a call for wisdom: John gives a clue to help his readers understand the meaning of the beast’s number.
of a man: John hides the man’s identity, possibly to protect himself and his readers from danger (compare the use of Babylon as a symbol for Rome, Revelation 17:9).
The number 666 represents supernatural evil (see “Symbolic Numbers” Theme Note). John might have used the transliteration Caesar Neron (a Hebrew spelling of the name) to reach the number 666. Later scribes, who spoke Greek but not Hebrew, changed the number to 616 in some manuscripts, likely to match the name’s numerical value in Greek.