One of the things I’d do if I was somehow, someway miraculously financially independent is study number theory. I was a physics major way back in college for two years, and I had my share of higher math. But it was all taken ’cause it had to be learned, and not studied for the pure joy of it. Yes, I do get joy from studying numbers.
All aspects of numbers. Including numerology, which, yes, I acknowledge borders uncomfortably close to pseudoscience. But so what? Like many of my nutty interests, it’s, well, interesting. It’s one of the reasons I find the Bible so fascinating. (Way down on the list, I must assure you, if the list of reasons I find the Bible so fascinating is prioritized.) When you read the Bible, you have to realize that every number you come across is deliberately chosen. No number in the Bible is put there accidentally; there’s a symbolism behind each and every one.
I just came across this little factoid in a Catholic Bible commentary. Remember the Patriarchs of the Faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Well, in Genesis, their lifespans are recorded thusly:
Abraham, 175 years (Gen 25:7)
Isaac, 180 years (Gen 35:28)
Jacob, 147 years (Gen 47:28)
What’s special about these numbers, 175, 180, 147?
Check this out.
175 = 7 x (5 x 5) and 7 + 5 + 5 = 17
180 = 5 x (6 x 6) and 5 + 6 + 6 = 17
147 = 3 x (7 x 7) and 3 + 7 + 7 = 17
What is so significant about the number 17 is up for interpretation. It appears in similar ways throughout many of the lifespans recorded in Genesis, such as those in chapters 5 and 11. The most commonly-held opinion is that 17 is the sum of the ‘sacred’ number 7 and the number of ‘completeness’, 10, so thought from earliest Biblical exegesis.
Neat, huh?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment