. . . so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark of the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let him who has wisdom calculate the number of the beast, for it is a man's number. Its number is 616. (Rev. 13:17-18), Author's translation, based on Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus).
The mark of the Beast is both the mark of the name of the Beast and the number of the name of the Beast, but not a personal name. The mark signifies the name "Beast".
The name of the Beast is "Beast" in Greek: θηριον. (And cheivah in Aramaic.)
The Hammer & Sickle signifies the name "Beast" in Greek, which is ΘΗΡΙΟΝ in capital letters and in lower case letters: θηριον. The components of the Hammer & Sickle (the mark itself, the head of the hammer, handle, and hook) signify the letters tav resh, yod, and vav, through acrophony.These letters spell Therio(n) ("beast") upon transliteration.
Transliterated from Greek to Hebrew, and vice versa, the Hebrew/Greek letters that spell the name "Beast" (cheivah/therion) make the number 616. The Hammer & Sickle is also a monogram of the letters that comprise this number. However, tav (400), resh (200), yod (10), and vav (6) are always replaced nowadays with tav, resh, tet (9), and zayin (7) to avoid the combination of yod and vav which has religious significance.
The components of the Hammer & Sickle signify the letters tav, resh, yod, and vav, through acrophony.
The letters of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets are based on acrophony. This is where the names of the letters of these alphabets are derived from the names of actual objects the names of which start with the sound of that particular letter of the alphabet. For instance, the Hebrew letter bet is derived from the word beit which means house. Daleth is derived from the word dalet which means "door", and so on. The Greek letters beta and delta clearly share the same derivation.
The Greek letters for the word for "beast", ΘΗΡΙΟΝ, when transliterated into Hebrew letters (and omitting the final letter nu) result in tav, resh, yod, and vav. Tav means "mark"; resh means "head", yod means "handle", and vav means "hook". The Hammer & Sickle signifies these letters (which also signify 616): the Hammer & Sickle itself signfies a "mark" (tav); the head of the hammer signifies "head" (resh); the handle (yod); and the sickle (vav). (See Fig. 1)
The Hammer & Sickle should be perceived as a monogram of the Hebrew letters that form the number 616 (see Figs. 2 and 3). The fact that in reverse the Hammer & Sickle can be perceived as a monogram of the number 616 using the Greek alphabetical number system confirms this interpretation.
The Aramaic for "beast" is cheivah. This is word Daniel uses in Chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel, one of the chapters of this book written in Aramaic.
In Hebrew letters, this word cheivah is spelt חיוה.These letters, when translitered into Greek letters (with the omission of the final letter he) result in the number 616: χις.The last letter that looks like the letter sigma is called digamma or waw and has the numerical value of six. This letter of the Greek alphabet had ceased to be used in ordinary writing by the time of John, and so one can conclude that any monogram containing this letter cannot be a name but only a number. Perceived as a monogram, the Hammer & Sickle is the number of the Beast, not the name of the Beast. In the monogram the letter digamma appears in the shape of a sickle which is how this letter had evolved.The word arithmos ("number") is repeated three times in Rev. 13:18. One is intended to perceive the like-sounding Hebrew word for "Aramaic" in the word arithmos, which is aramith (ארמית), and to connect the number 616 (χις) with the Aramaic word for "beast" through transliteration.
The Greek for "Beast" is in Greek:θηριον(therion).
Omitting the final letter (nu) of θηριον (therio(n)) , the Greek letters (θηριο) transliterate into the Hebrew letters: תריו. These Hebrew letters make the number 616. Placed together, the last two letters of this number (YOD and VAV), which signify the numbers 10 and 6 respectively, are deemed to signify the holy name of God and so are replaced with TET (9) and ZAYIN (7). In Hebrew letters, therefore, the number 616 is rendered with the letters TAV ,RESH, TET, and ZAYIN, instead of with the expected TAV, RESH, YOD, and VAV. The number 616 (תריו) is now rendered תרטז.The Hammer & Sickle is a monogram of this latter formation of 616: תרטז.
The reader has to "calculate" the number because the natural way of forming the number 616 in Hebrew letters has been played with by man. Instead of the usual TAV, RESH, YOD, and VAV, which would indicate the name "Beast" through transliteration, the number 616 is formed with the Hebrew letters TAV, RESH, TET, and ZAYIN. This tampering account for the need to "calculate" and why the number is referred to as a "man's number(" (Rev. 13:18). תרטז