Transparently, this post will read differently than others in this series. The reason for this difference is that I have seen how the claims made in these videos have wrecked a friend and brother in Christ. I have witnessed the carnage of confusion, doubt, emotional and spiritual turmoil, isolation, and relational strain that has resulted from these false teachers and their teachings. For that reason, this post looks beyond methodology and focuses directly on the sources and the claims they are making.
By pointing out the sources and their creators, I believe I am walking in obedience to Scripture. I also believe I am speaking the truth in love—love for my brother, but also love for those behind these teachings. My desire for them is that they would repent, truly know the freedom found in Jesus, and cease propagating teachings that bring harm rather than life.
The Fake $100 Bill That Almost Fooled Everyone
A few years ago, a small-town bank in Georgia received a $100 bill that looked nearly perfect. The paper felt right. The ink tone was flawless. Even the watermark seemed to check out under normal light. For a moment, every teller who examined it thought it was genuine.
Then one employee held it under an ultraviolet lamp. What appeared crisp and authentic in daylight revealed faint streaks of mismatched fibers glowing blue and pink. The bill wasn’t counterfeit because it looked sloppy—it was counterfeit because it contained just enough wrong details to expose it as fake.
It was almost right. But almost isn’t genuine.
Testing What Doesn’t Add Up
That’s precisely how truth works when it comes to God’s Word. Something can look and sound convincing—until you examine the details closely.
In the next few minutes, we’re going to hold some bold claims about the number 666 and the name of Jesus under the light of Scripture, language, and history. The video we’re evaluating makes confident assertions about the Greek letters χξϛ (chi–xi–stigma), claiming they spell or sound like “Jesus.” As we’ll see, however, those claims fall apart when tested.
Just like that counterfeit bill, each piece might look close enough on the surface. But when you add up the mistakes—from misunderstanding the Greek alphabet to confusing stigma with sigma—the whole argument collapses.
When something is true, every detail fits.
However, when something is false, the closer you look, the more wrong details you find.
When One Wrong Detail Exposes the Whole Error
Finding one error in something that claims to be true, should make you cautious. When you see several, it should make you walk away.
That’s what we see with The Antichrist Revealed documentary. At first glance, its claims sound confident—Greek letters, ancient symbols, hidden meanings. But as soon as we test them, one mistake after another appears. The video claims Greek has no vowels (it does), confuses the sounds of several letters, and treats sigma and stigma as if they were the same letter—even though they are not and carry different numerical values.
Like that counterfeit bill that looked convincing until the light revealed its flaws, each of these errors exposes the video’s argument as false. So let’s hold these claims under the same light—Scripture, language, and history—and see what happens when we check the facts.
Straight to the source
The claims we are about to examine appear in this clip from the AntiChrist Revealed documentary. I have edited portions of the film out and kept those that focus on the pronunciation of χξϛ. I have done this because we are going to examine its statements concerning the Greek language and its pronunciation, please watch the video below before continuing.
Claim #1 – χξϛ sounds like “chee-z-us” (Jesus)
Sound Check
The video claims that χ (chi) sounds like “chee,” as in cheese. However, in Koine Greek, χ makes a guttural “kh” sound, similar to the “ch” in loch, not the “ch” in cheese.
The video also claims that ξ (xi) sounds like “z,” as in zebra. In reality, ξ makes a “ks” sound, as in box. It is important to note that ζ (zeta)—not ξ—makes the “z” sound in Koine Greek, the form of Greek used during the time of the New Testament and the Byzantine period.
That brings us to the letter most often misunderstood in this discussion: stigma. The clip claims that ϛ (stigma) sounds like “s,” as in sun. Yet it is sigma (σ, ς) that produces the “s” sound in Greek.
(Stigma, ϛ, is a numerical symbol, while sigma—σ/ς—is the Greek letter representing the “s” sound and carries a numeric value of 200.)
The Story of Stigma
The stigma (ϛ) was not part of the original Greek alphabet. Its story begins centuries earlier with an ancient Greek letter called digamma (Ϝ).
In early Greek—long before the New Testament—the digamma represented the “w” sound, similar to the w in water. Over time, however, that sound disappeared from everyday Greek speech as the language evolved.
Even after the letter fell out of use as a spoken consonant, the Greeks continued to use its symbol in their numbering system, assigning it the numerical value six. By the time of Koine Greek, the “w” sound had vanished completely, but the number 6 was still written using the old digamma symbol (Ϝ).
