A noteworthy characteristic of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures is the frequent use of "special," mythologically significant numbers throughout its pages. Have you ever noticed how often such numbers as 3, 7, 10, 12, 40 and their multiples occur in the stories? This paper will examine the use of special numbers, will provide many examples of such usage, will remark on the use of the same numbers by other ancient peoples, and will briefly speculate on reasons for this usage.
Line of Cain -- 7 generations to Lamech, personification of evil
Line of Seth -- 7 generations to Enoch, personification of good
Line of Seth --10 generations to Noah, savior figure
Line of Noah --10 generations to Abraham, "exalted father" of the Jews
Line of Abraham -- 7 generations to Moses, savior figure (Exodus 6)
Line of Perez --10 generations to David, savior figure (Ruth 4:18-22)
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Abraham to David --14 generations (Mt 1)
David to Exile --14 generations (Mt 1)
Exile
to Christ --14 generations (Mt 1) [So, in Matthew there are six 7's leading up to Christ, the seventh 7 from Abram, the Exalted Father.]
God to Jesus --77 generations (Lk 3)
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Table of Nations --70 descended from Noah's sons (Gen 10)
Jacob's family into Egypt --70 members (Gen 46:27; Ex 1:5)
Evil tribes in Canaan -- 7 nations to be destroyed by Israel (Dt 7:1; Acts 13:19)
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Abraham had 7 sons besides Isaac, the special child (Gen 25:1-2; 16:15; 21:2-3)
Jesse had 7 sons besides David, the special child (1 Sam 16:10)
In Hebrew, Gen 1:1 consists of 7 words; Gen 1:2 consists of 14 words
7 days of Creation
Cain avenged 7 times; Cain's 7th descendant Lamech avenged 77 times
Seth's descendant Lamech lives 777 years
Line of Cain, 7 to Lamech, symbol of evil
Line of Seth, 7 to Enoch, symbol of good
7 of every "clean" animal onto the ark
Noah, the savior figure, leads 7 righteous people onto the ark (1 wife, 3 sons, 3 sons' wives)
Yahweh says to Noah, "7 days from now, I'll send rain"
Noah waits 7 days each time after sending the dove (3 times)
Ark comes to rest in the 7th month, just as God rested on the 7th day
70 names/nations descended from Noah's 3 sons (Gen 10)
7-fold promise to Abraham (Gen 12:2-3)
7 lambs at treaty of Beersheba (Gen 21)
Jacob works 7 years for Leah, the plain one
Jacob works 7 years for Rachael, the beautiful one
Laban pursued Jacob for 7 days (Gen 31:22)
7 chiefs, sons of Eliphaz (Gen 36:15-16)
7 Horite chiefs (Gen 36:20)
Pharaoh's dream of 7 fat cows / 7 skinny cows, 7 full heads of grain / 7 withered heads of grain
7 years of abundance, 7 years of famine in Joseph story
70 members of Jacob's family at the descent into Egypt (Gen 46:27; Ex 1:5)
Jacob is mourned for 70 days (Gen 50:3)
Line of Abraham, 7 generations to Moses, savior of Israel
Moses marries Zipporah, one of 7 daughters
7 days of unleavened bread at Passover
Cloud covers mountain for 6 days; on the 7th, Yahweh calls to Moses from the cloud (Ex 24:16)
70 elders of Israel (Ex 24:1)
Priest sprinkles the blood of a red heifer 7 times (Num 19)
Balaam sacrifices 7 bulls and 7 rams on 7 altars (3 times) (Num 23)
Yahweh requires bull's blood to be sprinkled 7 times for a sin offering (Lev 4:6,17)
Aaron and his sons undergo a 7-day ordination to the priesthood (Lev 8:33)
Aaron, the high priest, lights 7 lamps (Num 8:2)
Every 7th year, Israel is to leave the land fallow (Ex 23:11), read the Law (Dt 31), cancel all debts, and free slaves if they wish to be freed (Dt 15:1)
Every 49 years (7 x 7) is the year of Jubilee (Lev 25)
The Feast of Weeks is 7 weeks after the beginning of the grain harvest (Dt 16:9)
7 "wicked" nations in Canaan to be destroyed by Israel (Josh 3:10)
Israelites under Joshua march around Jericho 7 times on the 7th day with 7 priests and 7 trumpets, and the walls of the city miraculously fall down (Josh 6)
Israel falls into the hands of the Midianites for 7 years (Jdg 6:1)
Gideon must sacrifice a 7-year-old bull (Jdg 6:25)
Gideon has 70 sons (Jdg 8:28-30)
Samson gives men 7 days to solve his riddle
Samson's wife cries the 7 days of the feast
Samson's hair had 7 braids (Jdg 16:13)
Samson was tied with 7 fresh bowstrings (Jdg 16:7)
Israelite hero Abdon has 40 sons and 30 grandsons who ride on 70 donkeys (Jdg 12:14)
Job has 7 sons (and 3 daughters) (Job 1:2)
Job has 7,000 sheep (1:3)
Job sits on the ground for 7 days and 7 nights (2:13)
Job 5:19 "From 6 calamities he will rescue you, in 7 no harm will befall you."
