Video Introduction
Definition
Gematria: (Heb. gimatria; Aramaic gīmatrĕyā; γεωμετρία geōmetria). A traditional Jewish numerical system used to assign values to words or phrases in the Hebrew language. Many commentators believe that 666 represents Emperor Nero’s name.
Fig. 1. The Corinthian columns of the stao of
the state agora, Smyrna.
Izmir © David E. Graves
The State Agora in Smyrna
the state agora, Smyrna.
Izmir © David E. Graves
The State Agora dates from the Roman period of Marcus Aurelius (ad 161–180), who rebuilt it following the earthquake of ad 178.[1] Although it has no bearing on NT events,[2] it does have relevance to the period of the early church. The state agora is different to the commercial agora, which is situated near the harbour. It is perhaps one of the best-preserved agoras in all of Anatolia.[3] The state agora was an impressive complex occupying an area of ca. 260 x 390 ft. (80 x 120 m). It had two-story colonnades divided into three sections, with two rows of Corinthian columns (fig. 45; Strabo Geogr. 14.1.37).[4] Akurgal adds:
There is also a magnificent vaulted basement beneath the north colonnade, still in splendid condition. The north aisle in the basement was composed of shops, which must have opened onto a street in Roman times. Court cases were heard in an exedra in the west part of the north colonnade. The stoa on the south side, not yet excavated, must also have had two stories with a nave and two aisles.[5]
Between 1932 and 1942, German and Turkish archaeologists excavated the agora under the direction of Numan, Kantar and Miltner.[6] Excavations were resumed in 2002 by the Izmir Archaeology Museum under the direction of the Museum’s director, Mehmet Taslialan. Excavations in the northern and western portions of the civic basilica have revealed many sculptures and architectural pieces. A portion of the basilica and part of the west stoa are being restored to a height of two stories.[7] According to Taslialan,
The inscriptions on stone provide information about civic life and the Roman government of the Province of Asia, and very numerous graffiti, preserved on the plaster which covers the north wall and many of the pillars of the lower story of the Basilica, constitute a Greek counterpart to the Latin graffiti of Pompeii, unique in the Roman East. [8]
Thomas Derwbear, a tablet expert, was brought in by Taslialan to help decipher the graffiti, tablets and inscriptions discovered in the agora. Derwbear states that “Smyrnian youth ornamented the walls with everything about their daily life. Gladiator figures describing a fight with lions, comedians on stage, and other graffiti about sport and health were found”.[9] Some of the messages used gematria, a secret code similar to that used in Revelation 13:18 for the number 666, to convey their messages of love, sex and religion. One inscription from the agora Basilica, that was an example of Isopsephism (gematria) from Smyrna, states: “equal in value: lord, 800; faith 800” (TP100.3 = SIG 3.973).[10] Three female names, in the same building, are identified representing 616. One reads “I love a woman whose number is 616” (T22.1).[11]
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| Fig. 2 Arch in the western stoa (portico) of the state agora in Smyrna (second cent. AD). At the top of the arch is a portrait of Faustina the Younger (see Fig. 47), honored for financing the rebuilding of the city. Izmir © David E. Graves |
Wilson reports that:
One example provides perhaps the earliest Christian graffiti yet discovered. It reads o dedwkwj pneuma: “the one who has given the Spirit,” that is, the Lord (kurios) Jesus. The function of this graffito was apparently to announce that there were Christians in the city with whom other believers could fellowship and worship.[12]
According to Aristides, in the center of the agora, surrounded by colonnades, stood “a large altar dedicated to Zeus” (figs. 96, 116, 127, 153, 156, 158).[13] In addition, Demeter (fig. 99) and Poseidon are depicted standing next to each other on a relief along with other gods.[14] They are now on display in the Izmir Archaeological Museum. Akurgal postulates, “[I]t may well be that placing these deities side by side was intended to demonstrate that Smyrna at that time dominated commerce by both land and sea”.[15] Vermeule mentions that a statue of Trajan was also located in the agora.[16]
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| Fig. 3 Perhaps the earliest Christian Graffiti to be discovered. The graffitio states: ό δεδῳκ[ώς] τὸ πνεῡμ[α], o dedōk[ōs] to pneum[a]: “the one who has given the Spirit. . .” (T20.1). Courtesy of Mark Wilson, used by permission. Commercial agora, Smyrna (modern Izmir), Turkey. |
The area around the agora altar was no doubt the place mentioned in the Martyrdom of Pionius, where Polemon was leading Pionius to make his sacrifice. On the second arch in the colonnade of the agora is a portrait of Faustina the Younger, wife of Marcus Aurelius (fig.2), honoring her contribution to the rebuilding of the agora following the ad 178 earthquake (fig. 1).
