Rough Notes:
Nine
NINE 9
Nine-sided lotus temple Nine windows and keystones or 3 sets of 3 on the front of the Logan Temple
BalanceBrownFinal JudgementFinality / The HorizonMysteryNineOrderPerfection
BALANCE
“Composed of three trinities, the number nine represents the principles of the sacred Triad taken to their utmost expression. Nine was considered thrice sacred and most holy, representing perfection, balance, and order, the supreme superlative.”
Michael Schneider, A Beginner’s Guide to Constructing the Universe, 302
JUDGEMENT
Coming soon…
FINALITY (THE HORIZON)
Coming soon…
MYSTERY
“…7, 9 and 11 are considered numbers of mystery. They cannot be constructed…with a compass and straightedge. They’re mysteries, they’re here but they’re not here. Like 7, the rainbow, it’s here, the seven colors of the rainbow are there, but nobody can grab it. Seven is always about things you can’t grab, can’t hold on to, the seven notes of the musical scale…same with 9 and 11.”
(Michael Schneider, Oral Interview, via YouTube)
ORDER
See “Balance”
PERFECTION
See “Balance”
The number nine is occasionally used symbolically in scripture. When employed, it carries the meaning of judgment, finality, or completion.139 One commentator wrote:
Nine is . . . the number of finality or judgment, for judgment is committed unto Jesus as “the Son of Man” (John v. 27; Acts xvii. 31). It marks the completeness, the end and issue of all things as to man—the judgment of man and all his works. It is a factor of 666, which is 9 x 74. The gematria of the word “Dan,” which means a judge, is 54 (9 x 6). . . . The sieges of Jerusalem have been 27 in number, or three times nine, and they are stamped with the number of Divine completeness [or Divine involvement] (3) and the number of judgment (9). . . . The signification of the number nine is judgment, especially divine judgment, and the conclusion of the whole matter so far as man is concerned. But nine is the square of three, and three is the number of Divine perfection, as well as the number peculiar to the Holy Spirit. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that this number denotes finality in divine things.140
The judgments of God, as given in the book of Haggai, are enumerated in nine particulars, with drought being sent upon the land, mountains, corn, new wine, oil, produce of the earth, men, cattle, and the labors of all hands (see 1:11). This is a grand example of judgments being poured out.
Jesus healed ten lepers, but only one came back to acknowledge and thank him. Then asked Jesus, “Where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17). The numerology suggests they will be judged for their ingratitude.
TEN 10
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COMPLETE CYCLE
“Completeness of order, marking the entire round of anything, is, therefore, the ever-present signification of the number ten. It implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; that the whole cycle is complete.”
E. W. Bullinger, “Number in Scripture,” 243
LIFE (ETERNAL)
“5 and 10 are considered numbers of life…”
(Michael Schneider, Oral Interview, via YouTube)
PERFECTION
“The number 10 appears to represent perfection (spiritual) and wholeness (physical) often in connection with time…Though 10 occasionally appears alone, it most often is used in multiplying other numbers, to amplify their meaning.”
Val Brinkerhoff, “The Day Star: Reading Sacred Architecture” (Book 2), 69-70
TITHE
“Maasar,מַעֲשֵׂר: a tenth; especially a tithe:– tenth (part), tithe(-ing).”
Strong’s Concordance
WHOLENESS
See “Perfection”
The number ten denotes “all of a part.”141 In other words, it is a whole or complete unit existing within a greater whole. For example, the Ten Commandments did not comprise all of God’s commandments to ancient Israel. Rather, as Philo of Alexandria indicated, the Decalogue contained only a “kernel of the entire Torah.” Judaism acknowledges some 613 precepts or commandments in the Torah. It is worth noting that the “talmudic-midrashic sources never speak of the Decalogue as containing the entire Torah.”142 It contains a complete unit of the law of Moses but not the whole law.143
Members of the Church are expected to pay 10 percent of their increase as a tithe to the Lord. That amount is not all of their income, nor, ideally, all of their sacrifice. Nevertheless, a tithe is a complete unit within the greater whole of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the law of consecration.144
Using Moses as his emissary, God warned Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go free, lest Egypt be plagued grievously. Pharaoh refused to submit, so God poured out a set of ten plagues that softened Pharaoh’s heart sufficiently long to enable Israel to flee Egypt (see Exodus 7–10). God did not unleash the fulness of his wrath, but rather a whole portion of it sufficient to accomplish his will in that particular circumstance.145
Ten tribes of the house of Israel have been described as lost. They certainly are not all of covenant Israel, but they do form a distinct and separate unit within Israel’s body and eschatology.146
Ammaron approached Mormon regarding the plates when the latter was but ten years old. However, this was but one stage, portion, or unit of Mormon’s life that would be dedicated in some respect to the plates (see Mormon 1:2–4; 2:17–18; 6:6).
