The Meaning of Symbolic Numbers in the Bible
by Brenden Bell
Have you ever wondered why certain numbers seem to appear over and over again in the Bible? It rained for forty days and forty nights, the Israelites wandered for forty years, Jesus spent forty days in the desert. There are twelve tribes of Israel and twelve Apostles. The book of Revelation is full of them: there are four living creatures, seven seals, seven bowls, seven trumpets, and 144,000 servants of God. What does it all mean? Was there a biblical math class that I missed?
It all seems so complicate and confusing, but it really is not that different from our use of numbers today. You know what I mean when I say, “The gymnast got a perfect ten”, or “I got a hole in one”, or “He went the whole nine yards.” We use numbers to signify meaning other than just the numerical value they represent, and so did the people of biblical times. Numbers had symbolic meanings in the cultures of ancient Israel, Egypt, and Babylon, and the human authors of the scriptures used those symbolic numbers to convey meaning. Now, this does not mean that there is some secret biblical code, that, when cracked, will reveal the date of the end of the world or the formula for the world’s greatest ice cream favor. Nothing in the Bible is meant to be secret. God does not hide Himself in scripture; He reveals Himself. The numerical symbols can be thought of as a kind of shorthand that the authors knew their audience would understand, like pop culture references or emojis today. The problem is we live thousands of years after these books were written and we have forgotten what many of the symbols mean.
In this article, we will look at some of the most common numbers found in the Bible and see what they symbolize. Like most symbols, these can have multiple meanings and the meaning may not always be clear. Biblical scholars can sometimes disagree on what a particular number symbolizes in a particular passage. What was meant by Peter’s miraculous catch of 153 large fish in John 21:11 still baffles scholarship. But there is some general agreement about the most commonly used numbers.
The Number 1
While one does not appear as often as some numbers, it was significant as an expression of God’s uniqueness. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one.” (Deut. 6:4). This prayer the Shema (Hebrew for “Hear”) is the most important for the Jewish people. It expressed the central idea of monotheism that God is one and unique.
The Number 3
Three is an important number in the Bible. It is usually associated with God’s perfection. Blessings also take a triune pattern “The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine on you… The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace (Num. 6:24-26). The repetition of something three times was an expression of the superlative. Holy, Holy, Holy expressed the perfection of holiness, which belonged to God alone. Three becomes more important for Christians as an expression of the Trinity, foreshadowed in the three visitors to Abraham who announce the birth of Isaac (Gen. 18:1-15).
The Number 4
The number four is significant as an expression of the fullness of creation. Drawing from the idea of the four points of the compass, Genesis says there are four rivers that flow from Eden in every direction (Gen. 2:10-14). Revelation has the angels hold back the four winds (Rev. 7:1). The idea of creation is also expressed by the four-living creature in the visions of Ezekiel and Revelation. (Ezek. 1:5-10; Rev. 4:6-8).
The Number 6
Six symbolizes man and human effort because man was created on the sixth day (Gen. 1:27,31). But it also symbolizes a certain imperfection because it is just short of seven, the day God rested from his finished work of creation (Gen. 2:2). The number 666 in Revelation can then be seen as a kind of complete imperfection because it is the repletion of the number 6 three times (Rev. 13:18).
The Number 7
Without a doubt, seven is the most important number in the Bible. Seven symbolizes perfection and completeness, the seven days of creation and sevenfold spirit of God (Gen. 2:2; Rev. 1:4). Seven is also associated with holy and sacred things, the sabbath on the seventh day, and seven feasts in the year, and the sabbath year every seven years (Exod. 20:9; Lev. 23:1-44; Lev. 25:1-7). Seven often completes a cycle like the walls of Jericho came down after the Israelites marched around the city seven times on the seventh day or in Revelation, we see four cycles of seven with the seven seals, seven trumpets, seven plagues and seven bowls. (Josh. 6:15-20; Rev. 6-11, 15-16). When Peter asks Jesus if he should forgive seven times, he is asking if there is some completion, some limitation on forgiveness. Jesus’ answer 77 times, or 70 times 7, expresses an infinite perfection, which means our forgiveness of others should be unlimited as God’s forgiveness is unlimited (Mt. 18:21-22).