David Graves, Jesus Speaks to Seven of His Churches: A Historical and Exegetical Commentary on the Messages to the Seven Churches in Revelation. Toronto, Ont.: Electronic Christian Media, May 2017), 125-127.
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Agora Graffiti
Between 1932 and 1942, German and Turkish archaeologists excavated the agora under the direction of Numan, Kantar and Miltner.[1] Excavations were resumed in 2002 by the Izmir Archaeology Museum under the direction of the Museum’s director, Mehmet Taşlıalan. Excavations in the northern and western portions of the civic basilica have revealed many sculptures and architectural pieces. A portion of the basilica and part of the west stoa are being restored to a height of two stories.[2] According to Taşlıalan,
The inscriptions on stone provide information about civic life and the Roman government of the Province of Asia, and very numerous graffiti, preserved on the plaster which covers the north wall and many of the pillars of the lower story of the Basilica, constitute a Greek counterpart to the Latin graffiti of Pompeii, unique in the Roman East. [3]
Thomas Derwbear, an inscription expert employed by the Smyrna excavation, states that “Smyrnian youth ornamented the walls with everything about their daily life. Gladiator figures describing a fight with lions, comedians on stage, and other graffiti about sport and health were found”.[4] Some of the messages used Isopsephism (ἴσος isos “equal” + ψῆφος psēphos “pebble, used for counting”; similar to Jewish gematria), the Greek practice of assigning values to letters in a name and then adding up the numbers to give a single number, a common practice in antiquity to convey their messages of love, sex and religion.[5] The secret code is similar to that used in Revelation 13:18 for the number 666. Three female names, in the same building, are identified representing 616. One reads “I love a woman whose number is 616” (T22.1).[6] Others read “whose number is 731” (T24.2) and “1308” (T27.3).[7] Another inscription from the agora Basilica, that was an example of Isopsephism from Smyrna, states: “equal in value: lord, 800; faith 800” (IG 3.973).[8]
Perhaps one of the earliest Christian graffiti’s ever discovered was also uncovered during the excavation of the agora. It reads ό δεδῳκ[ώς] τὸ πνεῡμ[α], o dedōk[ōs] to pneum[a]: “the one who has given the Spirit. . .” (T20.1) that is, the Lord (kurios) Jesus (fig. 119). The graffito would indicate to those who read it that there were Christians in the city of Smyrna.[9]
David E. Graves, The Archaeology of the New Testament: 75 Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible. Moncton, NB, Canada: Electronic Christian Media, 2019.
Fig. 4. Example of isopsephy from the Sanctuary of
Artemis Orthia, second cent. AD
© Elleniko Pneuma / Wikimedia Commons
The Isopsephy Inscription (Rev 13:18)
Artemis Orthia, second cent. AD
© Elleniko Pneuma / Wikimedia Commons
Nero’s identification as the antichrist is further reinforced by the mysterious number 666 ascribed to the Antichrist in Revelation (13:18), which translates using the Hebrew practice of gematria (Heb. gimatria; Aramaic gīmaṭrĕyā, from Gr. gēometria or grammateia) into the name of Nero. Gematria is a traditional Jewish (Kabbalistic) numerical system used to assign values to words or phrases in the Hebrew scriptures, as it was believed that the numbers related in some way (age, year, etc.) to the word being represented.[1]
Closely related to gematria is the Greek practice of isopsephy (Gr. isos meaning “equal” and psephos meaning “pebble”).[2] Isopsephia (“numerical equality”)[3] is derived from the practice of using pebbles to count and add up numbers, but the term refers to the art of assigning values to letters in a name and then adding up the numbers to give a single value.