According to one source, the number ten is the root of the decimal numerical system specifically because of the fact that it anciently carried the connotation of “all of a part.”147 Another source indicates, “The Hebrew word for ‘ten’ . . . is to be connected with the Arabic word for ‘kinsman’ or ‘tribe,’ or ‘collection.'”148 This would certainly relate to the notion that ten symbolizes “a whole part, but not the whole itself.” Indeed, the number ten is frequently associated with complete cycles, series, or units.149
There are few examples of the number eleven in scripture. It symbolizes sin, transgression, peril, conflict, disorder, imperfection, and disintegration.150 Thus Jacob’s eleven sons get rid of a twelfth child, Joseph, and in so doing signal “the disintegration and disorganization in Jacob’s family” through conflict and sin.151
The sinful puppet king of Judah, Jehoiakim, reigned amid conflict, disorder, and controversy some eleven years before dying in office (see Jeremiah 36:30).152 Similarly, King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned for some eleven years, after which he was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar, forced to watch the slaying of most of his children, and then had his eyes put out (see 2 Kings 25:7).
One text on numerology noted that “from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea, that journey fraught with such great disaster to the people of Israel, was an eleven days’ journey (Deut. 1:2). It was short of the land of promise, and of the complete administration of God’s laws, by one day.”153
Judas’s betrayal left the Quorum of the Twelve with only an imperfect eleven members, necessitating a reorganization at a very difficult time in the Church’s history.
The number twelve is a symbol for priesthood, including its power and right to govern.154 Examples of this in scripture and the temple are legion.
In Matthew 10:1–4 we are told that Jesus called twelve Apostles and gave them the priesthood. When he appeared to the Nephites, Jesus again called twelve men as ministers to the people and gave them “power and authority to baptize” (3 Nephi 12:1).155 In the dispensation of the fulness of times, the Lord has again called and commissioned twelve Apostles to further his work (see D&C 18:27). The number twelve in relation to the Apostles suggests that they are the epitome of priesthood authority and governance.156
The baptismal font (or laver) in temples, both ancient (see 1 Kings 7:23–26; 2 Chronicles 4:3–5) and modern,157 rests upon the back of twelve oxen facing the four cardinal directions. This signifies the fact that this is a priesthood ordinance (no. 12) necessary for all (no. 4) who wish to enter the celestial kingdom. The oxen also represent the twelve tribes of Israel, who were scattered to the four corners of the earth—and who must be gathered from the four corners of the earth through the ordinance of baptism.
Jesus’ comment to his disciples that he could pray to his Father and thereby have “more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53) to help him may have been a suggestion that through priesthood keys, including the ministry of angels (see D&C 13), Jesus could have divine intervention were such the will and intent of the Father. However, in deference to his foreordained call to lay down his life on behalf of all, he did not exercise that priesthood power that was rightfully his.
In an effort to highlight the power by which the miracle of healing can occur, Mark employs the number of priesthood when he recounts Jesus’ healing of the woman who had an “issue of blood” some twelve years (see Mark 5:25–34) and his raising from the dead the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus (see Mark 5:35–43).
John the Revelator saw a woman, symbolic of the Church, who had upon her head a crown of twelve stars (see Revelation 12:1). Symbolically, the image depicted the twelve apostles with priesthood authority who direct the work and preside over Christ’s Church.
In that same vision, John was shown the celestial kingdom, which he described as having twelve gates or entrances (see Revelation 21:12–14, 21). Symbolic of priesthood, the presence of twelve here reminds us that in order to gain entrance into the celestial world, we need the ordinances of the priesthood and associated covenants.158
The number twelve appears over and over again in relation to priesthood holders, the temple, the covenant people who have received the necessary priesthood ordinances, and the celestial kingdom. Hence there are twelve tribes, twelve stones on the breastplate of the high priest, twelve foundations and gates into the heavenly city, twelve priesthood-holding patriarchs from Seth to Noah, and another twelve from Shem to Jacob.159
Because the number twelve symbolizes priesthood, multiples of twelve are traditionally understood to be a symbol for the fulness of the priesthood, or making one’s calling and election sure.160 Thus one commentary notes, “Anytime the number twelve is multiplied by another number, it symbolizes an increase in power and covenant responsibility.”161
So in Revelation 7 we read, “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (v. 4). Of these 144,000 individuals, “we are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 77:11). Contrary to the teachings of some churches, this number is not intended to be taken literally.162 Rather, it serves to highlight the necessity of priesthood and priesthood ordinances (e.g., “twelve thousand” of each tribe). It emphasizes the fact that those who partake of the ordinances required by the Lord, and then keep the covenants associated therewith, shall become members of the Church of the Firstborn and have their calling and election made sure. This is available to all of God’s children, not a predetermined, limited number. Of this verse, one commentator wrote:
Twelve represents the priesthood. Biblical people squared a number to amplify its symbolic meaning. Thus, 144 suggests a fulness of priesthood authority. But John is not satisfied with that. He gives the image a superlative quality by multiplying 1,000, representing completeness. In this way he shows the strength and breadth of the priesthood in the latter days, in this dispensation that is, indeed, the dispensation of the fulness of times. During this period that complete priesthood authority will operate.163
The number thirteen seldom appears in scripture and is infrequently treated in commentaries. In light of its modern Western connotations, it is not surprising that anciently the number represented apostasy and an evil or ill omen.164“Every occurrence of the number thirteen, and likewise every multiple of it, stamps that with which it stands in connection with rebellion, apostasy, defection, corruption, disintegration, revolution, or some kindred idea.”165
For this reason, in Genesis 14:4 we read, “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.” Similarly, Ishmael “was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him and admitted him into the covenant to which he was a stranger in heart, and which ended in his rebellion and rejection.”166
Likewise, the destruction of the city of Jericho was stamped with the number thirteen. Joshua’s armies were said to have circled Jericho once each day for six days, and seven times on the seventh day, making thirteen times in all. At the conclusion of this “ill omen,” the walls of Jericho fell (see Joshua 6; Hebrews 11:30).
