616 (number) i.e. (2!)² + (3!)² + (4!)² = 4+36+576=616. 666 is generally believed to have been the original Number of the Beast in the Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible. In 2005, however, a fragment of papyrus 115 was revealed, containing the earliest known version of that part of the Book of Revelation discussing the Number of the Beast. It gave the number as 616, suggesting that this may have been the original. One possible explanation for the two different numbers is that they reflect two different spellings of Emperor Nero/Neron's name, for which (according to this theory) this number
The Beast (Revelation) beast. The Historicist interpretation has fallen out of favor with modern commentaries on Revelation, partially because it has failed to form a consensus on how the outline of the book of Revelation corresponds with history. Idealism, also known as the allegorical or symbolic approach, is an interpretation of the book of Revelation that sees the imagery of the book as non-literal symbols. This is a common viewpoint of modern Christian scholars such as Gregory Beale in his "New International Greek Testament Commentary" on the Book of Revelation. Some Idealist interpretations identify none of the book's symbols with particular historical events