Use of both the Greek and Hebrew numerical “cryptograms” was a fairly common practice in antiquity to conceal personal names as numbers. This practice of numerology[4] is verified by several archaeological discoveries.
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| Fig. 5. Graffiti on the outside door of the house of Octavius that translates from the Latin as “Amerimnus thought upon his lady Harmonia for good. The number of her honorable name is 45” [Sogliano]. Giuseppe Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompeii (Napoli: Tipografia italiana, 1875), 312. Wikimedia Commons adapted D. E. Graves |
A second cent. AD example of isopsephy was discovered on a headstone at the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia (fig. 152). It reads: ΟΡΘΕΙΗ ΔΩΡΟΝ ΛΕΟΝΤΕΥΣ ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕ ΒΟΑΓΟΣ ΒΨΛ ΜΩΑΝ ΝΙΚΗΣΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΑΔΕ ΕΠΑΘΛΑ ΛΑΒΩΝ ΒΨΛ ΚΑΙ Μ ΕΣΤΕΨΕ ΠΑΤΗΡ ΕΙΣΑΡΙΘΜΟΙΣ ΕΠΕΣΙ ΒΨΛ. The votive stele is a isopsephic elegiac[5] poem about a boy who won a singing competition and each verse adds up to 2730 (ΒΨΛ).
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Several Greek and Latin isopsephy inscriptions are found in graffiti on the walls at Pompeii (fig. 153), demonstrating that it was known and used in NT times. Antonio Sogliano has published wall-writings from Pompeii (AD 79)[6] that states: “Amerimmus thought upon his lady Harmonia for good. The number of her honourable name is 45 (or 1035)” and another, “I love her whose number is 545” (Φιλω ης αριθμος ϕμε).[7] |
The Roman historian Suetonius (AD 69–after 138), who also acted as Emperor Hadrian’s secretary (AD 117–138) in his work The Twelve Caesars, reported that some of Nero’s enemies wrote graffiti on the walls in Rome and used numbers to accuse him of killing his mother:
Count the numerical values
Of the letters in Nero’s name,
And in “murdered his own mother”:
You’ll find their sum is the same. (Suetonius Ner. 39.2 [Graves])[8]
In Rolfe’s work–in the Loeb Classical Library series–the translation is more literal, and as Kraybill explains: “the gematrial allusion is more subtle “[Nero, Orestes, Alcmeon their mothers slew.] A calculation new. Nero his mother slew” (Suetonius Ner. 39.2 [Rolf]). The point in either case is that the Greek gematrial value for both “Nero” (Νερων) and “killed his own mother” (ιδιαν μητερ ααπεκτεινε) is 1,005.”[9]
Leonidas of Alexandria (first cent. AD) composed an isopsephic epigram (short satiristic poem) on Nero (Gr. Anth.)[11] with an equinumeral rhyming couplet (distichs); defined by Psychoyos as “epigrams of four lines, whose first hexameter and pentameter, if their letters’ values were added, have the same arithmetical value with the next two verses.”[12]
During the Imperial Roman period (27 BC–AD 476), many inscriptions have been discovered that use numerical isopsephy, including at Pergamum and Smyrna, which are two of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation (Rev 2.12ff.). During the second cent. a Greek architect from Pergamum, by the name of Aelius Nikon, was described by his son Galen, the famous physician, as having “mastered all there was to know of the science of geometry and numbers,”[13] and was proficient in the art of composing isopsephic works.[14] In Smyrna several graffiti included isopsephic epigrams. Three female names, in the same building, are identified representing 616. One reads “I love a woman whose number is 616” (T22.1).[15] Others read “whose number is 731” (T24.2; fig. 154) and “1308” (T27.3).[16] Another inscription from the agora Basilica, that was an example of Isopsephism from Smyrna, states: “equal in value: lord, 800; faith 800” (TP100.3 = SIG 3.973).[17]