Centuries later, during the Byzantine period, scribes began writing sigma (σ) and tau (τ) together as a ligature—a single connected form used to save space in handwritten manuscripts. This ligature (ϛ) gradually replaced the older digamma shape as the symbol used for the numeral six.
In Byzantine handwriting, the same glyph ϛ could also function as a ligature for σ + τ within words and, in that context, was pronounced /st/. However, when used as a numeral, the symbol remained silent and functioned only as the number six.
So while stigma may visually resemble sigma, it does not function as a spoken letter in χξϛ (600, 60, 6). The stigma represents a number—not a sound.
The name stigma is related to the Greek verb στίζω, meaning “to mark” or “to puncture.” The association with στ is visual, reflecting the ligature form, not an etymological combination of sigma and tau as separate letters.
In Summary
- Ϝ (digamma) — early Greek letter representing the /w/ sound
- Ϝ (digamma) — the sound disappeared, but the symbol remained as the numeral 6
- By the New Testament era — the sound was extinct; only the numerical value remained
- ϛ (stigma) — a later ligature form that replaced digamma as the numeral 6, and served as /st/ only when used inside words during the Byzantine era
Bottom line: In Revelation 13:18, ϛ functions strictly as a numerical sign for 6, not as a spoken letter—just as we would write “666” today without sounding it out.
While I appreciate Adam Fink’s desire to dig deeply into truth, I believe the enemy has subtly used that pursuit to lead him into error in certain areas. I do not doubt that Adam and I both believe in and follow the same Messiah. Still, as a brother in Yahusha (his preferred way of referring to God’s Son), I must lovingly point out his misunderstanding here regarding χξϛ and its pronunciation. We’ll do that by looking carefully at each letter.
Does χ (chi) sound like “hee”?
Linguists agree that χ (chi) was never pronounced as “hee.”⁵ In biblical Greek, it represented a strong aspirated consonant, roughly similar to the kh sound in Bach or the ch in loch. It was never a vowel. This guttural pronunciation is consistent across ancient Greek dialects, including the Koine Greek of the New Testament.
I wish Adam had allowed the audio sample from his cited source to play so we could hear exactly how the author intended the letter to sound. Had he done so, the difference would have been immediately clear: **χ does not sound like “hee,” and it never did.**⁵
Can ξ (xi) make a “z” sound?
The claim that the Greek letter ξ (xi) produces a “z” sound is also linguistically inaccurate. In every period of the Greek language, xi represents the consonant cluster /ks/—not /z/.
Even in names such as Ξέρξης (Xerxes), the pronunciation was Kserk-sees, not Zerk-sees.
While English sometimes uses the letter x to represent a /z/ sound—as in xylophone—that is an English convention, not a Greek one. The way English pronounces borrowed Greek words cannot rewrite how Greek itself functioned in the biblical era.
The Last Symbol Is Not a Sigma
The third symbol, ϛ (stigma), is not a sigma—so it does not make an “s” sound.
Stigma functioned as the numeral for 6 in the Greek numbering system, replacing the older digamma (Ϝ) during the Byzantine period (as reflected in the Byzantine text shown in the video). In Revelation 13:18, χξϛ represents a number, not a name to be decoded through pronunciation.
Even tools such as Blue Letter Bible’s audio pronounce each character individually rather than as a word, reflecting their numeric—not phonetic—function in the passage.
It is true that when sigma (σ) and tau (τ) appeared together inside a word, scribes sometimes used ϛ as a ligature to shorten the writing—for example, Christos written as Χριϛός. But in that context, ϛ functions as σ + τ, not as a standalone letter or sound.
To avoid confusion, note that sigma appears in two forms:
- σ when it occurs at the beginning or middle of a word
- ς when it occurs at the end of a word
In χξϛ (666), however, the final symbol is not a sigma at all. It is a numerical character, carrying value rather than sound.
Before assuming the final symbol in χξϛ could be a sigma simply because it appears at the end of the sequence, it is important to remember that sigma has a numerical value of 200, not 6. If the third character were a sigma, the number would be 860, not 666. Substituting sigma for stigma completely changes the number’s value and undermines the numerical precision of Revelation 13:18.
The Morphological Greek New Testament Confirms This
The Morphological Greek New Testament (MGNT) identifies χξϛ as a numeral, not a word.
The MGNT, used by Blue Letter Bible, is a digitally tagged Greek text that annotates each word with grammatical information such as tense, case, and lexical function. It is based on the Westcott–Hort (1881) Greek New Testament and is designed for study rather than translation.
