A SMALL town in the US state of Louisiana is to be allowed to change its telephone prefix so that residents can avoid a number many associate with the Devil.
Christian residents of Reeves have been complaining since the early 1960s about being given the prefix 666, known in the Bible as the "number of the beast".
For the next three months, households will be able to change the first three digits of th
eir phone numbers to 749.
Mayor Scott Walker said CenturyTel's decision was "divine intervention", although he admitted it helped that Louisiana's two senators had also lobbied for the change with the phone company and the state Public Service Commission.
Having 666 as a prefix had been a "black eye for our town, a stigma", he said. "I don't think it's anything bad on us, just an image," he added. "We're good Christian people."
Mayor Walker added he had already made the switch to using the 749 prefix and expected about 80% of the town's 450 homeowners to do the same.
The reference to 666 is taken from the last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation, which talks about the events leading to the end of the world. The Book of Revelation has fascinated Christians for centuries.
Revelation 13:18 states: "If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."
The number has both fascinated and puzzled Christians over the centuries and led to a great deal of speculation about its meaning.
Many scholars believe it is a reference to the Roman emperor at the time that Revelation was written – either Nero or Diocletian. Both men put large numbers of Christians to death.
Using the Jewish system of Gematria, in which each letter is given a number, either name can be made to add up to 666. The fear of the number 666 is known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