Eliphaz has to sacrifice 7 bulls and 7 rams (Job 42)
God gives Job 7 more sons to replace his dead ones (Job 42)
She who was barren has born 7 sons (1 Sam 2:5)
The ark of Yahweh is with the Philistines for 7 months, and he sends tumors on them (1 Sam 6:1)
Saul waits 7 days to be anointed king (1 Sam 10)
David is chosen over 7 brothers, like Isaac is chosen over 7 brothers (1 Sam 16:10)
David is king in Hebron 7 years (reigns 40 total) (2 Sam 2:11; 5:5)
King David lives 70 years
King Solomon has 700 wives (and 300 concubines)
Solomon's golden throne is at the 7th level, atop 6 steps (1 Kgs 10:18-20)
Takes 7 years for Solomon to build the Temple of Yahweh (1 Kgs 6:37-38)
7,000 Israelites are faithful to Yahweh (1 Kgs 19:18)
7,000 Jews slay 100,000 Syrians in 1 day; surviving Syrians flee to another city where a wall falls on 27,000 of them (1 Kgs 20)
Elijah prays 7 times for rain before Yahweh answers (1 Kgs 18)
Elisha resurrects a boy, who sneezes 7 times before opening his eyes (2 Kgs 4:35)
Elisha heals a man of leprosy by telling him to bathe 7 times in the Jordan River (2 Kgs 5:10)
Yahweh sends a 7-year famine (2 Kgs 8:1)
Joash becomes king at 7 (reigns 40 years) (2 Kgs 11:21-12:1)
Desolation of Jerusalem (586 BCE) supposed to last 70 years (Jer 25:11-12; Dan 9:2)
Kingdom of Israel to be restored by the messiah after 70 weeks (Dan 9:24)
Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace was 7 times hotter than usual (Dan 3:19)
The sun will be 7 times brighter when Yahweh heals Israel whom he afflicted (Isa 30:26)
The finest silver is refined 7 times (Ps 12:6)
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Jesus is 77th from God in Luke's genealogy (Lk 3)
Jesus feeds 5,000 men with 5 loaves + 2 fishes, 5 + 2 = 7 (12 full baskets left over) (Mk 6)
Jesus feeds 4,000 men with 7 loaves of bread, 7 full baskets left over (Mk 8)
Jesus sends out 70 disciples (acc to some manuscripts of Luke 10) (Other manuscripts say he sent out 72, still a special number as a multiple of 12)
Jesus casts 7 devils out of Mary Magdalene (Mk 16:9)
Jesus pronounces 7 woes upon the Pharisees and teachers of the law (Mt 23)
Jesus speaks 7 times from the cross (once in Mk and Mt, thrice in Lk, thrice in John, 1+3+3=7)
Demons often travel in 7's (Lk 11:26)
70 x 7 are the times of forgiving (Mt 18:22)
"After 6 days" (i.e. on the 7th day), Jesus goes up to the mount and is transfigured (Mk 9:2)
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7 sons of Sceva try to use Jesus' name to drive out evil spirits (Acts 19:14)
In Revelation: 7 angels, 7 horns, 7 eyes, 7 stars, 7 trumpets, 7 seals, 7 vials, 7 thunders, 7 plagues, 7,000 men, 7 candlesticks, 7 churches, 7 mountains, 7 kings, 7 letters to the 7 churches, 7 spirits of God, 7 spirits before the throne, a beast with 7 heads
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7 pillars of wisdom in Judaism
7 candles on the Jewish menorah
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7 sacraments in Catholicism
7 parts of the Catholic mass
7 levels of spiritual ministry (1 Cor 12:29-30)
7 major sins and 7 virtues
7 heavens in tradition (Paul speaks of one being carried to the 3rd heaven in 2 Cor 12:2)
It rained for 40 days and 40 nights in the Noah story
Noah started sending the birds out 40 days after the mountains became visible
Israel was enslaved in Egypt 400 years (Gen 15:13)
Israel in the wilderness 40 years
12 spies explore the land for 40 days (Num 13:25)
Goliath taunts Israel for 40 days (1 Sam 17:16)
Moses fasts on the mountain 40 days and nights (Ex 34:28)