It was in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah that Jeremiah began to prophesy against the apostasy of Judah (see Jeremiah 1:2; 25:3). King Solomon spent thirteen years building his own house (see 1 Kings 7:1), which was full of apostasy (see 11:4). But he spent only seven years building the Lord’s house (see 6:38).
Some commentators interpret this number as simply meaning “a lengthy period of time.”167 As it is applied to years, it is certainly that. However, the symbolism in the number goes beyond this simple definition. In scripture, the number represents a period of trial, testing, probation, or mourning.168
In the days of Noah it is said to have rained some forty days and forty nights (see Genesis 7:12). This cleansing of the earth, both literal and symbolic, gave God and Noah reason to mourn (see Moses 7:27–38; 8:22–30). One typologist added that Noah’s faith was tested and found to be all that it should be.169
Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness lasted forty years. Because they had exhibited lack of faith when they initially fled Egypt, God required that they be tested forty years; then he called another generation to receive the promised land, instead of those who had come out of Egypt under Moses (see Numbers 14:20–23).
In accordance with the law of Moses, no more than forty lashes could be imposed on an offender (see Deuteronomy 25:3). The number forty here is likely symbolic of both the mourning that will come to those who sin and refuse to repent, and possibly that trials and tests have their limits. The Lord gave the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh forty days to repent, or they would be “overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).
Moses was on Mount Sinai forty days while the children of Israel were being tested by Jehovah. They failed miserably because, lacking faith in the true God, they chose to create the golden calf as an image of their god (see Exodus 24:18). After the episode with the idol, Moses again went up upon the mount for an additional forty days (see Deuteronomy 9:18, 25).
One text offers this interesting observation: “According to the reckoning in our Bibles, Christ was born into the world about the four-thousandth year, or fortieth century. Forty, we have seen, is the symbol of probation. So after a full period of the world’s probation under law, Jesus Christ was born into the world to usher in grace.”170
Jesus fasted for forty days and then was tempted prior to beginning his official earthly ministry.171 As evidence of his commitment to the Father and his divine plan, Christ passed the trials and tests put to him (see JST, Matthew 4:1–11).
Jesus spent forty days after his resurrection (see Acts 1:3) teaching his disciples and initiating them into the higher ordinances of the fulness of the gospel.172
Perhaps it is not coincidental that it took a total of forty years to build the Salt Lake Temple.173
See the section titled “Three and One-Half.”
See the section titled “Gematria.”
This number serves mainly to magnify or embellish that with which it is associated. One authority on the book of Revelation indicated that the number one thousand evokes images of “power, strength, and magnitude. Anytime it occurs, by itself or as a multiple of another number, it symbolizes greatness and vastness.”174 Another wrote that it symbolizes “superlative greatness.”175 One historian of numbers specified that it traditionally represents a “multitude” or that which is “incalculable.”176 Thus, this number may be used in scripture without literal intent, but rather in an effort to highlight an event or numerical symbol with which it is associated.
A similar principle is behind the concept of “ten thousands.” An excellent example of this usage occurs in the Book of Mormon when Mormon records the details of the great and final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites at Cumorah. Mormon notes that each of the Nephite leaders had “fallen with his ten thousand” (Mormon 6:10, 12–15). One source records: “‘Ten thousands’ is an ancient way of saying ‘great numbers.’ . . . Ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” [literally 100 million] . . . may signify a great, indefinite number.”177
As stated previously, the word gematria simply means “to reckon by numbers.”178 One source notes: “Most ancient people did not have a separate numbering system and alphabet, so letters also served as numbers [and vice versa]. Generally the first nine letters of the alphabet stood for numbers one through nine, the next nine for numbers ten through ninety, and so on.”179 It was common for people to associate a certain numerical value with every letter of the alphabet. Thus every name had a number that was arrived at by adding together the value of each of its letters.180 “Gematria provides a method of converting words into numbers.”181 In English the name Alonzo would be broken down as follows:
The numbers, once added together, would give the name Alonzo a numerical equivalent of 1,001. This would then serve as the “number of Alonzo” and would be compared to other words with the same numerical value. Those who practiced gematria believed they would learn more about a person or thing that was “numbered” in this way.