In Revelation 13:18, the MGNT explicitly treats χξϛ as a numerical figure, confirming that the sequence represents six hundred sixty-six, not a pronounceable name or phrase.
Three Strikes
Even if John had instructed readers to pronounce these three characters, they still would not sound like “chee-z-us.” The first two letters (chi and xi) do not make those sounds, and the third (stigma) is not a letter that can be pronounced at all.
Whether John’s original penstroke resembled an earlier digamma-style numeral or the later στ-style ϛ, our earliest manuscripts of Revelation (such as P47, 3rd century) already present the number as χξϛ—letter-numerals, not a word.
In baseball, three strikes mean you’re out—and the same applies to this phonetic teaching. Still, in the interest of fairness, let’s examine another claim that is often made alongside it.
Claim #2 – In These Ancient Alphabets, They Did Not Have Vowels.
At the end of the clip, the man using the overhead projector not only butchers the pronunciation of the three letters, but also claims that there were no vowels in the ancient Greek alphabet. That statement is simply false. Greek has seven vowels—α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω—and Revelation 13:18 visibly contains them. The “no vowels” claim collapses upon inspection.
Because of this misunderstanding, the teacher in the video argues that χξϛ must mean “Jesus” or “Hail Zeus” since, according to him, Greek had no vowels. This argument lacks credibility because it is built on incorrect information. Even setting aside the false claim about Greek vowels, the question remains: is χξϛ actually how ancient Greeks would have said “Hail Zeus”?
It Doesn’t Have to Be Greek to You
The Greek Names of Jesus and Zeus
I was speaking with a friend of mine—who shepherds a Messianic congregation—about the name of God and claims made by some who insist that anyone who calls Yeshua “Jesus” is worshiping a false or anti-messiah. I plan to write more on the name of God in the future, but during that conversation this claim—that χξϛ somehow represents Iēsous (Jesus) or Zeus—came up.
As we talked, he showed me how he had addressed this issue with his congregation. His explanation was both profound and simple—so simple, in fact, that you do not need to know any Greek to understand the point.
As you can see, not only does Greek contain vowels, it also has clear and established spellings for the names Jesus and Zeus. To be clear, the ς at the end of each name is sigma, not stigma, which explains the “s” sound at the end of each word.
What About “Hail Zeus”?
Ancient Greeks frequently used the word χαῖρε (“rejoice” or “hail”) as both a greeting and a form of praise for gods, rulers, and heroes. Inscriptions and hymns from the classical world include phrases such as χαῖρε Ζεῦ Ὀλύμπιε (“Hail, Olympian Zeus”), along with similar expressions found in dedications, plays, and prayers.¹
While “Hail Zeus” was not a fixed liturgical formula, it was a natural and recognizable expression within Greek religious language—a respectful and joyful address to the king of their gods.
The Math Doesn’t Add Up
There are also numerical differences that undermine the video’s claim that χξϛ (666) secretly encodes the name “Jesus” or the phrase “Hail Zeus.”
In biblical Greek:
- Ἰησοῦς (Jesus) = 888
- Ζεύς (Zeus) = 612
- χαῖρε Ζεῦ (“Hail Zeus”) = 1,128
None of these equal 666.
This demonstrates that χξϛ cannot logically or linguistically correspond to either name or phrase. The argument is therefore based on speculation rather than actual Greek usage or calculation. Numbers, like language, don’t lie. When the math doesn’t match, the message doesn’t hold.
Conclusion: Holding Truth to the Light
Like that nearly perfect counterfeit bill, the video’s claims may appear convincing at first glance—but when examined under the proper light, they fall apart piece by piece.
Truth does not fear examination.
It shines brighter the closer you look.
Revelation 13:18 calls believers to “calculate the number” because discernment matters. We are not called to chase speculation, but to pursue truth. Scripture calls us to call on the name of the Lord to be saved—to trust in the person and work of God’s Son, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
Whether you call Him Yahusha, Yeshua, or Jesus, what matters is who you are calling on: the same Lord, the same Savior, the same Redeemer. His power to save transcends pronunciation, translation, and tradition.
Let us be people who hold every claim up to the light of Scripture—not to fuel division, but to strengthen faith. Because when we walk in truth, we reflect the One who is Truth Himself.
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Reflection Questions
- How can you tell when something that sounds biblical is actually built on error?
- Why do you think some teachings appeal more to curiosity than to truth?
- How can you grow in discernment so that you can recognize truth more quickly?
- How might you lovingly respond to someone who has been misled by a claim like this?
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