Elijah fasts in the wilderness 40 days and nights (1 Kgs 19:8)
Jesus fasts in the wilderness 40 days and nights
Jesus in the tomb for 40 hours (tradition)
40 days between the resurrection and ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:3)
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40 lashes is the highest number of lashes for punishment (Dt 25:3)
Jacob was embalmed for 40 days (Gen 50:2-3)
Jonah gives Nineveh 40 days to repent or be destroyed
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Moses led Israel 40 years (He was 80 when he began, and he died at 120)
Gideon led Israel in peace for 40 years (Jdg 8:28)
Eli led Israel 40 years (1 Sam 4:18)
Saul reigned 40 years (Acts 13:21)
David reigned 40 years (7 in Hebron, 33 in Jerusalem)
Solomon reigned 40 years
12 sons of Jacob
12 sons of Nahor (Gen 22)
12 sons/tribes of Ishmael (Gen 25)
12 tribes of Israel
12 spies sent to Canaan
12 legendary judges of Israel (see book of Judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephtah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson)
12 labors of Samson (12 mighty deeds; compare with the 12 labors of Hercules)
12 lions on the 6 steps leading up to the golden throne of Solomon (1 Kg 10:18-20)
120 years Israel was a united nation (40 years each under Saul, David, and Solomon)
12 yoke of oxen used by Elisha to plow his fields
12 minor prophets in the Old Testament
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12 disciples of Jesus
12 = age of Jesus as child prodigy in the temple
Jesus heals a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years (Lk 8:43)
Jesus heals a 12-year-old girl (Lk 8:42)
Jesus feed 5,000 men with 5 loaves + 2 fishes (= 7), having 12 baskets of leftovers (Mk 6)
Jesus can call on 12 legions of angels (Mt 26:53)
120 believers in the upper room at Pentecost (Acts 1:15)
Paul helps 12 men receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:7)
24 elders around the throne in heaven (Rev 4)
[and 24 wings on 4 4-headed creatures with 6 wings each]
144,000 sealed servants of God (12 x 12,000) (Rev 7)
12 gates, 12 pearls, 12 foundations of 12 precious stones, and 12 angels: in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21)
The New Jerusalem is 12,000 stadia in length, its walls 144 (12 x 12) cubits thick
Noah sends out the dove 3 times before success
Abraham travels 3 days to sacrifice Isaac
Moses is hidden for 3 months at birth
After 3 days, Yahweh comes down on Mt. Sinai in the sight of all the people (Ex 19:11)
3 annual festivals of the Israelites (Ex 23:14)
3-year-old animals for special sacrifices (1 Sam 1:24; Gen 15:9)
3 times Balaam sacrifices 7 bulls and 7 rams on 7 altars (Num 23)
3 times Delilah fails to trick Samson (& his 7 braids of hair) (Jdg 16)
Yahweh says David must choose 3 years of famine, 3 months of fleeing from enemies, or 3 days of plague - - as punishment for taking a census (2 Sam 24:13)
Saul's donkeys are missing for 3 days
3 times a day at prayer (Dan 6:10; Ps 55:17)
3 days Joseph in the well (tradition)
3 days of darkness in Egypt before the Exodus
3 days Jonah in the belly of the whale
3 Jewish heroes (Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego) thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace [which was 7 times hotter than usual] (Dan 3:19)
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3 days Jesus is lost from his parents at age 12
3 hours of darkness over the whole earth at the crucifixion (Mk 15:33)
3 days Jesus in the tomb, dead, or "in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12:40)
3 times Peter denies Jesus
3 days Paul is blind and fasting after the Damascus incedent (Acts 9:9)
3 favored disciples taken by Jesus to see him transfigured on the mount (Mt 17:1) ["after 6 days = on the 7th day]
3 times Jesus asks if Peter loves him (Jn 21:15)
On the 3rd day, Jesus turns water into wine (John 2)
3 aspects/persons of the Trinity
3 levels of creation: heavens, earth, and underworld/Sheol/Hades/hell
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3,000 killed after worshiping the golden calf (Ex 32:28)
3,000 become believers on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41)
Samson makes a bet on 30 linen garments and 30 sets of clothes (Jdg 14:12), kills 30 men (14:19), ties fire to the tails of 300 foxes (15:4); for 3 days men cannot solve his riddle (14:14) [and his wife cries for 7 days (14:17)]; Delilah fails 3 times to trick him (Jdg 16) [& his hair has 7 braids (16:13)]; and 3,000 people are watching him when he brings down the house (Jdg 14-16)
What now follows is some commentary on numerology in general. Most of the following information comes from an article by Annemarie Schimmel on "Numbers" in The Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mircea Eliade, 1987 ed. As my object is to make information available, and not to invent any original thesis, I will quote from and paraphrase this article abundantly. (Assume that any otherwise uncited quote is from this source.)
Mankind's fascination with numbers goes back to the most ancient civilizations and even earlier. "Observation of the rhythm of days and nights and the phases of the moon seem to have led to man's early occupation with numbers, and Sumerian-Babylonian astral system lies behind much of the later development." In fact, during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews in the 500s BCE, the Jews likely adopted and adapted a significant amount of Babylonian mythology and numerology. Numbers were given divine qualities in India. "The first religio-philosophical interest in numbers appeared in Greece with the Pythagoreans, who regarded numbers as metaphysical potencies." Special numbers were used in the ancient world in the writing of mythology and religious works, in magic spells, in religious formulas and rituals, and in healing rites. Philosophers and priests speculated on the power of certain numbers. St. Augustine and many medieval Christian authors studied numbers as clues to biblical allegories.
Here, drawing heavily
on Schimmel's article, are a few comments on individual numbers. Not all of these numbers
are as important for our study of the Bible as are the numbers 3, 7, 12, and 40,
but I have included other numbers too, just for extra insight into ancient numerology.
In every lunar cycle, the moon is absent from sight for 3 days, being too close to the sun to be seen.
Astrologically, the sun dies on December 21 every year (the winter solstice; the sun at its lowest point on the horizon; shadows at their longest) and the sun is "in the grave" for 3 days before it begins to rise again on the horizon on Dec 25, the birthday of the sun. Thus, in Mithraism, December 25 was the birthday of the savior Mithra, "the unconquered son." Christians later made December 25 the birthday of Christ, the "light of the world."
*Given these solar and lunar events, it is not surprising to see the number 3 appear with death, darkness, or disappearance in the Bible.
Many ancient peoples considered the universe to exist in 3 parts: the heavens (i.e. the skies), the earth (usually a square or flat disk), and the underworld (Tartarus, Hades, Sheol, Hell).
7. "Seven is a sacred number in many traditions. Because it is according to Hippocrates of Chios, related to the lunar phases, 7 influences all sub-lunar things. It appears in the periodicity of chemical elements and of music, and has generally connected with the phases of human development.... Seven is the first prime number of symbolic meaning; it is 'virgin,' since it does not generate by multiplication any number under ten, and is the only integer of the first decade that is not a divisor of 360. Consisting of the spiritual ternary and the practical quarternary (3 + 4), seven embraces everything created. Whether the sanctitude of seven was derived by the Sumerians from the seven planets (the five visible planets plus sun and moon) or whether, conversely, they looked for seven planets to match their idea of the perfect number is a matter of dispute. The number of planets in turn determined the number of days in a week. In Babylon every seventh day was considered dangerous, and it was thought that nothing should be undertaken; the seventh day was then sanctified in Judaism as Sabbath, the day on which God rested after creation.... Some tradions speak of seven worlds, or, in accordance with the 'planets,' seven spheres; therefore, the ascension of the soul usually leads through seven gates, steps, valleys, or veils [as in the Mithraic mysteries. In 2 Cor 12:2, Paul speaks of being caught up to the third heaven.] In extension, Islam knows 70,000 veils between the soul and God. Seven appears also in connection with deities of other religions: it is Apollo's number, and in India it is especially prominent in connection with Agni. In Iran the heptad of the Amesha Spentas consists of six plus the all-embracing Ahura-Mazda. But the number seven gained its greatest importance in the Judaic tradition, whence it extends into Christianity and Islam.... Both the Lord's Prayer and the Qur'anic Fatiha consist of seven sentences.... The sevenforld repetition of religious acts is common in Islam; thus the sevenforld run between Safah and Marwah and the 3 x 7 stones cast at the devil during the pilgrimage. Sufism knows seven lata'if, subtle centers in the body, connected in meditation with the seven essential attributes of God and the seven great prophets." Hindu meditation speaks of seven chakras, bodily energy centers. The Buddha sat for seven days and nights under the bodhi tree as he became enlightened; when he started to rise, he could not, and he remained in bliss for forty-nine days (7 x 7). When the Nigerian ju-ju man attempts to restore the dead to life, he strikes the ground or the roof of the house seven times. The Pleiades, the seven sisters, were an important constellation in ancient times (see also Job 38:31-33) and appear in the mythology of all races, and the constellation of the Great Bear also contains seven stars. The importance of both constellations and the number seven probably stretches back into prehistoric times. A spiral of seven turnes was an important symbol to the ancient Cretans and the ancient Etruscans, and old Cornish, South Asian, Hopi Indian, Finnish, and Welsh designs of sevenfold spirals have also been discovered. There is even a Paleolithic carving of a sevenfold spiral on a mammoth bone from Siberia [see Gooch, pp. 42-43, 144-5]. Seven is also the midpoint of thirteen, and both are significant moon numbers.
The Sumerians and then other ancient people believed that there to be 7 planets (including the sun and moon).
The Greek Hippocrates of Chios said that 7 related to the lunar phases and, therefore, influences all sub-lunar activities. Each of the 4 phases of the moon takes 7 days.
*Given these appearances of 7, the ancients divided each lunation (month <-- moon) into 4 weeks of 7 days. Each of the 7 days were often named for the 7 planets (ex. Sunday, or Monday = Moonday).
*Due to the 7 planets, some cultures developed the idea that there were 7 heavens, or 7 levels to the sky, or even 7 levels of existence.
This study has been intended to reveal the importance of numbers in creating myth.
When one understands the way ancient people used special numbers in their myths, this knowledge helps put the mythological
elements of the Bible in their proper perspective. When we see 3's, 7's, 10's, 12's, and 40's and their multiples filling the stories
of the Bible, these are but clues to the fictional or symbolic nature of the tales. It is interesting to note that the more genuinely
historical parts of the Old Testament use these special numbers much less frequently.
Were the heavens and the earth really created by Elohim in 7 days? Did the
walls of Jericho fall down miraculously after the Israelites marched around it 7 times on the 7th day? Were 12 tribes of Israel
captive in Egypt for 400 years and then set free in the 7th generation from Abraham after 10 plagues and 3 days of darkness,
to wander in the wilderness for 40 years with Moses, who was hidden for 3 months at birth and married one of 7 daughters
and led Israel for 40 years and fasted on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights to meet with God, who came down to the
mountain on the 3rd day and spoke out of a cloud on the 7th day to give 10 commandments to a rebellious people, upon
whom he would later send death and plagues to kill the wisked ones in groups of 3,000, 14,700, or 24,000? Of course
not. Stories that use such numbers are typically myth/legend. Did Saul, David, and Solomon all rule exactly 40 years each
over a united Israel for a total of 120 years? Did 12 heroes live in Israel over 480 years (12 x 40) from the Exodus to the
4th year of Solomon? Did a worldwide flood happen in the third millenium BC from a rain that started 7 days from God's
warning and lasted 40 days and 40 nights, after which a man with 3 sons (and 7 total family members) let a dove go 3 times
at intervals of 7 days each to see if the earth was dry? If you go back and re-read the Samson story in Judges, notice the
abundance of special numbers in it. And look for them in the Christian gospels and Revelation too.