Numerous ancient cultures, including the Hebrews, Babylonians, and Greeks, used letters and numbers interchangeably and applied the principles of gematria,182 although the practice reached its height of popularity in Jewish talmudic and cabalistic texts.183 One historian wrote, “The Jewish gematria, the Greek isopsephy,184 and the Muslim khisab al jumal185 (‘calculating the total’) . . . are of common occurrence in Rabbinic literature, especially the Talmud and the Midrash.”186 Even the early Christian church fathers were profoundly influenced by gematria, so much so that they made it part of their apologetic (or defense of the church).187
There are a number of approaches to gematria.188 One ancient Hebrew manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University (designated Manuscript Hebrew 1822) lists more than seventy different systems.189 Our focus here will be on the most commonly practiced form, which is the numerical value of one word (the sum of the numerical value of all its letters) compared to a word of equal value. The following are but a handful of the many examples that could be given.
The Hebrew word for “love” (ahavah) and the Hebrew word for “one” (ekhad) both total 13. Zion’s love for one another is what makes them “one” and what makes them like God (see 2 Nephi 26:29–32; Moses 7:18). Significantly, if you combine the totals for love (13) and one (13) you get 26, which is the number of the name of God (Yahweh). This is evidence that becoming a Zion people guarantees that they will become as God is.190
The name Adam has a numerical total of 45. The name Eve totals 19 in gematria. The numerical difference between the two is 26, which happens to be the number for Yahweh, implying, perhaps, that it is God, and God only, that can make man and woman one.191 In Genesis 1:26, God says: “Let us make man in our image.” There are 26 generations that separate Adam and Moses. Similarly, 26 descendants are listed in the genealogy of Shem.192
In the Gospel of Matthew we read, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” (Matthew 27:3). One biblical scholar conjectured, “The fact that the consonants of his [Judas’s] name (Yhwdh)give in Hebrew the numerical value of thirty may have contributed to [Matthew’s] count of thirty pieces of silver.”193
One of the most widely acknowledged examples of biblical gematria is found in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis:
And when Abram heard that his brother [actually nephew] was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen,and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus [or North of Syria]. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother [or nephew] Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. (Genesis 14:14–16; emphasis added.)
Thus, in an attempt to free Lot, Abraham brings together some 318 of the servants who were born in his house (i.e., not purchased servants, but rather the offspring of Abraham’s servants), employing them on this rescue mission.
However, Jewish Midrash on this passage claims that Abraham had only one helper—Eliezer, Abraham’s chief servant (see Genesis 15:2; 24:2).194 In gematria the name Eliezer totals 318, the exact number of the servants whom Abraham is said to have enlisted in freeing Lot. Therefore, most exegetes versed in gematria assume that the symbolic message of the passage is that Eliezer and Abraham successfully freed Lot without the assistance of others.
In the opinion of this author, those relying on the gematria of the passage for a correct interpretation need to take one last step before their exegesis can be complete. The Hebrew name Eliezer means “God is my help.”195 True, the number 318 points one’s mind to Eliezer. However, it seems that Moses’ purpose for employing gematria in this passage (if he indeed intended on doing such) would have been to draw men unto Christ, not to Eliezer. Thus the utilization of the number 318 would likely be for the purpose of drawing one’s attention to the phrase “God is my help” (as encapsulated in the name Eliezer). In light of this, the passage should be understood as symbolically emphasizing that Abraham did have only one helper in freeing his nephew—not Eliezer, but God! For this reason, Melchizedek is said to have told Abraham, “And blessed be the most high God,which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand” (Genesis 14:20; emphasis added).
In light of the gematria of the passage, Abraham’s success in freeing Lot is directly attributed to God’s intervention, and not to any mortal help that he received. Such is the case with any success we have in mortality. God should always receive the credit (see D&C 59:21).
Support for this interpretation of the 318 men as a symbol for Christ is found in the General Epistle of Barnabas. The Apostle Paul’s missionary companion argued that a breakdown of the number 318 would show that the 300 equals the letter Tand refers to the cross of Christ, and the numbers 10 and 8 are a representation of the name of Jesus, being the first two letters in the Greek version of the name. Thus, for Barnabas, the message is that the atonement of Christ was the salvation of Lot.196
One of this author’s favorite examples of gematria appears in the book of Numbers, where we read, “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:9; see also Helaman 8:13–15; Alma 33:19–20).