Also, Apollonius, a mathematician from Pergamum (AD third cent.), asked: “Given the verse: ΑΡΤΕΜΙΔΟΣ ΚΛΕΙΤΕ ΚΡΑΤΟΣ ΕΞΟΧΟΝ ΕΝΝΕΑ ΚΟΥΡΑΙ [“Nine maidens, praise the glorious power of Artemis”], what does the product of all its elements equal?”[18]
Driver points out possible examples of gematria in both the OT and NT[19] and Hvalvik finds it possibly being used in the apocryphal book of Barnabas (Barn. 9:8).[20] The practice of turning words or names into numbers is documented in other ancient texts (Lucian Alex. 11; Anth. pal. 14.20, 105; Sib. Or. 1.137–46; 1.324–30; 5.1–51). The later Sibylline Oracles (AD 235–265) often represented the names or initials of Roman emperors as numbers (Sib. Or. 11.29–30, 92, 114, 189–90, 208, 256, 266; 12.39, 49–50, 68, 78, 96, 101, 121, 125, 144, 148, 189, 207, 246, 250, 258; 13.83–84; 14.21, 28, 44, 59–60, 79, 95, 106, 126, 137, 150, 163, 227, 248).
John, in writing Revelation, is thus not alone in representing a Roman emperor as a number and referring to Nero (Nerō Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; r. AD 54–68)[21] using gematria. One might argue that Nerō(n) Kaisar in Greek is not 666; however, John is writing a riddle to be solved, and seems to have expected some of the Jews in the seven churches to not only understand gematria but to be able to use it in Hebrew. John wrote “let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666” (Rev 13:18). The table below shows the calculation:[22]
Gematria for Nero and Jesus
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| Fig 7. Fragment from Papyrus 115 (P115) of Revelation in the 66th vol. of the Oxyrhynchus series (P. Oxy. 4499). It has the number of the beast as ΧΙϹ, 616 © Jarekt / Wikimedia Commons |
Lawrence explains the manuscript evidence for the variant calculation of 616 (fig. 7),[23] which lends further evidence that the solution to the calculation of the number is Nero. He states:
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Commenting on the textual variant 616, the distinguished textual scholar, Bruce M. Metzger, states that: “Perhaps the change was intentional, seeing that the Greek form Neron Caesar written in Hebrew characters (nrwn qsr) is equivalent to 666, whereas the Latin form Nero Caesar (nrw qsr) is equivalent to 616.”[25] While nrwn qsr is an unusual spelling of Nero’s name, it is found in this form in the Talmud[26] and a contemporary Aramaic scroll from a cave at Qumran (Mur 18).[27]
As Sanders points out, there are other names which, when put through the same process, equal 666. Irenaeus (Haer. 5.29–30) gave three names that total 666 (Euanthas, Teitan, Lateinos). Andreas of Caesarea in his Commentary on Revelation gave seven names which totalled 666 (see also Arethas’ Commentary which gives 9 names; Primasius who gives 2 names; Victorinus who gives 4 names; Venerable Bede who gives 3 names; and Beatus who gives 8 names).[28] However, the contemporary evidence for the use of nrwn qsr as Nero’s name seems compelling when taken with the variant 616 (nrw qsr).
David E. Graves, The Archaeology of the New Testament: 75 Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible. Moncton, NB, Canada: Electronic Christian Media, 2019.
Footnotes
[1] Angus Stevenson, Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 3297; Shmuel Sambursky, “On the Origin and Significance of the Term ‘Gematria.,’” JJS 29, no. 1 (1978): 35–38.
