# 666 (number)

666 (six hundred [and] sixty-six) is the natural number following 665 and preceding 667.

 ← 665 666 667 →
Cardinalsix hundred sixty-six
Ordinal666th
(six hundred sixty-sixth)
Factorization2 × 32× 37
Greek numeralΧΞϚ´
Roman numeralDCLXVI
Greek prefixἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ
hexakósioi hexēkonta héx
Latin prefixsescenti sexaginta sex
Binary10100110102
Ternary2202003
Quaternary221224
Quinary101315
Senary30306
Octal12328
Duodecimal47612
Vigesimal1D620
Base 36II36
Chinese numeral六百六十六
Arabic numeral٦٦٦

666 is called the "number of the Beast" in (most manuscripts of) chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament,[1] and also in popular culture.

## In mathematics

666 is the sum of the first 36 natural numbers (${\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^{36}i}$ , i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666), and thus it is a triangular number. Notice that 36 = 15 + 21; 15, 21, and 36 are also triangular numbers; and 152 + 212 = 225 + 441 = 666.

In base 10, 666 is a repdigit (and therefore a palindromic number) and a Smith number. A prime reciprocal magic square based on 1/149 in base 10 has a magic total of 666.

The prime factorization of 666 is 2 • 32 • 37. Also, 666 is the sum of squares of first seven primes: ${\displaystyle 2^{2}+3^{2}+5^{2}+7^{2}+11^{2}+13^{2}+17^{2}}$

The Roman numeral for 666, DCLXVI, has exactly one occurrence of all symbols whose value is less than 1000 in decreasing order (D = 500, C = 100, L = 50, X = 10, V = 5, I = 1).

## In religion

### Number of the Beast

666 is often associated with the devil.

In the Textus Receptus manuscripts of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation (13:17–18) cryptically asserts 666 to be "man's number" or "the number of a man" (depending on how the text is translated) associated with the Beast, an antagonistic creature that appears briefly about two-thirds into the apocalyptic vision. Some manuscripts[which?] of the original Greek use the symbols χξϛ chi xi stigma (or χξϝ with a digamma), while other manuscripts spell out the number in words.[2]

In modern popular culture, 666 has become one of the most widely recognized symbols for the Antichrist or, alternatively, the devil. The number 666 is purportedly used to invoke Satan.[citation needed] Earnest references to the number occur both among apocalypticist Christian groups and in explicitly anti-Christian subcultures. References in contemporary Western art or literature are, more likely than not, intentional references to the Beast symbolism. Such popular references are therefore too numerous to list.

It is common to see the symbolic role of the integer 666 transferred to the digit sequence 6-6-6. Some people take the Satanic associations of 666 so seriously that they actively avoid things related to 666 or the digits 6-6-6. This is known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

The Number of the Beast is cited as 616 in some early biblical manuscripts, the earliest known instance being in Papyrus 115.[3][4]

## In other fields

666 float in a Paris parade
• Is the magic sum, or sum of the magic constants of a six by six magic square, any row or column of which adds up to 111.
• Is the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel (0 through 36).[5]
• Was a winning lottery number in the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal, in which equipment was tampered to favor a 4 or 6 as each of the three individual random digits.[6]
• Was the original name of the Macintosh SevenDust computer virus that was discovered in 1998.
• The number is a frequent visual element of Aryan Brotherhood tattoos.[7]
• Aleister Crowley adopted the title "the Great Beast 666". As such, 666 is also associated with him, his work, and his religious philosophy of Thelema.
• Molar mass of the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7.
• In China the number is considered to be lucky and is often displayed in shop windows and neon signs.[8][9] In China, 666 can mean "everything goes smoothly" (the number six is similar in pronunciation to the character 流, which means "flowing".[10]