This brass serpent is traditionally understood by Christian commentators to be a symbol for Christ, who, if we look upon him in faith, can heal us from our spiritual (and physical) sicknesses.197 In the book of Helaman we read: “Yea, did [Moses] not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come. And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal” (8:14–15). Alma 33:19–20 records:
Behold, [Christ] was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.
But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.
The Hebrew word for Messiah (mashiyakh) totals 358 in gematria. Not coincidentally, the Hebrew word for serpent (nakhash) has the same numerical value.198 Thus by the gematria employed in Numbers 21, it is confirmed that the serpent lifted up by Moses upon his staff was indeed a type for the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The passage most commonly associated with gematria, by scholars and laymen alike, is found in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation.199 Of the anti-Christ, John writes: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:18).200
Interpretations of the number 666 are legion. The list of examples below are but a sampling of the many names that total 666 and have been associated with the mark of the beast.
The name of the Roman emperor Titus totals 666 in Greek and 616 in Latin.201Either way his name seems to qualify him for candidacy. However, although the Greek Teitan could refer to Emperor Titus, he was never a persecutor of the Christians, so perhaps the name has reference to “the Titans.”202
Caligula, known for his oppression of the Jews and for calling himself a god, has a name that totals 616 when written in Greek. Adolf Deissmann suggested that the title “Caesar God” could appropriately be applied to Caligula, for in Greek that title also totals 616.203
The Emperor Diocletian, who led a persecution against the Christians at the beginning of the fourth century, has a name that, if written out in Greek (Diocles Augustus), totals 666.204
The most commonly accepted interpretation of 666 is the Roman emperor Nero. When his name is written out as “Nero Caesar” (in Hebrew letters), it totals 666.205 Also, if Nero’s name is written in Latin it totals 616.206 Thus either way he can qualify as the anti-Christ.
Napoleon, if written in Greek, totals 666, as does the name of Islam’s founder, Mohammed.207 If one employs a less common form of gematria (e.g., A = 100, B = 101, C = 102, and so on), even the name of Hitler totals 666 (H = 107, I = 108, T = 119, L = 111, E = 104, R = 117).208
During the Protestant Reformation it was common to see in the number 666 some reference to the Catholic church. Thus the Greek word Lateinos, which totals 666, was interpreted as a reference to the “Roman Empire” or the “Roman church.”209 The phrase “the Latin Kingdom,” if written in Greek, gives a sum of 666, as did the title “Italian church.”210 The Latin phrases Vicarius Generalis Dei In Terris or Vicarius Filii Dei (supposedly inscribed on the Papal coronation tiara) have also been said to total 666, as does the Greek word Papeiskos (which has been used for “Pope”).211 One source suggests that the Reformation’s association of the number 666 with the Pope and the Catholic church was a direct result of Catholics claiming that Martin Luther was the anti-Christ:
At the time of the Wars of Religion, a Catholic mystic called Petrus Bungus, in a work published in 1584–1585 at Bergamon, claimed to have demonstrated that the German reformer [Martin] Luther was none other than the Anti-Christ since his name, in Roman numerals [LVTHERNVC], gives the number 666. But the disciples of Luther, who considered the Church of Rome as the direct heir of the Empire of the Caesars, lost no time in responding. They took the Roman numerals contained in the phrase VICARIUS FILII DEI (“Vicar of the Son of God”) which is on the papal tiara, and drew the conclusion that one might expect. [The title totals] 666.212
Not only does the name Luther (when written in Roman numerals) total 666, but the word Saxon (also used by Catholics in reference to Luther), when written in Greek, totals 666.213
The King James translation of Revelation 13:18 includes the phrase “[666] is the number of a man.” This rendering of the Greek implies that John is saying that 666 is the number of a specific person. Such an interpretation seems to support the foregoing explanations of the mark of the beast. However, the New International Version, as well as a number of commentaries on the passage, render the Greek to read “it is man’s number.”214 The traditional interpretation of this rendering is that 666 is the number of mankind, or a normal earthly number that requires no “supernatural wisdom to understand it.”215 This latter rendering and interpretation of the Greek finds some support in John’s previous comments that the “mark” is something that will be accepted by all men who wish to buy or sell more than they wish to follow the commandments of God (see Revelation 13:16–17).216 This interpretation has also provoked a number of explanations of the gematria of the number 666, including the following.
