Search for "666" returns nothing

This may be an obvious problem in my search technique, but a search for "666" in the ESV with a range of Hebrews-Revelation returns nothing. Anyone know why this would be? I also tried the NRSV and got nothing. Both versions have "666" in Rev 13:18 (as opposed to, say, "six, six, six") which I also tried to no avail).

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Comments

Mark Barnes

How odd? I wonder if the footnote confuses Logos. I'll report it as a bug.

Peter Gurry

Okay, clarification. Searching for "666" doesn't work in NRSV because it's spelled out as "six hundred, sixty-six." However, the NET has "666" and the search works just fine. So it appears to be an ESV bug. Another ESV oddity: searching for "144,000" and "12,000" also return no results.

Bradley Grainger (Logos)

However, the NET has "666" and the search works just fine. So it appears to be an ESV bug. Another ESV oddity: searching for "144,000" and "12,000" also return no results.

These appear to be two different bugs:

1) The footnote following "666" is not being stripped properly by the indexer (I think because both it and "666" are completely numeric.) It's actually being indexed as "666.", which you can't search for directly but which you can find with a wildcard search: "666?".

2) Without having looked into it, my best guess is that "144,000" isn't being parsed properly by the system when you enter your query. As a workaround, you can again use a wildcard search: "144?000" will find three hits in the ESV.

Josh

This seems to be affecting only the NT. I did I whole bible search in the ESV for 666 and had three OT verses pop up.

Bradley Grainger (Logos)

These appear to be two different bugs:

Both these bugs will be fixed in 4.2a (which is currently in beta testing). The "666" bug is a problem with the index, so you will need to "rebuild bible index" to get the right results. The "144,000" bug will be fixed just by upgrading to 4.2a.

David Ames

Thanks for asking for a search for ‘666’. If you had not I would not have done a whole library search on ‘666’ and found this comment:

5516. χξς ch x s; the ch (chi) standing for 600, the x (xi) standing for 60, and the s (sigma) standing for 6. 666. An enigmatic number found in Rev. 13:18. The number six, being the number of man, may indicate that 666 symbolizes the zenith of man’s power. This power is concentrated in the apocalyptic beast of Rev. 13:1–8 identified by many as the antichrist (antíchristos [500]). According to the Genesis narrative, man was created on the sixth day. His appointed days of labor and toil are six. A Hebrew slave was to serve six years. For six years the land was to be sown. Under the sixth seal, appalling and universal catastrophe upon mankind ensues. As the number seven denotes what is perfect or complete, six, being short of that, signifies human imperfection and toil although a demonstration of human strength. It should also be noted that the image of gold set up by Nebuchadnezzar for his own glorification was sixty cubits long (Dan. chap. 3). Daniel 3 can be said to point forward to the even deeper and Satanic evil of Revelation 13 The one foreshadows the other. Thus we might say that this triple six is the fullest, highest development of man under direct satanic control. It is the combination of civil, religious, and political power satanically inspired. It is, so far as man can do it, the complete setting aside of God as the Supreme Ruler. (See Scott, Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. London: Pickering and Inglis Ltd., N.d.)

(found in) Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary : New Testament, electronic ed. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000