WARNING- THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
666, the number of the beast! But why is it 666? Why have others said 616? Why is this known as the devil’s number? Let's use this as an excuse to look at Adam or Abaddon in Stephanie's books.
Whilst there is a lot of contention in to the origins of 666 or 616, scholars have had to find the earliest manuscripts possible to have an understanding of this interesting corner of history. Most of the time, evidence is found in fragments or incomplete scriptures that often does not tell the full story.
The most accepted version of 666 is from a verse in the Book of Revelation, "Here is Wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast…”, here 'count' can be interchanged with one of the Greek original translations ‘psephisato’ which can also mean to reckon, vote or decide.
The Byzantine manuscript, the Textus Receptus, (a greek version of the new testament) uses the number 666 in this verse, continuing the passage, “for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666.”
Iranaeus, a Greek Bishop from the second century AD also confirmed that 666 was the devil's number. According to an Armenian text, Iranaeus spoke directly with the Apostle John ( who wrote the Book of Revelation) said that the number was 666, with more contemporary texts adopting 666 as the number of the beast.
Historians can have some doubts about this interpretation. This is because there have been some instances where 616 has been used and with much older texts. In 2005, the analysis of a papyrus fragment found in Egypt (Known as Papyrus 115) gave the beasts number as 616. Another ancient uncompleted text known as the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, which now resides in France, has also used this number in Revelation 13.
Some scholars have argued that 666 came into being through the association with the number of Christ being 888. It is also what is known as a triangular number, because the sum of the first 36 numbers totaled together equals 666.
Fear for the number 666 is called ‘hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia’, sometimes known as hexaphobia (the fear of six- and no, we’re not talking about the Cult of the Hexad) Bus routes, house numbers and even Route 666 has been renamed due to its connotations of being unlucky.
Regardless, how does 666 relate to Stephanie’s books?
We have to go into Afterlife lore to explain how Beast 666 became Adam. Adam is the combination of Beast 666 and Adam Fitzwilliam of Westerbury, a mortal who became a vessel for the demon through some intervention caused by Pip. According to the Shadow Imp series, Beast 666 was infamously created by the devil as the 666th experiment to create the toughest monster to ever exist. (Lucifer had a habit for collecting, creating and keeping the most dark and malicious things).
Calling this creation Abaddon, 666 survived because Lucifer teamed up with Asmodeus to add some lust into his DNA, alongside the damned souls that were used to create him. Emotion was what made the beast survive, compared to its 665 predecessors.
Whilst Abaddon (Adam's demon) historically has no connection to Beast 666 in our ancient and religious scriptures, he has his own history. In the Hebrew Bible, he is known as the angel of the abyss. With a name meaning 'Doom' in the Book of Revelations, he is the King of an army of Locusts. John Milton uses Abaddon as the name of the bottomless pit in Paradise Lost.
Some sources use different names for Abaddon (sometimes even using Asmodeus in his place) but the Greek Apollyon is most commonly used. In the Hebrew Bible, Abaddon can be used to describe the realm of the dead, (a place of destruction) rather than a singular demon. The dead sea scrolls take this further and say that Abaddon is a place for lost souls within Gehenna, a place of divine punishment.
The most infamous text about an encounter with Apollyon (outside of the bible) is Pilgrims Progress, a 17th century text written by John Bunyan. Presented as a dream, it tells the story of Christian, a man who has to travel to Heaven. Here Apollyon is a hybrid being of a dragon, fish, bear and human. In the text, Apollyon tries to persuade Christian to abandon his pilgrimage, resulting in a half day battle. Christian wounds Apollyon, resulting in him fleeing. Louisa May Alcott uses this allegory to describe Jo March's temper in her novel Little Women.
This is the fourth part of a series about how Stephanie Hudson creates Hell in her books. If you want to read more on the subject, the Pip and Adam's story is free on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited here.
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