[2] Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe, Mysteries and Secrets of Numerology (Toronto, Can.: Dundurn, 2013), 289; Psychoyos, “The Forgotten Art of Isopsephy,” 157–224.
[4] For a detailed explanation of how gematria and isopsephy functions see Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes, vol. 2 (London: Tegg & Son, 1836), 2081–2084.
[5] A form of ancient poetry, popular in Greek and Latin, using a form of couplets consisting of dactylic hexameter and a pentameter.
[6] Wilhelm Hirschfelder and Georg Andresen, eds., Wochenschrift Für Klassische Philologie, vol. 19 (Leipzig: Reisland, 1902), col. 52.
[7] Sogliano, “Isopsephia Pompeiana,” 256–59; Erwin Rohde, Der griechische Roman und seine Vorläufer (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1914), 487 n. 1; Franz Dornseiff, Das Alphabet in Mystik Und Magie, 2. Aufl edition, Etoixeia, Studien Zur Geschichte Des Antiken Weltbildes Und Der Griechischen Wissenschaft, Hrsg. von F. Boll. Hft. VII (Leipzig: Teubner, 1925), 113; Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, 277; Maurice H. Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism (Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav, 1970), 95; Kieren Barry, The Greek Qabalah: Alphabetical Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World (York Beach, Maine: Weiser Books, 1999), 128; Nicholas Vinel, “Le Judaïsme Caché Du Carré Sator de Pompéi: The Hidden Judaism of the Pompeiian Sator Square,” Revue de L’histoire Des Religions 2 (2006): 180; Georges Ifrah, The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer, trans. David Bellos (New York, N.Y.: Wiley, 2000), 256.
[8] Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, The Twelve Caesars, ed. Michael Grant, trans. Robert Graves, Rev., Penguin Classics (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1987), 236; Ifrah, The Universal History of Numbers, 256.
[9] Kraybill, Apocalypse and Allegiance, 67 n. 26; Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, Lives of the Caesars: Claudius. Nero. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. Vespasian. Titus, Domitian. Lives of Illustrious Men: Grammarians and Rhetoricians. Poets (Terence. Virgil. Horace. Tibullus. Persius. Lucan). Lives of Pliny the Elder and Passienus Crispus, trans. John C. Rolfe, vol. 2, LCL 38 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914), 2:158–59.
[10] Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, 278; Franz Bücheler, Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, vol. 61 (Berlin: Weber, 1906), 307 f.
[11] Michael A. Tueller, ed., The Greek Anthology: Book 1: Christian Epigrams. Book 2: Description of the Statues in the Gymnasium of Zeuxippus. Book 3: Epigrams in the Temple of Apollonis at Cyzicus. Book 4: Prefaces to the Various Anthologies. Book 5: Erotic Epigrams, trans. William R. Paton, vol. 1, LCL 67 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014), 1:470; 2:294.
[12] Psychoyos, “Forgotten Art of Isopsephy,” 179.
[13] Ifrah, The Universal History of Numbers, 256.
[14] Psychoyos, “Forgotten Art of Isopsephy,” 179.
[15] Bagnall, “Isopsephisms of Desire,” in Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna, 50, 226.
[16] Ibid. 48.
[17] Bagnall, “Christianity,” in Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna, 46.
[18] Ibid., 178; I.Perg. nos. 333, 339, 587.
[19] G. R. Driver, “The Number of the Beast,” in Bibel Und Qumran: Beitrage Zur Erforschung Der Beziehungen Wischen Bibel- Und Qumran- Wissenschaft, ed. S. Wagner, Hans Bardtke Zum 22.9.1966 (Berlin: Evangelische Haupt-Bibelgesellschaft, 1968), 75–78.
[20] Reider Hvalvik, “Barnabas 9.7–9 and the Author’s Supposed Use of Gematria,” New Testament Studies 33 (1987): 276–82.