The Greek word primasius has a numeric total of 666 and comes from the verb apneisthai, which means “to deny” or to be “apostate.”217 Those who take upon them the mark of the beast are certainly denying Christ and apostatizing from the faith. Similarly, the Hebrew phrase “you shall turn aside” totals 666 and also seems to highlight the actions of those who turn from God to follow Satan’s agent.218 “Primeval abyss,” if spelled out in Hebrew, totals 666.219
Other Greek words or phrases, such as kakos (meaning “the evil leader”) or amnos adikos (meaning “the evil lamb”), total 666 and seem to have some potential application to the passage in question.220
As the evidence presented suggests, “by a little careful manipulation, any name in some form or other, in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, could be made by Gematria to yield 666.”221 The exercise seems futile. Indeed, the assumption that the mark of the beast is an example of apocalyptic gematria may in itself be flawed. One scholar noted,
Nowhere does John use gematria as a method. Everywhere, however, he gives symbolic significance to numbers (e.g., seven churches, seals, trumpets, and bowls; twenty-four elders; 144,000 sealed; 144 cubits for the New Jerusalem, etc.). . . . What John seems to be asking for . . . is divine discernment and not mathematical ingenuity! Believers need to penetrate the deception of the beast. John’s reference to [the beast’s] number will help them to recognize the true character and identity.222
Even though commentators commonly associate 666 with gematria, a secondary interpretation of the number seems, to this author, more credible. It centers around the idea that the number six is a standard symbol for imperfection.223
In Revelation, chapters 12–14, Satan and his two counselors try to usurp the role of the Godhead.224 One scholar noted that “the ‘Satanic Trinity’ . . . parodies but falls short of duplicating the characteristics of his counterpart in the ‘Holy Trinity’ (e.g., by mimicking the crucifixion [13:3] or working signs and wonders [13:13]).”225
There is a common suggestion that John’s utilization of 666 is an effort to compare the anti-Christ with the true Christ.226 One Protestant author suggested that the mark of the beast may simply be a “continuation of the contrast with Christ of v. 11. The number of the name ‘Jesus’ in [Greek] is 888; and, according to this interpretation, the meaning is that the beast falls as far short of ‘seven’ (i.e., perfection and holiness) as Jesus goes beyond it.”227 Another source records:
The number 666 is the heaping up of the number 6. [Paul] Minear adds, “Because of its contrast with 7 we may be content with an interpretation which sees in 666 an allusion to incompleteness, to the demonic parody in the perfection of 7, to the deceptiveness of the almost-perfect, [or] to the idolatrous blasphemy exemplified by false worshipers.” . . . This interpretation of 666 as a symbolic number referring to the unholy trinity of evil or to the human imperfect imitation of God rather than a cipher of a name . . . has been held by a long line of conservative commentators.228
It seems fairly certain that the meaning of the mark of the beast is not to be found in gematria. Rather, it appears to be centralized in the concepts of imperfection (no. 6), bodily representation (the hand as a symbol for what one pursues, and the head for what one dwells on or thinks about), and the love of mammon (John indicates that people will take the mark so that they can “buy and sell”; see Revelation 13:16–17).
Unlike traditional numerology, which is a relatively well established “science,” gematria has its dangers.229 There is the problem of not taking the interpretation as far as one should and thus misunderstanding the message (as in the case of our discussion of Genesis 14:14). But the fact that it is clearly a very subjective practice (as is evidenced by our discussion of Revelation 13:18) also poses some dangers. As curious as the study of gematria is, it seems of little value in understanding the meaning of scripture, ancient or modern. Indeed, it runs counter to President Boyd K. Packer’s teaching that “instruction vital to our salvation is not hidden in an obscure verse or phrase in the scriptures. To the contrary, essential truths are repeated over and over again.”230
Numerology in general, although traditionally acknowledged by scholars as present and symbolically employed in scripture, was not utilized for the sake of saturating a text with hidden meanings.231 On the contrary, it was a commonly employed and understood symbolic approach that only seems mysterious or esoteric to modern Western cultures. For Semitic peoples, ancient and modern, the device served as a clear and common teaching tool that, for the most part, has ceased to function for many modern readers of scripture. This being the case, ideas intended to be conveyed by scriptural authors who employed numerology are being entirely missed because modern Christians are not versed in this branch of symbolism.
Notes to chapter 6: Numbers as symbols
1. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 18.
2. Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 214.
3. See Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 293.
4. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 109; and Smith, Dictionary of the Bible, 456.
5. See Friberg, “Numbers and Counting,” 4:1139. “Near Eastern literature, not just Hebrew, reveals a fondness for using numbers to communicate ideas” (Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 23).
6. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 124.
7. Ibid., 107. “One of [the] distinguishing features . . . [of] the [21st century B.C.] Epic of Gilgamesh . . . is the tendency to use numbers as a literary tool” (Friberg, “Numbers and Counting,” 4:1143).
8. Numbers such as 3, 4, 7, 10, and 12 occur repetitively in intertestamental writings. Similarly, the Qumran literature frequently employs the number 7 and its multiples (see Davis, Biblical Numerology, 109).
10. See Bennett, “Number,” 703; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 115, 128, 131.
11. J. B. Segal, “Numerals in the Old Testament,” 10:2. Fed up with such condescending remarks, Robert Johnston wrote, “Try it, gentlemen! Learn how God has mocked all your philosophy with the mere enumeration of 1, 2, 3!” (Numbers in the Bible, 41).
