By Λεξικό Βιβλίκης Θεολογίας
When we encounter numerical designations in the sacred books, we must first establish whether they have been transmitted correctly. Since in ancient times numbers were written in letters, the text could easily be distorted or mutilated. For example, in 2 Kings 24:13 some read Ζ (=7), while in the parallel text 1 Chron. 21:12 it appears γ (=3).
Once the authenticity of the text has been confirmed, we must also ask ourselves whether, according to the author’s intention, the given number was perceived with its literal numerical value, as an approximate value, or rather with a symbolic meaning. Indeed, it is certain that ancient Semitic cultures showed little interest in mathematical precision, as our modern culture understands it. On the contrary, they emphasized the symbolic and conventional use of numbers.
I. Approaches and conventional meanings
From the “rounded” or “approximate” numbers in the Bible, it is easy to move on to conventional uses, which it would be a mistake to interpret literally.
The number 2 can mean simply “a few” (Num. 9:22), and doubling – superabundance (Jer. 16:18; Isa. 40:2; 61:7; Zech. 9:12; Rev. 18:6).
The number 3 is close to the value of the number π (see 1 Kings 7:23). Furthermore, the triple repetition of a gesture (1 Kings 17:21) or of an expression (Jer. 7:4) expresses emphasis, insistence, the highest degree of something — “the superlative degree of the superlative degree” (Isa. 6:3).
The number 4 symbolizes the completeness of the geographical horizon (forward, backward, right, left): the four winds (Ezek. 37:9; Isa. 11:12), the four rivers of paradise (Gen. 2:10).
The number 5 has a mnemonic value (the five fingers of the hand), which probably underlies some ritual prescriptions (Num. 7:17, 23, 29). In other cases, however, it has a clear approximate meaning, for example in Gen. 43:34, where Benjamin’s ration is “five times as much”; in Luke 12:6: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings?” – while in Matt. 10:29 it is: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?”; in 1 Cor. 14:19: “…I would rather speak five words with my mind… than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
The number 7 suggests significance or completeness: “Whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15). The righteous man falls seven times a day (Prov. 24:16). Peter wants to forgive seven times (Matt. 18:21). Jesus casts seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9). But the number also has a superlative degree: “Lamech will be avenged seventy times seven” (Gen. 4:24). To Peter’s question, Jesus answers: “I say to you, not seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:22).
The number 10 has a mnemonic value (the ten fingers of the hand) and is therefore used in: The Ten Commandments (Ex. 4:28; Deut. 4:13), The Ten Plagues of Egypt (Ex. 7:14 – 12:29). Hence the meaning of a fairly large quantity: Laban changed Jacob’s wages ten times (Gen. 31:7), Job was cursed ten times by his friends (Job 19:3 – Hebrew text).
The number 12 corresponds to the lunar months of the year and thus symbolizes the completeness of the annual cycle: Solomon’s twelve governors took care of the provision of the palace, each for one month (1 Kings 4:7 – 5:5). It has also been hypothesized that the twelve tribes of Israel were associated with the worship service in the common sanctuary during the twelve months of the year.
The number 40 symbolizes the years of a generation: forty years of sojourn in the wilderness (Num. 14:34), forty years of peace in Israel after each deliverance carried out by the judges (Judg. 3:11; 5:31, etc.), forty years of David’s reign (2 Sam. 5:4)… Hence the idea of a rather long period, the exact duration of which is unknown: forty days and forty nights of the flood (Gen. 7:4), Moses’ stay on Sinai (Ex. 24:18). The forty days of Elijah’s journey (1 Sam. 19:8) and of Christ’s fast (Mark 1:13 and related passages) symbolically repeat the forty years that Israel spent in the wilderness.
Similar conventional uses should be noted for the numbers 60 and 80 (Song of Solomon 6:8), for 100 (Lev. 26:8; Eccl. 6:3; the hundredfold reward in Matt. 19:29), while the seventy elders mentioned in Num. 11:16 and Num. 11:24 testify to the conventional use of the number seven (cf. Luke 10:1). Similarly, some uses of the number 70 (ten times seven) are connected with the symbolism of the week and the Sabbath (Jer. 25:11; 2 Chron. 36:21; Dan. 9:2).
The number 1000 denotes a significant quantity: God shows mercy to a thousand generations (Ex. 20:6; Jer. 39:18), to Him a thousand years are as one day (Ps. 89:4), and one day with Him is worth more than a thousand days elsewhere (Ps. 83:11). The same number is also used to denote the internal divisions of the tribes, and a “thousand” is conventionally subdivided into hundreds, fifties, and tens (Ex. 18:21).
Further, the word μυριάς (myriad) – 10,000, expresses a mythically large quantity (Lev. 26:8). Such large numbers usually carry the meaning of exaggeration, as is felt in various verses such as (Gen. 24:60) and (1 Sam. 18:7).
An original way of achieving expressiveness is to exaggerate a number by adding a larger one after it, for example: “God has spoken once, twice have I heard it” (Ps. 61:12). We also encounter:
1+2 (Jer. 3:14; Job 40:5), 2+3 (Hosea 6:2; Job 33:29; Sir. 23:16),
3+4 (Amos 1–2; Prov. 30:15–33 – Heb. text; Sir. 26:5), see also the Latin expression “thrice and fourfold happy” (Virgil);
4+5 (Isa. 17:6), 5+6 (2 Kings 13:19), 6+7 (Prov. 6:16; Job 5:19), 7+8 (Mic. 5:4; Eccl. 11:2), 9+10 (Sir. 25:7). As can be seen, this style is characteristic of the speech of the wise, more often in the form of a numerical masal (משל parable, aphorism) – a figurative statement of thought, which systematically resorts to this expressive technique.
