps,
after learning some tricks of the numerological trade,
you could add your favorite villain to the list.
The Roman emperor Nero (lived 37-68 AD, ruled 54-68 AD)
persecuted the first Christians.
He accused them of starting a fire which destroyed
half of the city of Rome in 64 AD (Tacitus,
Annals 15.44).
Like all Roman emperors, Nero took the name Caesar.
In Greek, Nero Caesar
becomes Neron Kaisar. If we transliterate Neron
Kaisar into Hebrew, we get NRWN QSR (vowels were
omitted in written Hebrew).
The spelling NRWN QSR actually appears in one of the
Wadi Murrabba'at documents (18.1, dated 55/56 AD):
see D.R. Hillers, "Rev. 13, 18 and a scroll from Murabba'at",
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
170 (1963) 65.
The following table of Hebrew letters and their corresponding
numerical values is adapted from R.K. Harrison,
Biblical Hebrew, 11th impression (Hodder and
Stoughton, 1986), p. 11:
| Name |
Transliteration |
Numerical
Value |
| Aleph |
(smooth breathing) |
1 |
| Beth |
BH, B |
2 |
| Gimel |
GH, G |
3 |
| Daleth |
DH, D |
4 |
| He |
H |
5 |
| Waw |
W |
6 |
| Zayin |
Z |
7 |
| Heth |
H |
8 |
| Teth |
T |
9 |
| Yodh |
Y |
10 |
| Kaph |
KH, K |
20 |
|
|
| Name |
Transliteration |
Numerical
Value |
| Lamedh |
L |
30 |
| Mem |
M |
40 |
| Nun |
N |
50 |
| Samekh |
S |
60 |
| Ayin |
(rough breathing) |
70 |
| Pe |
PH, P |
80 |
| Cadhe |
C |
90 |
| Qoph |
Q |
100 |
| Resh |
R |
200 |
| Sin |
SH |
300 |
| Taw |
TH, T |
400 |
|
Let's look at the letters of NRWN QSR:
| N |
R |
W |
N |
|
Q |
S |
R |
| 50 |
200 |
6 |
50 |
|
100 |
60 |
200 |
If we add the numbers in the second row, their total is 666,
the Number of the Beast. Note that if we used a Latin form of
Nero's name (Nero Caesar) instead of a Greek form (Neron Kaisar),
the value of the Hebrew equivalent (NRW QSR) would be 616 instead of
666. This is a plausible explanation of the variant 616 which appears
instead of 666 in some New Testament manuscripts.
Early Christian tradition identified the emperor Nero with the
Antichrist. Here are a couple of examples:
- According to F.F. Bruce, 1&2 Thessalonians
(Waco: Word Books, 1982), p. 182:
The
Ascension of Isaiah, an early Christian document,
incorporates a Testament of Hezekiah, in which the ultimate
Antichrist appears as an incarnation of Beliar (the Greek spelling of
Belial, as in 2 Cor 6:15), the spirit of evil in the world.
This expected incarnation of Beliar, moreover, is identified with the
returning Nero, described by King Hezekiah as "a lawless king, the
slayer of his mother" (Asc Isa 4:2) -- a reference to Nero's
widely suspected responsibility for the slaying of the younger
Agrippina.
- St. Augustine (City of God 20.19, translated by Marcus Dods),
commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2:7, wrote:
He [St. Paul] alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the
deeds of Antichrist. And hence some suppose that he shall rise again
and be Antichrist. Others, again, suppose that he is not even now dead,
but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed,
and that he now lives in concealment in the vigour of that same age
which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will
live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom.
It is interesting that the emperor Nero figures in another well-known
numerological calculation.
In his
Life of Nero (39.2), the biographer Suetonius
quotes a Greek lampoon about Nero's murder of his mother Agrippina
(in 59 AD), which may be transliterated as follows:
NEOPSEPHON. NERON IDIAN METERA APEKTEINE.
