Revelation 13:18, 666, or 616?
The number of the beast is 666 in the APB and Nestle-Aland 28, while Papyrus 115 reads 616. In Greek numeral letters, the two readings differ by a single character.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB is translated by a committee of language models that works blind. The translators are never told they are translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and never shown the witnesses listed above. Where the manuscripts disagree, the choice between readings is made before translation by the same kind of translator working the same way: it sees the competing readings and the witnesses by age and class, but never a reference or a manuscript name. There are 14,877 such places. For APB 4.0 every one was decided again in October 2026. GPT-6.1 Sol decided every one first. Claude Fable 5.1, from another model family, decided 2,483 of them second, including every place where the first translator left the base text. A departure from the base text needs both translators to agree and the first to be at least 0.8 confident. There is no third translator, so the base text stands when the two disagree. APB 4.0 is translated over those decisions. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
“The base text reads αὐτοῦ. The copies also carry αὐτοῦ ἐστὶν [greek majuscule; greek papyrus; early greek manuscript tradition; later majority tradition]; the committee kept the base text.”
“The base text reads (nothing). The copies also carry τὸν [greek majuscule; greek papyrus; later majority tradition]; the committee kept the base text.”
“The base text reads (nothing). The copies also carry ἐστὶν [greek majuscule; greek papyrus; early greek manuscript tradition; later majority tradition]; the committee kept the base text.”
“The base text reads ἕξ. The copies also carry the omission [greek papyrus; early greek manuscript tradition; later majority tradition]; the committee kept the base text. Retain the default, while recognizing substantial early evidence for omission and uncertain witness independence.”
“The base text reads ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ. The copies also carry ἑξακόσια ἑξήκοντα ἕξ [later majority tradition], χξϛʹ [early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. Retain the default, with some uncertainty about whether the number was originally abbreviated.”
The APB 4.0 committee kept the base text’s spelled-out 666. Its note states: "Retain the default, with some uncertainty about whether the number was originally abbreviated." GPT-6.1 Sol (OpenAI) was the first translator and retained the base text; no second translator considered the unit. The committee’s printed text gives "six hundred sixty-six." The quoted decision concerns the wording and written form of 666; it does not record a comparison with 616.
The argument for each reading
If 666
The case for 666 rests on agreement among the editions represented in the apparatus. Nestle-Aland 28 prints the number in words as ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ. Tregelles prints χξϛʹ, the numeral form of the same number. This agreement spans different ways of writing 666, though agreement among editions does not settle the competing manuscript reading. With 666, the instruction in Revelation 13:18 asks the person with understanding to calculate six hundred sixty-six. The APB’s printed text preserves that number.
If 616
The case for 616 rests on Papyrus 115, dated 3rd century A.D. It is identified as the earliest witness to this verse and reads χιϛ. That gives 616 a concrete manuscript basis despite the editions’ agreement on 666. Written as numeral letters, χιϛ differs from χξϛ by one character. With 616, the number to be calculated changes to six hundred sixteen. The instruction to calculate the beast’s number remains. The age of Papyrus 115 establishes early support for this reading without settling which number preceded the other.
The central uncertainty is which number preceded the other in the transmission of Revelation 13:18. Edition agreement supports 666, while Papyrus 115 provides early manuscript support for 616. The committee’s note leaves a separate uncertainty about abbreviation. Changing the number changes the value to be calculated. It does not remove the instruction to calculate, the association with the beast, or the description of the number as a human being’s number. This numerical difference alone does not settle a doctrine.
Related entries
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 from the sources linked above.