Why is the Beast the only character in the Bible to have a number and not a name?

[Michie]

Some explanations from traditional biblical hermeneutics shed light on the matter, as do Pope Benedict’s thoughts on recent history and current events.

In chapter 13, verse 18 of John’s Book of Revelation, one reads:

“This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.”

On March 15, 2000, while still the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine on the Faith, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke during the inauguration of the Third Diocesan Week of Faith in the Cathedral of Palermo, in Sicily, in front of around 1,500 people. That speech — not as well known as his famous Regensburg Address — is now commonly referred to as Ratzinger’s conference on Fatherhood and Apocalypse.

Continued below.
Why is the Beast the only character in the Bible to have a number and not a name?

 

[Arc F1]

Some explanations from traditional biblical hermeneutics shed light on the matter, as do Pope Benedict’s thoughts on recent history and current events.

In chapter 13, verse 18 of John’s Book of Revelation, one reads:

“This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.”

On March 15, 2000, while still the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine on the Faith, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke during the inauguration of the Third Diocesan Week of Faith in the Cathedral of Palermo, in Sicily, in front of around 1,500 people. That speech — not as well known as his famous Regensburg Address — is now commonly referred to as Ratzinger’s conference on Fatherhood and Apocalypse.

Continued below.
Why is the Beast the only character in the Bible to have a number and not a name?

We will understand when the time comes. Shouldn't be long now. I can't imagine a world much worse than what we are seeing without it being end times.

 

[Bob Crowley]

We're looking at two different timelines.

Assuming it was John who wrote Revelation, then the general theological explanation is that it would appear he was referring to Nero. Although I have a query in that Nero died in 68 AD, and Revelation was allegedly written much later according to this Catholic source.

The Book of Revelation: | Saint Mary's Press

The Book of Revelation was written sometime in the late 80's or early 90's of the first century by an author who perceived that some Christians were compromising their faith--giving in to the surrounding culture to avoid persecution. The events leading up to this persecution merits a closer look.

I'm wondering why John would have referred to an Emperor as the Beast if he'd already been dead for well over a decade, unless Nero stood in as proxy for the Caesar's and the oppressive Roman Empire in general.

Fast forward to our own time where we have a number for everything from our driver's licence, credit cards, bank balances, tax file numbers and in Australia a CRN number if you are registered with Centrelink (the main provider of our social security system). Even our goods are numbered if you take into account the bar codes.

Now whether John had some future reference in mind when he wrote Revelation, or whether God was using it as a pointer, we run into the same problem. What relevance does "666" have to us?