[21] Epiphanius of Salamis states that John left Patmos during the reign of Claudius Caesar (AD 41–54) when John was over ninety years old (Pan. 51.12.1–2). Aune points out that there is some confusion over Claudius’s name as he was also known as Nero Claudius Caesar. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 77–78.
[22] Kraybill, Apocalypse and Allegiance, 67; James Stuart Russell, The Parousia. A Critical Inquiry into the New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord’s Second Coming (London: Dalby, Isbister & Co., 1878), 464.
[23] Kraybill, Apocalypse and Allegiance, 66 n. 25.
[24] John M. Lawrence, “Nero Redivivus,” Fides et Historia 11 (1974): 54–55.
[25] Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2002), 750.
[26] Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud and Midrashic Literature (New York, N.Y.: Putnam’s Sons, 1903), loc. cit.; Charles, Revelation, 1:367.
[27] Delbert R. Hillers, “Revelation 13:18 and a Scroll from Murabba’ât,” BASOR 170 (1963): 65.
[28] Henry A. Sanders, “The Number of the Beast in Revelation,” JBL, 95-99, 37, no. 1 (1918): 95–96; Jöran Friberg, “Numbers and Counting,” ed. David Noel Freedman et al., ABD (New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1996), 1145.
[1] McDonagh, Blue Guide: Turkey, 178.
[2] Mehmet Taşlıalan, “New Excavations and Restorations in the Agora of Smyrna,” in Paper Presented at Institut Für Archäologie, Abt. Archäologie Des Mittelmeerraumes (University of Berne, Institute of Archaeology, University of Berne, Institute of Archaeology, June 24, 2004), n.p.
[3] Ibid; Antonio Sogliano, “Isopsephia Pompeiana,” Rendiconti Della Reale Academia Dei Lincei 10 (1901): 256–59.
[4] Thomas Derwbear, “Secret of Ancient Graffiti,” US Daily EU News, July 22, 2003, n.p., www.turks.us/article.php?story = 20030722090305725.
[5] Dimitris K. Psychoyos, “The Forgotten Art of Isopsephy and the Magic Number KZ,” Semiotica 154, no. 1–4 (2005): 157–224.
[6] Roger S. Bagnall, “Isopsephisms of Desire,” in Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna, ed. Roger S. Bagnall et al., Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York: New York University Press, 2016), 50, 226.
[7] Ibid. 48.
[8] Roger S. Bagnall, “Christianity,” in Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna, ed. Roger S. Bagnall et al., Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York: New York University Press, 2016), 46.
[9] Ibid, 45–46.
[1] Bean, Aegean Turkey, 52.
[2] Pfeiffer, Biblical World, 543.
[3] Wilson, Biblical Turkey, 313.
[4] McDonagh, Blue Guide: Turkey, 178, fig. 3.
[5] Akurgal, “Smyrna,” 848; Akurgal, Ancient Civilizations, 122.
[6] McDonagh, Blue Guide: Turkey, 178.
[7] Mehmet Taslialan, “New Excavations and Restorations in the Agora of Smyrna,” in Paper Presented at Institut Für Archäologie, Abt. Archäologie Des Mittelmeerraumes (University of Berne, Institute of Archaeology, University of Berne, Institute of Archaeology, June 24, 2004), n.p.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Thomas Derwbear, “Secret of Ancient Graffiti,” Turks.US Daily EU News, July 22, 2003, n.p., www.turks.us/article.php?story = 20030722090305725.
[10] Bagnall, “Christianity,” 46.
[11] Roger S. Bagnall, “Isopsephisms of Desire,” in Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna, ed. Roger S. Bagnall et al., Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York: New York University Press, 2016), 50, 226.
[12] Wilson, Biblical Turkey, 315.
[13] McDonagh, Blue Guide: Turkey, 178.
[14] Bean, Aegean Turkey, 52.
[15] Akurgal, Ancient Civilizations, 848.
[16] Vermeule, Roman Imperial Art, 252.
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