The Number 10
As the bases of the decimal number system (base 10), ten also has a symbolic sense of completeness or totality as seen in the 10 plagues of Egypt and the 10 commandments, which summarize of the Law (Ex. 7:14-12:30; Ex. 20:1-14).
The Number 12
Twelve has significance in the sexagesimal number system (base 60) which was used by ancient Babylon and still survives in our concept of a dozen. In the Bible, twelve is often associated with the perfection of order and government. The year is divided into twelve months, there are twelve tribes of Israel, Jesus chose twelve apostle and Judas’ vacant seat was replaced by Matthias to restore the eleven back to twelve (Rev. 22:1; Gen. 49, Deut. 33; Mt 10:1-4, Mk 3:14-19, Lk 6:13-16; Act 1:15-26).
The Number 40
Forty is often used to refer to a period of time, usually a period of trial or struggle. The flood lasts 40 days, Israel is in the desert for 40 year, Elijah walks 40 days to mount Horeb, Jesus is tempted in the desert for 40 days. (Gen. 7:4; Exod. 16:35, Num. 14:33; Deut. 29:4; 1 Kings 19:8; Mt 4:2, Mk 1:13, Lk 4:2). The time period is both a purification and preparation of the people or individual and a sign of God’s faithfulness through the trial. Lent is a commemoration and participation in Jesus experience of 40 days in the desert.
The Number 1000
Occasionally the Bible will use the number one thousand to indicate not literally one thousand but an extremely large number. For example, when Revelation 20:6 says Christ will reign for one thousand years, it does not necessarily mean exactly one thousand years, but a ridiculously long period of time. Today, we express something similar when we say, “That was like a million years ago.” We are not expressing an exact measurement of time, but a long period of time. Similarly, in Revelation 7, John sees a vision of 144,000 servants of God, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel. This does not mean only 144,000 will be saved. It is a symbolic representation of the fullness of Israel, which will be saved plus the innumerable multitude from ever nation, race, people, and tongue. (Rev 7:1-9)
Gematria
Sometimes in the Bible, numbers will be used to symbolically represent a person. This can be done by what is called gematria, the adding up of the numerical value of the letters that make up the person’s name. Similar to Roman numerals, Greek and Hebrew letters had numerical values assigned to them, so you could add up those letters to a certain number. The most famous case of this is the number 666 in Revelation 13:18, which was meant to indicate a particular person. Many theories have been proposed as to whom or what 666 refers. The most common modern theory is a reference to Nero Caesar, who persecuted the Christians around the time Revelation was written (In Aramaic the letters of Nero Caesar add up to 666). Another example comes from Mathew’s genealogy of Jesus. There are fourteen generation from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile and fourteen from the Babylonian Exile to Jesus the Messiah. The triple repetition of the number fourteen could be a refence to David, whose name in Hebrew equals 14. Thus, Jesus is like David the King, but because of the triple repletion Jesus is the preeminent King of Israel (Mt. 1:17).
Adding it all up
What do we take away from the symbolic use of numbers in the scripture? Let us start with what they are not. The numbers in the Bible are not meant to be some secret code. Neither are they mystical numbers imbued with special powers. They will not help you win the lottery (by the way, neither will the numbers on the back of a fortune cookie). The symbolic numbers in the scriptures convey meaning. They are there to tell us something. They tell us how God has ordered our salvation, as in a very different way the numbers in a physics equation tell us how God has ordered the universe. When we see these symbolic numbers appear again and again in the scriptures, we know that God is faithful. He has been there before, and he will be there again, ordering all things for our good. “Even all the hairs of your head have been counted” (Mt 10:30).
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