J.C. Rolfe cleverly translates this as:
A calculation new. Nero his mother slew.
In order to appreciate the calculation, we must know the numerical
values associated with the letters of the Greek alphabet. I've adapted
the following table from William Watson Goodwin,
Greek Grammar,
revised by Charles Burton Gulick (Boston: Ginn, 1930), pp. 93-94:
| Name |
Transliteration |
Numerical
Value |
| Alpha |
A |
1 |
| Beta |
B |
2 |
| Gamma |
G |
3 |
| Delta |
D |
4 |
| Epsilon |
E (short) |
5 |
| Vau |
W |
6 |
| Zeta |
Z |
7 |
| Eta |
E (long) |
8 |
| Theta |
TH |
9 |
| Iota |
I |
10 |
| Kappa |
K |
20 |
| Lamda |
L |
30 |
| Mu |
M |
40 |
| Nu |
N |
50 |
|
|
| Name |
Transliteration |
Numerical
Value |
| Xi |
X |
60 |
| Omicron |
O (short) |
70 |
| Pi |
P |
80 |
| Koppa |
Q |
90 |
| Rho |
R |
100 |
| Sigma |
S |
200 |
| Tau |
T |
300 |
| Upsilon |
Y |
400 |
| Phi |
PH |
500 |
| Chi |
CH (hard) |
600 |
| Psi |
PS |
700 |
| Omega |
O (long) |
800 |
| Sampi |
SP |
900 |
|
The letters vau, koppa, and sampi were used only as
numbers (not as letters) in classical Greek.
We now have the key to interpret the lampoon quoted by Suetonius:
| N |
E |
R |
O |
N |
|
| 50 |
5 |
100 |
800 |
50 |
1005 |
| I |
D |
I |
A |
N |
|
M |
E |
T |
E |
R |
A |
|
A |
P |
E |
K |
T |
E |
I |
N |
E |
|
| 10 |
4 |
10 |
1 |
50 |
|
40 |
8 |
300 |
5 |
100 |
1 |
|
1 |
80 |
5 |
20 |
300 |
5 |
10 |
50 |
5 |
1005 |
The numerical value of "Nero" (NERON = 1005) is equal to the numerical value of
"killed his own mother" (IDIAN METERA APEKTEINE = 1005) -- this is the "new
calculation" of the lampoon.
One of the titles of the Pope is "Vicar of Christ".
The word
vicar is rare nowadays outside of
theological discourse. It means one who acts as the
representative of someone else.
Since Jesus Christ is the son of God, we can
replace "Christ" in the Pope's title with "Son of God".
If we do this, we get "Vicar of the Son of God", which
in Latin (the language of the Church) is "Vicarius Filii Dei".
Latin inscriptions are often capitalized, and capital U is
written as V, which yields "VICARIVS FILII DEI".
Let's extract those letters of "VICARIVS FILII DEI" which
do double duty as Roman numerals, and see what happens:
| V |
I |
C |
A |
R |
I |
V |
S |
|
F |
I |
L |
I |
I |
|
D |
E |
I |
| 5 |
1 |
100 |
|
|
1 |
5 |
|
|
|
1 |
50 |
1 |
1 |
|
500 |
|
1 |
If we add all of the figures in the second row of this table,
we arrive at 666, the Number of the Beast.
Attempts have been made to identify particular Popes (rather than the Pope
in general) with the Beast.
Michael Stifel (1487-1567, better known for introducing modern symbols for
addition, subtraction, and square root) proved that Pope Leo X
(lived 1475-1521, Pope 1513-1521) was the Beast by means of the following
calculation, as described by Howard Eves,
An Introduction to the
History of Mathematics (NY: Rinehart, 1953), p. 217:
From LEO DECIMVS he retained the letters LDCIMV. He then added X, for Leo X,
and omitted the M, because it stood for mystery. A rearrangement of the letters
gave DCLXVI, 666, or the "number of the beast".
