Warning: this is a longer post.

One last thing I wanted to cover before we moved off of the Name is this theory I keep seeing pop up among believers. That in Revelation 13:18 when John writes in Greek the number for the beast, 666, that it is actually a name to be pronounced. I came across this theory a few years ago when someone sent it to me to get my feedback. It was on a social media network that is no longer around, so I do not have any of the information on it still. However, I do have my rebuttal, as I usually write those out in my Notes app before posting. As it has been a few years, and I have done more studying and research, I've added a few other items into the rebuttal as well.

Before I get into the rebuttal I feel like there is a lot of background I need to share so you know what I am speaking against. The number in Revelation 13:18 that translates to 666 is χξς. The theory is that this is pronounced Cheezus, or by their implication, Jesus. Thus, the Jesus of the Western world is the anti-Christ of the Bible. So, (by this theory) if you are calling on the name Jesus, you are calling on (i.e. worshipping) the anti-Christ. Now you are probably like, "What a minute? Jesus Christ, who told us about the Anti-Christ, is the Anti-Christ? That doesn't make any sense." And you would be right, but let me explain.

Where they are coming from on this is when you start looking into the Bible without the traditions passed on by the church, you find a very different picture of Jesus than what we have been previously taught. Many have come to call this the Greek Jesus and the Hebrew Yeshua. They both represent the same person, but two different viewpoints of what that person did. Essentially one is a lie, and one is the truth. We even see this happening in Scripture while He was doing His ministry. Mark 14:56 - "For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together." While these false witnesses do not reflect Jesus correctly and could be painting an opposite Jesus, or Anti-Christ, there are a lot of problems with this "666 = Jesus" theory.

1. Saying χξς should be pronounced in the way presented doesn't make sense. From my limited understanding of Greek, it needs vowels just like English does. We can see this in other words throughout the Greek New Testament. These three letters are not vowels. Even in transliterated words (non-native Greek words phonetically made out in Greek) they have vowels in them. Look at Revelation 19:1 where John writes out HalleluYah, a Hebrew word. Adding these specific vowel sounds to John's number is solely conjecture.

A sub-point to this is the "chi" letter (χ) isn't a "ch" sound like in "church", nor is the sound replicated fully in English at all. It is more similar to the ח in Hebrew, which is a gutteral "kh" type sound. Like clearing your throat before breathing out an "h". Typically, Hebrew words we use in English that use this letter, such as the first letter of Hanukkah, we just use the H sound. Making the "translation" Heezus. Which in itself defeats the theory as while "ch" and "j" could be similar in sound, "kh" and "j" are not similar at all. Just like in the comic, we can't use English sounds on non-English words and expect to be correct.

A second sub-point on this most of the manuscripts we have of the New Testament are in Greek. We already have what Jesus would be in Greek: Ἰησοῦς, which is nothing like χξς. It sounds more like the Spanish "Jesus" (Hey-Soos) than what we say in English, which is another defeating point in this theory. It is basing it on the fact that the English world calls Jesus, Jesus. It doesn't take into any considerations of other languages and how they pronounce this name. According to Babbel.com, Chinese is the number one language in the world with 1.3 billion native speakers. Compare that to the 373 million native English speakers. In Chinese, they say "Yeh Su". Again, nothing like the English pronunciation.

2. Before pointing out χξς, John says three times: ἀριθμὸς which means number. He tells us right there he is trying to write out a number. Yes, other places he wrote out different words for numbers. But to ignore the fact John says “this is a number” three times causes concern.

3. Scripture defines Scripture and we cannot read it in a bubble. I feel this theory is reading Revelation in a bubble. We have defined in Torah signs on the right hand and the forehead. — Exodus 13:9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. Deut. 6:8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. — The context of these verses are actions and thoughts, the person’s character. Just like the previous comic on the Name, anytime “name” is mentioned it is usually talking about someone’s character rather than a verbal label assigned to someone.

4. My last point is a bit anecdotal, but if this theory is true, we are all in trouble because I do not know one person who now knows Jesus' real name is Yeshua, that didn't first call him Jesus. — Revelation 20:4 They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. — So if using the name Jesus is the mark of the beast/worshipping the beast, then we all have done that already and are doomed, so what is the point?

If you come across this theory, please keep these things in mind and even share with whomever is presenting it. I've never got a response back from anyone that has come to me with this that I have given any of these points to. Either their hearts are hard and they won't listen, or they are going back and praying and researching more. I truly hope it is the latter.

https://thestraightandnarrow.cfw.me/comics/590

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