12. John Davis noted that some scholars simply refuse to acknowledge that there is “number symbolism” in any form in the Bible (see Biblical Numerology, 91, 103, 104, 115; see also Rust and Parry, “Book of Mormon Literature,” 1:184). Admittedly, some societies have taken their use and interpretation of numbers far beyond the initial, divinely inspired concept. Yet, as with apostate forms of Christianity, God inspired the beginnings and then men corrupted these for their own reasons and uses (see Nibley, World and the Prophets, 68; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 258–59).
13. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 44, 45; see 20–47, 234. See also Sabiers, Astounding New Discoveries, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13.
14. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 125; see also 104–5; and Conner, Interpreting the Symbols and Types, 9. “When we see a number used not by chance, but by design; not as haphazard, but with significance; then we see not merely so many works and words, but the Living God working and speaking” (Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 2; see Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 26).
15. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 103, 116; Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary,799; Smith, New Bible Dictionary, 263; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Aid to Bible Understanding, 1233; Friberg, “Numbers and Counting,” 4:1145; Gower, New Manners and Customs of Bible Times, 300; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 34; McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, 620–21; Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 87; and Drinkard, “Numbers,” 711.
16. Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 88.
17. Davis, Biblical Numerology, 17 note 6.
18. Virkler, Hermeneutics, 61.
19. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 128, 132.
20. See ibid., 105, 125. One source conjectured, “In various primitive Asiatic languages, if a man wished to say ‘five’ he would make use of the same word as when he wished to say ‘hand,’ and in all probability when he said ‘five’ his mental conception was really that of a hand consisting of five outstretched fingers” (Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 88).
21. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 106–7.
23. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 144; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 126, 128; and Rector, No More Strangers, 3:105.
24. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 23.
25. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 29.
26. See ibid., 106. These dates are somewhat misleading, in that they do not take into account the fact that, written documents aside, God appears to use numerology in the creation (Genesis 2:2–3), as does Moses in his record of that and other events (Genesis 4:15; 7:2–4).
27. Smith, Book of Revelation, 72.
28. Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 95, 97.
30. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 126, 140; and Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 149.
31. “Gematria, a Hebraized form of the Greek geometria, . . . consisted in indicating a word by means of the number which would be obtained by adding together the numerical values of the consonants of the word” (Bennett, “Number,” 703).
32. See our discussion of the number 666 in the Gematria section at the end of this chapter.
33. Davis, Biblical Numerology, 104–5. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 2; and Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 26.
34. Davis, Biblical Numerology, 120.
37. There are 2,536 references to the number one in the standard works. Additionally, there are some 731 references to the word first.
38. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 24, 50, 51; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols,232; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 304; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 185; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 113–14; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122–23.
39. See Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 499; Bennett, “Number,” 703; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 50; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 43–44; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 304; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 185; and Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 113–14.
40. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 45; and Bullinger, Number in Scripture,59, 199.
41. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 56.
43. Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 43–44.
44. Bennett, “Number,” 703; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122–23. Because all things originate with God, Mick Smith argues that the number one symbolizes “the beginning of all things” (Book of Revelation, 288). Other authors have proposed a similar idea (see Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 304; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 185; and Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 113–14).
45. The Shema is the most famous of Jewish prayers. “In the evening and the morning the Shema is . . . recited: this group of three passages from the Torah begins with the words ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One,’ which have come to be regarded as a basic affirmation of Jewish faith. Generations of Jews have striven to die with these words on their lips, and two of the three passages are copied on the mezuzah, the small parchment scroll which is fixed, usually in an ornamental case, to the doorposts of Jewish homes: they also figure among the passages of Torah which are contained in the tefillin or phylacteries, little boxes which are worn during the weekday morning service on the forehead and on the upper arm, next to the heart” (de Lange, Judaism, 39).
46. Like the Godhead, the oneness of the membership of the Church is, of course, a “spiritual unity” (Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 232).
47. See Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 114; Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 499; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 49; and Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 185. One source indicated that this symbolic connotation of “division,” “opposition,” “enmity,” or “difference” is the result of the fact that two is the first number that can be divided by another (Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 92).
48. See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 120; and Bennett, “Number,” 703.
49. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 97.
51. Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 49; see 52, 53.
52. See Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 499.
53. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 55.
54. Davis, Biblical Numerology, 121.
55. Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 99–100.
56. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 121, 123; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 185; Fontana, Secret Language of Symbols, 64; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 114; Bennett, “Number,” 703; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 107–8, 122–23; Smith, Book of Revelation, 288; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 39–40; Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 99–100; Rest, Our Christian Symbols, 17–18; 60–61; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 232; and Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 448.
57. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 107; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 123; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 232; and Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 55.
58. For a discussion of Peter, James, and John as types for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, see chapter 11 of this work.
59. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 109.
62. Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 144. Even prayer seems to fall under this category: praying three times a day (Daniel 6:10; Psalm 55:17) and using patterns of three in prayer (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8; 2 Nephi 16:3). In the priestly benediction, the name of God was thrice repeated (Numbers 6:24–26).