Faced with the embarrassing identification of the Pope
with the Beast, Catholic scholars responded in true
ecumenical spirit with their own preferred candidate:
the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546).
Petrus Bungus, in
Numerorum Mysteria (Bergamo, 1599;
reprint Hildesheim: Olds, 1983), used the following letter/number
combinations:
| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I/J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U/V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
60 |
70 |
80 |
90 |
100 |
200 |
300 |
400 |
500 |
600 |
By slightly contorting Martin Luther's name (to MARTIN LUTHERA) and
regarding the I as equivalent to 1 rather than 9 (it's a Roman
numeral, after all), Bungus succeeded in identifying his archenemy with the Beast:
| M |
A |
R |
T |
I |
N |
|
L |
U |
T |
H |
E |
R |
A |
|
| 30 |
1 |
80 |
100 |
1 |
40 |
|
20 |
200 |
100 |
8 |
5 |
80 |
1 |
666 |
Some authorities (e.g. Howard Eves, loc. cit.) give Bungus' name as Bongus.
In Leo Tolstoy's novel
War and Peace, Book 9, Chapter 19, Pierre,
the son of Count Cyril Bezuhkov, convinced himself that Napoleon was the
Beast, by the following reasoning (translation by Louise and Aylmer Maude):
The French alphabet, written out with the same numerical values as the
Hebrew, in which the first nine letters denote units and the others tens,
will have the following significance:
| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I/J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
60 |
70 |
80 |
90 |
100 |
110 |
120 |
130 |
140 |
150 |
160 |
Writing the words L'Empereur Napoleon in numbers, it appears that the
sum of them is 666, and that Napoleon was therefore the beast foretold in the
Apocalypse.
L'Empereur Napoleon, of course, is French for
The Emperor Napoleon.
The identification with Napoleon only succeeds if the
e in
Le, dropped
by elision in
L'Empereur, is restored:
| L |
E |
|
E |
M |
P |
E |
R |
E |
U |
R |
|
N |
A |
P |
O |
L |
E |
O |
N |
|
| 20 |
5 |
|
5 |
30 |
60 |
5 |
80 |
5 |
110 |
80 |
|
40 |
1 |
60 |
50 |
20 |
5 |
50 |
40 |
666 |
Some members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church,
hostile towards Roman Catholics, like to identify
the Beast with the Pope. Books by Adventist authors which
accept this identification include:
- Roy Allen Anderson, Unfolding the Revelation
(Mountain View: Pacific Press, 1974)
- Carlyle Boynton Haynes, Our Times and Their Meaning
(Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1929)
- Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation
(Battle Creek: Review and Herald Publishing Company, 1897)
But turnabout is fair play.
Martin Gardner,
The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix
(Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1985), pp. 14-15 (with footnote), reports that
an anonymous religious pamphlet of the 1930s (published by
the People's Christian Bulletin) identified the Beast with one of the
founders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church,
Ellen Gould White
(1827-1915).
The scheme is similar to that used for the
Pope, with
U representing Roman numeral V and W (double U) standing for
V + V, or 10:
| E |
L |
L |
E |
N |
|
G |
O |
U |
L |
D |
|
W |
H |
I |
T |
E |
|
|
50 |
50 |
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
50 |
500 |
|
10 |
|
1 |
|
|
666 |
Another mapping of letters to numbers used by numerologists is shown
in the following table:
| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
| 100 |
101 |
102 |
103 |
104 |
105 |
106 |
107 |
108 |
109 |
110 |
111 |
112 |
113 |
114 |
115 |
116 |
117 |
118 |
119 |
120 |
121 |
122 |
123 |
124 |
125 |
By this table, it is evident that the Beast is Adolf Hitler, since
the numbers corresponding to the letters in his name add up to 666:
| H |
I |
T |
L |
E |
R |
|
| 107 |
108 |
119 |
111 |
104 |
117 |
666 |
Numerologist Gary D. Blevins, author of
666: The Final Warning
(Kingston, TN: Visions of the End Ministries, 1990),
identifies Ronald Wilson Reagan as the most likely candidate
for the Beast of Revelation 13:18.
