the first thing to remember about 666 being the mark of the beast is that there were no arabic numerals at the time the book of revelations was written. So you're not going to find a birthmark of that shape on the forehead of the anti-christ. Hebrew, Greek and Latin all used letters to represent numbers. We all learned Roman Numerals., so 666 is DCLXVI. In Greek it would be χλλεα (α=1, ε=5 , λ=30 , χ=600). Or perhaps χξϛ' or χιϛ'. In Hebrew its
נרון קסר, Nrwn Qsr
r s q n w r n
200 + 60 + 100 + 50 + 6 + 200 + 50 =666
However, some early manuscripts contain 616 instead of 666
נרו קסר, Nrw Qsr
r s q w r n
200 + 60 + 100 + 6 + 200 + 50 = 616
Now literalists, especially of the American fundamentalist variety, believe that 666 means that exact number, and nothing more.
But at the time it was written, anyone reading it in hebrew would recognize it as Nero Ceasar.
