Revelation 13:18 — 666, or 616?
The number of the beast is transmitted as 666 and 616. In Greek numeral letters, the two readings differ by one character at Revelation 13:18.
What the APB prints.
Every witness, on the record.
What a blind committee did here.
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Whatever it did at this verse, it did on the language alone — and its record is public.
The blind committee's displayed APB text at Revelation 13:18 ends with “six hundred sixty-six.” No rationale note matches this crux. For the surrounding pericope, the audit verdict is “clean.” The record supplies the printed APB wording and audit result, but no explanation of a decision at this variant.
The case for each reading.
If 666
The case for 666 begins with Nestle-Aland 28 (NA28; critical edition, 2012), which reads ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ, six hundred sixty-six, spelled out. The supplied apparatus likewise places WH and NA28 with that wording. The packet also says that the editions agree on 666 whether written in words or numerals, and Tregelles prints the numeral χξϛʹ. This reading therefore has support in the listed critical edition and in the editions summarized here. Its presentation in words rather than numeral letters does not alter the stated value: six hundred sixty-six.
If 616
The case for 616 rests on Papyrus 115 (P115; manuscript, 3rd century A.D.), which reads χιϛ. The packet identifies this witness as the earliest witness to this verse and gives its value as 616. That is a concrete textual alternative, not merely a different way of writing 666: χιϛ is the reading B numeral, while χξϛ is reading A. The difference is one Greek numeral character, yet the resulting number changes from six hundred sixty-six to six hundred sixteen. The packet also records that the 616 reading was already known in the 2nd century.
The supplied material preserves two numerical readings and identifies support for each, but it does not provide a full basis for resolving between them. What remains unchanged in the stated alternatives is that the passage gives a number; what changes is its numerical value, 666 or 616. No broader doctrinal conclusion is supplied by this packet.
Asked plainly.
Is the number of the beast 666 or 616?
The supplied witnesses preserve both: NA28 reads six hundred sixty-six, while P115 reads χιϛ, 616. The page presents the evidence without selecting one reading.
What is the Greek difference between 666 and 616?
Reading A is χξϛ and reading B is χιϛ. Written as Greek numeral letters, they differ by one character.
What number does the APB print at Revelation 13:18?
The APB prints “six hundred sixty-six.” The committee record has no rationale note matching this crux, and the pericope audit verdict is “clean.”
More places where the manuscripts argue.
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. Nothing on this page declares a winner — the evidence is the point.
Weigh it yourself.
The registry doesn't tell you which reading is true. It puts every witness on one page, shows what a blind committee did with the same language, and leaves the verdict where it belongs — with the reader.