Note that each of Reagan's three names has six letters, and that
the entire name has six syllables.
Blevins uses the following scheme, which he calls the Bible's
Secret Code:
| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
| 6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
36 |
42 |
48 |
54 |
60 |
66 |
72 |
78 |
84 |
90 |
96 |
102 |
108 |
114 |
120 |
126 |
132 |
138 |
144 |
150 |
156 |
Unfortunately, plain old RONALD REAGAN only adds up to 660, so Blevins
is compelled to pad the name to A RONALD REAGAN in order to reach 666:
| A |
|
R |
O |
N |
A |
L |
D |
|
R |
E |
A |
G |
A |
N |
|
| 6 |
|
108 |
90 |
84 |
6 |
72 |
24 |
|
108 |
30 |
6 |
42 |
6 |
84 |
666 |
Blevins' ingenuity doesn't stop there, though. He shows
that dozens of phrases containing the name Reagan also add up to 666, including:
- Brain of Reagan
- Faith of Reagan
- Ranch of Reagan
I have not seen Blevins' book. My knowledge of it comes from
Martin Gardner's review in
Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?
(NY: W.W. Norton, 2000), pp. 291-293, 296.
Gardner points out that Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura
could be the Beast according to Blevin's code, since the letters
in J. Ventura add up to 666. I lived in Minnesota for four years
under Ventura's administration, so I'm inclined to favor this
interpretation (even though Ventura's real name is James George Janos).
For more "evidence" that Reagan was the beast of Revelation, see
Ronald Wilson Reagan = 666.
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is
a system for representing symbols numerically.
Here are the ASCII numerical values that represent capital letters:
| A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
| 65 |
66 |
67 |
68 |
69 |
70 |
71 |
72 |
73 |
74 |
75 |
76 |
77 |
78 |
79 |
80 |
81 |
82 |
83 |
84 |
85 |
86 |
87 |
88 |
89 |
90 |
Microsoft founder Bill Gates' full name is William Henry Gates III.
The total of the ASCII values of the characters in BILL GATES plus 3
= 666:
| B |
I |
L |
L |
|
G |
A |
T |
E |
S |
|
III |
|
| 66 |
73 |
76 |
76 |
|
71 |
65 |
71 |
69 |
83 |
|
3 |
666 |
If it's not already apparent, I consider
numerology as hokum and a fraud, along with astrology,
crystals, pyramid power, and other such New Age flimflam. Martin Gardner
(a national treasure) has labored mightily to debunk
modern manifestations of numerology.
How anyone can take numerology seriously after reading the following
writings by Gardner is beyond my comprehension:
- "Farrakhan, Cabala, Baha'i, and 19", in
Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?
(NY: W.W. Norton, 2000), pp. 247-256
- "The Numerology of Dr. Fliess", in
Mathematical Carnival
(NY: Knopf, 1977), pp. 150-160,
reprinted as "Fliess, Freud and Biorhythm", in
Science: Good, Bad and Bogus
(Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1981), pp. 131-139
- "The Numerology of Dr. Khalifa", in
Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?
(NY: W.W. Norton, 2000), pp. 257-263
- "The Second Coming", in
Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?
(NY: W.W. Norton, 2000), pp. 288-296
The combination of numerology with anti-Catholic bigotry is an
especially poisonous and vicious brew, which shows no signs of abating, if
one can judge by the popularity of such recent books as
Canyon Adams'
666: The Beast Revealed (Epiphany Press, 1999).
Adams and his ilk, when tempted to make a serious identification of someone
or something with the Beast, would do well to take the advice of F.F. Bruce
(op. cit., p. 187) and ask the question: Master, is it I? (Matthew 26:25).
An asterisk by the following links indicates that the author takes numerology
seriously. Nevertheless, good historical information can
sometimes be found even on those pages, if you sift carefully through the
nonsense.
