Number of the Beast on Bible Mysteries

I get to the last lecture in my Introduction to the New Testament course tomorrow, and it provides the opportunity to talk about Revelation. I generally find that the subject matter is so interesting that I ask myself why I don't try to teach a whole course on Apocalyptic and the Apocalypse. 

One issue that has to be on the agenda is the number of the beast, something I have occasionally blogged on. On one of those occasions, I linked to a video in which Ian Boxall, sitting on Patmos, explains how it works, using pieces of pottery. Alas, that video long since disappeared. The clip was from a BBC series, Bible Mysteries (2003), which has never been commercially released. I am happy to have found a copy recently from which I have extracted the relevant clip. 

 

As well as Prof. Ian Boxall (now of Catholic University of America), we see Prof. David Parker, OBE, of the University of Birmingham.

Bibledex: Revelation

The University of Nottingham's Bibledex has reached the end of its remarkable task to produce videos on every book of the Bible. Pace has really picked up recently and I have a few to post. Here's their entry on Revelation:

The Bible: A History, Ep. 7: Revelation

The final episode of The Bible: A History airs on Channel 4 (UK) this Sunday at 7.  This is the publicity photograph for the programme, featuring my former colleague Robert Beckford.  The topic is Revelation: The Last Judgement.  This one features Martin Palmer, Christopher Rowland, James Cohn and me.  The interview with me was shot in Duke Chapel last November.

NT Pod 8: The Alternative Number of the Beast: Programme Notes

I have just released episode 8 of the NT Pod and the topic this time is The Alternative Number of the Beast. The podcast discusses Revelation 13:18 and "the number of the beast", 666, as well as the alternative reading, 616, witnessed in Irenaeus and P115. I mention in the podcast that you can see P115 clearly on the web and this is the link:

P.Oxy LXVI 4499

It's there on the third line, chi, iota, stigma (hexakosiai deka hex).

For a useful video introduction to the issues, see my post from yesterday, Number of the Beast: 666 or 616: how does it work?, which features Ian Boxall and David Parker.

For an earlier post on the topic here, see The Number of the Beast: 616 and Oxyrhynchus.

Relevant bibliography includes:

David C. Parker, "A New Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Revelation: P115 (P.Oxy 4499)", NTS 46 (2000): 159-74

Peter M. Head, "Some Recently Published NT Papyri from Oxyrhynchus: An Overview and Preliminary Assessment", Tyndale Bulletin 51 (2000): 1-16 [Available online in PDF format - click article title]

I may add a bit more here in due course.

Number of the Beast: 666 or 616: how does it work?

Back in 2003, the BBC made a series called Bible Mysteries and it included an episode on the Book of Revelation. It features an excellent introductory explanation of how the number of the beast works in Revelation and it covers the "other number of the beast", 616, with some great shots of the Oxyrhynchus fragments of Revelation published in 1999. This is the relevant (ten minute) section of the documentary:



The experts used in the discussion are Ian Boxall of St Stephen's House, Oxford, and David Parker of the University of Birmingham.

The Number of the Beast: 616 and Oxyrhynchus

On Ralph the Sacred River, Ed Cook draws attention to the National Geographic article on the Oxyrhynchus Papyri also discussed in Paleojudaica (and I really share their annoyance at Revelations). The National Geographic article writes:

The latest volume includes details of fragments showing third- and fourth-century versions of the Book of Revelations. Intriguingly, the number assigned to "the Beast" of Revelations isn't the usual 666, but 616.

and Ed comments:

My copy of Nestle-Aland (27th ed.) at Revelation 13:18 lists for the variant reading "616" only "C; Ir mss" (the 5th century uncial manuscript C and some manuscripts cited by Irenaeus). A 3rd or 4th century papyrus containing this reading would be extremely significant, although probably not enough to outweigh the many witnesses for "666."

The relevant article here is the following:

David C. Parker, "A New Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Revelation: P¹¹⁵ (P.Oxy 4499)", NTS 46 (2000): 159-74

There is a very brief discussion of the variant in question on 169.