Paradosis is the Greek word for tradition and it counts to 666
The Greek word for tradition is παράδοσις (paradosis). Its isopsephy value is 666. Jesus uses this exact word in Mark 7 to describe human systems that replace the commandments of God. Revelation 13:18 instructs the reader to calculate the number of the beast and gives 666 as the result. The word “tradition” appears 13 times in the King James New Testament.
Paradosis in Mark 7
Mark 7:8-9 : “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition (paradosis) of men… Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition (paradosis).”
Mark 7:13 : “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition (paradosis), which ye have delivered.”
The verb παραδίδωμι (paradidomi, “to hand over, deliver, transmit”) is the root. It is the same verb used for Judas delivering Jesus to the authorities (Mark 14:10 ). The word carries the sense of transfer of custody. A paradosis is something placed in someone’s hands as a substitute for the original.
Jesus identifies a specific mechanism: human tradition replaces the commandments rather than openly denying them. The commandment still exists on the page. The tradition tells the reader what it “really” means, and the tradition overrides the text.
Takanot: the system behind the traditions
The traditions Jesus condemned were takanot (תקנות ), formal rabbinic enactments with binding legal authority. The takanot system gave the rabbinical authorities the power to create new rulings that could override the written Torah in practice.
This is why the Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. He broke their takanot about the Sabbath, not the fourth commandment: their rulings on how far you could walk, what counted as work, whether you could heal on that day. The written Torah says “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8 ). The takanot defined hundreds of specific prohibitions that the Torah never mentions.
If Jesus had actually violated the written Torah, he would be disqualified as the Messiah. He could not fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17 ) while simultaneously breaking it. What he broke was the oral tradition layered on top of it. And the Pharisees could not tell the difference, because in their system the takanot carried the same authority as Torah itself.
The takanot are the mechanism that made Israel reject their own Messiah. The traditions told them what the Messiah should look like. When the actual Messiah did not match the traditions, they chose the traditions over the person standing in front of them.
The isopsephy of paradosis
| Letter | Greek | Value |
|---|---|---|
| π | pi | 80 |
| α | alpha | 1 |
| ρ | rho | 100 |
| α | alpha | 1 |
| δ | delta | 4 |
| ο | omicron | 70 |
| σ | sigma | 200 |
| ι | iota | 10 |
| ς | sigma (final) | 200 |
80 + 1 + 100 + 1 + 4 + 70 + 200 + 10 + 200 = 666
666 in Revelation
Revelation 13:18: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
The Greek ἀριθμὸς ἀνθρώπου (arithmos anthropou) can mean “the number of a man” or “the number of humanity.” The instruction to “count” (ψηφισάτω , psephisato) literally means to calculate with pebbles, the standard method of Greek isopsephy.
The text instructs the reader to perform an isopsephy calculation. The result, 666, identifies whatever name or title produces that value.
Other 666 candidates
Other words and names also produce 666. Throughout history, many have been calculated to reach this number.
Kaisar Neron (קסר נרון ): the Hebrew transliteration of Caesar Nero sums to 666 using Hebrew gematria (100+60+200 + 50+200+6+50). This requires transliterating a Latin name into Hebrew and depends on a specific spelling variant.
Vicarius Filii Dei (“Substitute for the Son of God”): a Latin title attributed to the Pope. Using Roman numeral values (V=5, I=1, C=100, L=50, D=500), the letters that carry numeric value sum to 666. The calculation: VICARIVS (112) + FILII (53) + DEI (501) = 666.
The fact that 666 can be found in multiple names and titles across languages is itself instructive. Number-hunting alone does not identify the beast. The text gives the number, but Jesus already identified the mechanism: tradition that substitutes human authority for divine authority. Paradosis fits not only by its isopsephy value but by its meaning and by the direct warning Jesus attached to it.
Every occurrence in the King James New Testament
The word “tradition” or “traditions” (paradosis) appears 13 times. In biblical numerics, 13 is consistently associated with rebellion: Ishmael was circumcised at 13 (Genesis 17:25 ), and the rebellion of the kings in Genesis 14:4 , the first occurrence of 13 in Scripture, falls in the thirteenth year.
- Matthew 15:2 , 15:3, 15:6
- Mark 7:3 , 7:5, 7:8, 7:9, 7:13
- Galatians 1:14
- Colossians 2:8
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15 , 3:6
- 1 Peter 1:18
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus condemns it. In Galatians 1:14, Paul describes his former zeal for the traditions of the fathers. In Colossians 2:8, Paul warns against philosophy and vain deceit “after the tradition of men.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 3:6, Paul uses the same word positively for apostolic teaching. In 1 Peter 1:18, Peter speaks of the “vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.”
The word is neutral in itself. When tradition carries the authority of God’s word, it becomes the mechanism Jesus warned about: the replacement of divine commandments with human rulings that claim divine sanction.
References
- thelivingword (YouTube): source for the isopsephy identification of paradosis as 666.