- Georg Adamsen,
Apocalypse 13:18 and nrwn qsr
-
Sterling D. Allan (?),
666-Mark of the Beast Studies
*
- Boletin Oficial de la Facultad de Ciencias Inutiles (Bulletin of
the Faculty of Useless Sciences), Number 22 (June 1999):
Numero Monografico Dedicado al 666
- Joan Concilio,
Gematria Past and Present
(looks like a college term paper, but the bibliography is
unfortunately missing)
- S. Desrosiers,
Properties of the Number 666
*
(the
French original is also available)
- Eli Eshoh,
A Investigation into the Mystical Number 666
*
- Daniel Gleason,
The Sacred Geometry Mysteries of Jesus Christ
* (extremely bizarre)
- Mike Keith,
The Number of the Beast (mathematical characteristics
of 666, excellent)
- Juergen Koeller,
Chronograms
- Otfried Lieberknecht,
Greek and Latin Gematria
(brief but scholarly)
- Gary T. Meadors,
Mark of the Beast
- John Opsopaus,
Some Notes on the History of Isopsephia (Gematria)
- Edward L. Pothier,
Six Hundred Sixty-Six But Not 666
- Michael Scheifler,
666, The Number of the Beast
*
- Herman H. Somers,
666: Le nombre de la bete
- Rob Vest,
666: Reckoning the Number of the Beast
- Eric W. Weisstein,
Beast Number
The following Java applet allows to enter the name of your favorite
villain and get the number corresponding to the name.
You can choose from one of four numerological schemes: Blevins' secret
Bible code, Roman numerals (with J equivalent to I, U to V, and W to
V + V), ASCII, and the units/tens/hundreds scheme.
Here is source code for the Numerology.java class used in the
applet:
//----------------------------------
// A numerology class (just for fun)
//----------------------------------
import java.util.Vector;
public class Numerology {
private Vector asciiScheme;
private Vector blevinsScheme;
private Vector romanNumeralScheme;
private Vector unitsTensHundredsScheme;
private Vector schemes;
private static final int AVALUE = 65;
public static final String ASCII_SCHEME = "ASCII";
public static final String BLEVINS_SCHEME = "Blevins";
public static final String ROMAN_NUMERAL_SCHEME = "Roman Numeral";
public static final String UNITS_TENS_HUNDREDS_SCHEME = "Units, Tens, Hundreds";
//------------
// Constructor
//------------
public Numerology () {
// ASCII scheme
int val = AVALUE;
asciiScheme = new Vector ();
for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
asciiScheme.addElement (new Integer (val++));
}
// Blevins' scheme
val = 6;
blevinsScheme = new Vector ();
for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
blevinsScheme.addElement (new Integer (val));
val += 6;
}
// Roman numeral scheme
romanNumeralScheme = new Vector ();
Integer intObj;
char ch;
for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
ch = fromASCII (i + AVALUE);
switch (ch) {
case 'I':
intObj = new Integer (1);
break;
case 'J': // alternate for I
intObj = new Integer (1);
break;
case 'V':
intObj = new Integer (5);
break;
case 'U': // alternate for V
intObj = new Integer (5);
break;
case 'W': // double U, i.e. double V
intObj = new Integer (10);
break;
case 'X':
intObj = new Integer (10);
break;
case 'L':
intObj = new Integer (50);
break;
case 'C':
intObj = new Integer (100);
break;
case 'D':
intObj = new Integer (500);
break;
case 'M':
intObj = new Integer (1000);
break;
default:
intObj = new Integer (0);
break;
}
romanNumeralScheme.addElement (intObj);
}
// Units, tens, hundreds scheme
val = 1;
int multiplier = 1;
unitsTensHundredsScheme = new Vector ();
for (int i = 0; i < 26; i++) {
intObj = new Integer (val * multiplier);
unitsTensHundredsScheme.addElement (intObj);
if (++val == 10) {
val = 1;
multiplier *= 10;
}
}
// Scheme names
schemes = new Vector ();
schemes.addElement (BLEVINS_SCHEME);