II. Symbolic meanings
The ancient East attached great importance to the symbolism of numbers. In Mesopotamia, where mathematics was relatively developed, certain sacred numbers were associated with deities. According to Pythagorean theories, 1 and 2 were masculine, 3 and 4 – feminine, 7 – virgin, etc. These ideas are sometimes found in Jewish texts and in the Fathers of the Church, but are unknown in the Bible, where no number is sacred in itself. On the contrary, starting from some conventional usages or from the indirect influence of neighboring cultures, numerous symbolic meanings and even forms of gematria (גֵּימַטְרִיָּה – alphanumeric interpretation of a text) are found in the Bible.
1. Symbolic uses
The number 4, the number of world completeness (which also stands behind the “four living creatures” in Ezek. 1:5 and Rev. 4:6), expresses everything that has the character of completion: the four plagues in Ezek. 14:21, the four beatitudes in Luke 6:20 and following, as well as the eight in Matt. 5:1–10.
The number 7 traditionally signifies a completed cycle: the sevenfold sprinkling of blood (Lev. 4:6; 4:17; 8:11; 14:7; Num. 19:4; 1 Sam. 5:10), the sacrifice of seven animals (Num. 28:11; Ezek. 45:23; Job 42:8; 2 Chron. 29:21). The number 7 is usually associated with the holy and sacred: the seven angels in Tob. 12:15, the seven eyes on the stone in Zech. 3:9. And above all, it is the number of the days of the week and marks the Sabbath, the holiest day of all (Gen. 2:2). Hence the apocalyptic calculations in Dan. 9:2; 9:24, where seventy weeks of years (i.e., ten jubilees of 7×7 years) lead up to the day of salvation, regardless of any literal chronology. The number 7, as the number of perfection, is often understood as 3 + 4 (divine and earthly) and occurs in prophetic visions (Isa. 30:26; Zech. 4:2), and most frequently in Revelation (Rev. 1:12, 16; Rev. 3:1; Rev. 4:5; Rev. 5:1, 6; Rev. 8:2; Rev. 10:3; Rev. 15:1; Rev. 17:9).
The half of 7 – 3 ½ – is also mentioned, as a picture of imperfect time or an interrupted cycle (Dan. 7:25; Dan. 8:14; Dan. 9:27; Dan. 12:8, 11ff.; Rev. 11:2ff.; Rev. 12:6, 14; Rev. 13:5).
Conversely, the number 6 (i.e. 7 – 1) symbolizes imperfect fullness or artificial perfection – most famously in (Rev. 13:18) as 666.
The number 12, as a sign of the twelve tribes of Israel, is also considered a number of perfection, and is used symbolically for God’s people. Hence its significant use for the twelve apostles of Jesus, who will rule over the twelve tribes of the new Israel (Matt. 19:28 and parallel texts). Therefore, the new Jerusalem in the book of Revelation has: twelve gates, on which are written the names of the twelve tribes (Rev. 21:12), and twelve foundations, bearing the names of the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:14). By the same numerical logic, the saved people amount to 144,000, i.e. twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel (Rev. 7:4–8). And the twelve stars that crown the Woman (another symbol of the new humanity) probably also allude to the twelve signs of the zodiac (Rev. 12:1).
2. Gematria
Gematria (a modified form of the word “geometry”) is called the theory common in antiquity, according to which a given number designates a certain person or object, because the numerical value of the letters that make up its name corresponds to that number. There are several specific examples of such use in the Bible.
Example 1:
The 318 companions of Abraham (Gen. 14:14) probably correspond to the numerical value of the name Eliezer, Abraham’s steward:
א + ל + י + ע + ז + ר =
1 + 30 + 10 + 70 + 7 + 200 = 318
Example 2:
An interpretation has also been considered according to which the triple cycle of 14 generations in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1) represents the gematria of the name David:
• ד + ו + ד =
4 + 6 + 4 = 14
This number 14 = 2 × 7, also combines the symbolism of seven (completeness). Thus Jesus can be seen as a “triple David”, i.e. a particularly emphatically Davidic descendant and Messiah.
Example 3:
Without a doubt, the number of the Beast (666) in Rev. 13:18 is a real example of gematria, even if the method of calculation remains a matter of debate. For example, St. Irenaeus believed that it refers to the name Λατείνος (Latin), which by Greek gematria gives: Λ (30) + Α (1) + Τ (300) + Ε (5) + Ι (10) + Ν (50) + Ο (70) + Σ (200) = 666, which symbolically denotes the Roman Empire. Another widely held opinion is that it refers to Caesar Nero, whose Hebrew name – נרון קסר (NRWN QSR), also gives the number 666:
נ (50) + ר (200) + ו (6) + נ (50) + ק (100) + ס (60) + ר (200) = 666
In any case, the symbolism of the number 6 as an imperfection (7–1) is added to the encrypted identity.
III. Conclusion
Some biblical numbers must be interpreted both symbolically and by gematria. Very often, however, the key to the interpretation is lost to us and is difficult (or impossible) to recover.
For example, the mythical ages of the antediluvian patriarchs, although relatively few in number compared to those in Mesopotamian legends, probably have some significance. This is most clearly seen in Enoch, the only righteous one among them, who lived 365 years – the exact number of days in the solar year, a symbol of completeness and perfect order.
The same may be true of: the ages of the patriarchs of Israel, the total number counted in Num. 1:46, the 38 years of John 5:5, the 153 great fish of John 21:11 – a number that is probably a triangular number of 17: 1 + 2 + 3 + … + 17 = 153, and other similar numerical indications, the hidden meaning of which can only be guessed at.
Source in Greek: Lexicon of Biblical Theology, Edition «Biblical Center of Bread of Life». Athens 1980.
