What is “Gematria”?
Today, gematria is recognized as a Jewish interpretive technique that assigns numerical values to Hebrew letters, words, phrases, or sentences. By summing these values, it aims to uncover the "deeper meaning" of the text. While some connections may seem far-fetched, others are quite clear, and surprisingly, this method has historical roots dating back to New Testament times.
In Matthew’s genealogy (which shows that Jesus was a descendant of King David) we read:
“Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” (Mathew 1:17).
The numerical value of the Hebrew characters forming the name of the great King of Israel – David (דוד) is 14.
This is how it works 14 = (4) ד (4) + ו (6) + ד
Matthew uses genealogy to intentionally tie Jesus to David numerically (through a gematria of 14) three times. His point is that Jesus is the son of David, i.e. the Messiah.
The Number of the Beast
In the Book of Revelation, we encounter the passage, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six” (Rev. 13:18). The author explicitly suggests calculating the number of the beast, indicating that it holds significance.
Although the figure of the beast in Revelation likely extends beyond the first century, during the era close to the composition of Revelation, a ruthless persecutor of early Christians emerged—Nero. The numeric value of his name and title in Hebrew (Nero Caesar – נרון קסר) is 666. Tradition holds that both Peter and Paul met their martyrdom during his reign.
The Number of Nero?
It is probable that Nero served as a symbolic representation of all subsequent government-sponsored persecutions, such as figures like Hitler, Stalin, and Al Baghdadi, among others. If the initial identification of the beast as Emperor Nero holds true, this could explain why certain early manuscripts of the Book of Revelation display the number 616 instead of 666 for the beast. The discrepancy likely arose from the spelling of Nero's name as pronounced in Latin rather than Hebrew. In Latin pronunciation, the "nun" (which holds a numerical value of 50) was omitted in an effort to prevent confusion between the godless Roman emperor and another individual. Hence, we encounter the figure 616 in some later manuscripts rather than 666 in earlier (original) ones. There are even more hidden treasures awaiting discovery when one begins to explore the scriptures from a Jewish perspective.
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