schemes.addElement (UNITS_TENS_HUNDREDS_SCHEME);
schemes.addElement (ASCII_SCHEME);
schemes.addElement (ROMAN_NUMERAL_SCHEME);
}
//---------------------------------
// Convert ASCII value to character
//---------------------------------
private static char fromASCII (int val) {
byte[] b = new byte[1];
b[0] = (byte) val;
String s = new String (b);
return s.charAt (0);
}
//---------------------------------
// Convert ASCII value to character
//---------------------------------
private static int toASCII (char ch) {
Character charObj = new Character (ch);
String s = charObj.toString ();
byte[] b = s.getBytes ();
int asc = (int) b[0];
return asc;
}
//-------------------------------------------------
// Get index into Vector corresponding to character
//-------------------------------------------------
private static int getIndex (char ch) {
int asc = toASCII (ch);
int idx = asc - AVALUE;
if (idx < 0 || idx >= 26) {
idx = -1;
}
return idx;
}
//------------
// Get schemes
//------------
public Vector getSchemes () {
return schemes;
}
//-----------
// Get scheme
//-----------
private Vector getScheme (String name) {
Vector v = null;
if (name.equals (ASCII_SCHEME)) {
v = asciiScheme;
}
else if (name.equals (BLEVINS_SCHEME)) {
v = blevinsScheme;
}
else if (name.equals (ROMAN_NUMERAL_SCHEME)) {
v = romanNumeralScheme;
}
else if (name.equals (UNITS_TENS_HUNDREDS_SCHEME)) {
v = unitsTensHundredsScheme;
}
return v;
}
//-----------------------------------------------------------
// Get number corresponding to string, using specified scheme
//-----------------------------------------------------------
public int getNumber (String schemeName, String s) {
// Find the scheme corresponding to the name
Vector scheme = getScheme (schemeName);
if (scheme == null) {
return 0;
}
// Find the number corresponding to the string
int n = 0;
String caps = s.toUpperCase ();
Integer intObj;
int idx;
char ch;
for (int i = 0; i < caps.length (); i++) {
ch = caps.charAt (i);
idx = getIndex (ch);
if (idx >= 0 && idx < 26) {
intObj = (Integer) scheme.elementAt (idx);
n += intObj.intValue ();
}
}
return n;
}
}
The Greek word
isopsephia is derived from
isos (equal) and
psephos (pebble). Since pebbles of different colors were
used in voting,
isopsephia originally had a meaning similar to
"one man, one vote".
But pebbles were also used in simple counting (calculus is the Latin word
for pebble), and the term
isopsephia
later referred to verses where the numeric values of the letters were
identical. Aulus Gellius,
Attic Nights 14.5.4, mentions a book
which asked the question "qui sint apud Homerum uersus isopsephi" (what
lines in Homer are isopsephic). In the
Iliad, the pair 7.264-5 are
nearly isopsephic, as are 19.306-7.
The Greek astrologer and poet Leonidas of Alexandria,
who lived in the first century AD, intentionally wrote
isopsephic verses. A few specimens survive in the
Greek Anthology
(6.321-322 and 323-329). Two (321, 328) are addressed to Caesar.
Which Caesar is uncertain, although it may well be Nero.
Also from Alexandria, a bit earlier than Leonidas, was the
grammarian Apion. An anecdote in Seneca's
Letters to Lucilius
(88.40) attributes a curious bit of numerological lore
to Apion:
He used to say that Homer, after completing both of his works (the
Iliad and Odyssey), added opening verses to the work in which he
described the Trojan War [i.e. the Iliad]. As proof he adduced the
fact that Homer intentionally placed in the first line two letters
which contained the number of his books.
There are 24 books in the Iliad, and 24 in the Odyssey (48 total).
The first word of the Iliad in Greek is menin (wrath), whose first
two letters (mu and eta) also represent the numbers 40 and 8 (total 48).
