Expert: Jim Miller - 7/11/2009

Question
What conclusion might be drawn from the fact that minus the questionable twelve verses of Mark 16:9-20 there are exactly 666 verses in the Gospel of Mark? I am an gentleman Markan scholar. Feel free to speculate. Thank you.

Answer
First, you should know that results vary depending on which ancient manuscript you consult.  For instance, I checked Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest three complete Bibles from the ancient world (OK, two of them are missing the first part of Genesis, and all three have bits that are torn, but they are almost complete).  Sinaiticus has 667 verses in Mark.
I find this interesting information.  When verses were given to the Biblical texts -- first in the Latin Vulgate, BTW -- I am sure there was no attempt to make any of the numbers to come out like this at the end of a book.  The idea was to provide a reference system to more accurately cite Biblical texts.
If you like, you may attribute this to chance, no more significant than the good luck you get from a 4-leaf clover, or no more bad luck than if you break a mirror.  Or, you can attribute this to providence -- God for some reason set things up this way without any human actor planning such an outcome.  After all, the Vulgate has the extra 12 verses, and the person who put in the verses had no idea that there were variant texts without this ending.
If God decided to give the shorter version of Mark 666 verses, the meaning you give to this is up to you.  I am not convinced yet that this is due to Divine intervention.  
Revelation 13:18 calls 666, the number of the Beast, the number of a human, and Jesus is understood by most chuches as (1) God made human -- God incarnate in human form and (2) the one who became sin for us, the one who took on himself the curse that is ours.  So, it is at least possible to interpret this as confirmation of these two principles of Christian doctrine.
I hope this is helpful,
Jim Miller