In Apion's completely bogus view, this "proved" that the first lines
of the Iliad must have been composed after both the Iliad and Odyssey
were otherwise complete.
It is in the
Oneirocritica (Interpretation of Dreams) by the
Greek writer Artemidorus (late 2nd century AD), however, that we find
numerological speculation (isopsephia) in its full glory. Sections 2.70,
3.34, and 4.24 of the
Oneirocritica deal with numbers in dream
interpretation. In 4.24, Artemidorus says that if a sick man sees an old
woman in a dream, it means he will die, because the numerical value of
"old woman" and "funeral" are both 704. He conveniently omits the definite
article with "old woman", while including it with "funeral":
| G |
R |
A |
U |
S |
|
| 3 |
100 |
1 |
400 |
200 |
704 |
| H |
E |
|
E |
K |
PH |
O |
R |
A |
|
|
8 |
|
5 |
20 |
500 |
70 |
100 |
1 |
704 |
An anonymous epigram from the
Greek Anthology
(10.43, translated by W.R. Paton)
recommends a six-hour work day (those wise, sensible Greeks!):
Six hours are most suitable for labour, and the four that follow,
when set forth in letters, say to men "Live."
The four numbers following 6 are 7, 8, 9, 10. The letters
corresponding to these numbers are zeta, eta, theta, iota,
which spell the Greek imperative meaning "live" (zethi).
Another anonymous epigram from the same collection
(10.335, also translated by W.R. Paton) has a numerological basis:
Someone, hearing that "Damagoras" and "pestilence"
were numerical equivalents [isophephon], weighed the
character of both from the beam of the balance. But
the scale, when raised, was pulled down on Damagoras'
side, and he found pestilence lighter.
In other words, even though Damagoras and pestilence
(loimos) are numerically equivalent, Damagoras is worse than
pestilence. They both add up to 420:
| D |
A |
M |
A |
G |
O |
R |
A |
S |
|
| 4 |
1 |
40 |
1 |
3 |
70 |
100 |
1 |
200 |
420 |
| L |
O |
I |
M |
O |
S |
|
| 30 |
70 |
10 |
40 |
70 |
200 |
420 |
A naughty epigram from the
Greek Anthology (12.6) by Strato
notes the numerical equivalence of fundament (proktos) and gold (chrysos).
They both add up to 1570:
| P |
R |
O |
K |
T |
O |
S |
|
| 80 |
100 |
800 |
20 |
300 |
70 |
200 |
1570 |
| CH |
R |
Y |
S |
O |
S |
|
| 600 |
100 |
400 |
200 |
70 |
200 |
1570 |
Only tangentially related to numerology, but still interesting, is the phenomenon of significant
numbers of lines, verses, chapters, etc., in literary works.
Richard J. Clifford,
Proverbs: A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox
Press, 1996), p. 108, points out that Proverbs 10:1 - 22:16 bears the title "The Proverbs of Solomon."
The Hebrew consonants of Solomon add up to 375.
375 is also the number of two-line verses in this section of Proverbs.
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 8.212-213 is a two-part Latin
verse epitaph from a mausoleum in Kasserine, Tunisia, dated at the middle of the 2nd
century A.D. The number of lines in the two parts combined is 110.
The deceased, Titus Flavius Secundus, lived 110 years, according to the
accompanying prose inscription (CIL 8.211): "uix(it) an. cx". This was
apparently first noticed by F. Bücheler. A recent commentator,
E. Courtney, in
Musa Lapidaria: A Selection of Latin Verse Inscriptions
(Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995), p. 400, says that the coincidence "is hardly
accidental."
On this subject, I've never been convinced by the fantasies of George Duckworth,
Structural Patterns and Proportions in Vergil's
Aeneid (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1962) , who finds everywhere in the
Aeneid that the ratio M/(M + m), where M is the line count of major passages and m is
the line count of minor passages, is 1.618 (the Golden Ratio).
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