63. See Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 137, 155.
64. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 121, 138. See Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 138.
65. Commentators generally agree that 3 1/2, 42, and 1,260 are equivalent numeric symbols (see Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:7; Revelation 11:2–3, 6, 9, 11; 12:5, 14; 13:5). “The number forty-two often signifies the period when righteousness is cut short and the wicked dominate. . . . The number forty-two is manifest scripturally in several ways, each of which equals three and one-half. . . . Forty-two months, or three and one-half, or 1,260, belong to the wicked and apparently signify their work; the number three and one-half may mean that the work of righteousness is cut short. That number is one-half of seven, the number of perfection and completion, which belongs to God and his Saints. . . . One-half of seven, or three and one-half, represents an incomplete covenant (religious systems that appear to be spiritual and possess power but do not) or the broken covenant (apostate conditions). . . . The number forty-two may not indicate an actual number of months or other specific period of time but may instead symbolize a general, prolonged, but ultimately limited, time of wickedness” (Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 137–38, 168). Of the number 42, one scholar has noted, “It is the result of six multiplied by seven, i.e., ‘perfection missing the mark'” (Ford, Revelation, 170; see also Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 268; and Smith, Book of Revelation, 108).
66. According to the Prophet Joseph Smith, this “beast” was a representation of “the Kingdoms of the world the inhabitants whereof were beastly and abominable characters, they were murderous, corrupt, carnivourous and brutal in their dispositions.” It represented “those kingdoms who had degenerated and become corrupt—the Kingdoms of the world” (Words of Joseph Smith, 184).
67. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 95–96.
68. See ibid., 108; and Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 110.
69. If one were to read the verse with any degree of literalness the conjecture might be made that the “third part” were one of three groups in the premortal world; the great and noble ones, the general populace of spirits, and the apostates that followed Lucifer. However, in this author’s opinion, nothing in the text requires such a reading. Indeed, to take the phrase “third part” literally may miss John’s point.
70. See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 24, 77, 94; Smith, Book of Revelation, 288; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 61; Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 115; Rest, Our Christian Symbols, 61; Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 499; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 232; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 167; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 186; Fontana, Secret Language of Symbols, 64; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122–23; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 115; Bennett, “Number,” 703; Smith, New Bible Dictionary, 263; and Myers and Myers, Haggai, Zechariah 1–8, 317.
71. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 123–24.
72. See Parry, “Garden of Eden,” 133. One scholar noted, “If the Garden of Eden is an image of divine provision, it is paradoxically also a place of human labor” (Ryken, Wilhoit, and Longman, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 316). Such is the case with the temple also.
73. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 63.
74. In a similar vein, in Revelation 14:20 John employs the number 1,600, a multiple of 4. “Symbolically, the number is the square of four, denoting geographical completeness, multiplied by the square of ten, the number denoting all of a part. Taken together, the number suggests that God’s judgment actually involves all John’s world, not just those who are around Jerusalem, and that all those who belong to that portion outside the protecting power of God will be affected” (Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 164).
75. See Kselman and Barre, “Psalms,” 541. Fitzmyer notes that “abyssos can denote . . . the abode of the dead (see Ps 107:26; Rom 10:7) or the final prison of Satan and the demons (Rev 20:3). It is used often in the LXX . . . [as] the symbol of chaos and disorder” (Gospel According to Luke I–IX, 739 note 31). C. S. Mann indicates that the sea represents the “place of final punishment for demons” (Mark, 278–79). Edwin Firmage indicated that the sea was a symbol for the “repository of impurity” (“Zoology,” 6:1132). See also Williamson, Mark, 104; Clarke, Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 5:420; Freyne, “Sea of Galilee,” 2:900; Morris, Luke, 171; and Liefeld, “Luke,” 8:913.
76. For a detailed explanation of the location of the lost tribes and the symbolism surrounding their return from the land of the north, see “North” in chapter 7 of this work.
77. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 135–37; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible,63; Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 499; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122; and Conner, Interpreting the Symbols and Types, 53.
78. See Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 233; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism,186; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 116; and Tressider, Symbols and Their Meanings, 166–67.
79. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 136.
81. Ibid., 140. “The outer court was 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide. On either side were 20 pillars, and along each end were 10 pillars, or 60 in all; that is 5 x 12, or grace in governmental display before the world. . . .
“The pillars that held up the curtains were 5 cubits apart and 5 cubits high, and the whole of the outer curtain was divided into squares of 25 cubits (5 x 5). . . . 5 x 5 was also the measure of the brazen altar of burnt offering. . . .
“True, this brazen altar was only 3 cubits high, but this tells us that the provision was Divine in its origin, that atonement emanates solely from God.
“The building itself was 10 cubits high, 10 cubits wide, and 30 cubits long. Its length was divided into two unequal parts, the Holy Place being 20 cubits long; and the Holy of Holies 10 cubits, being therefore a perfect cube of 10 cubits. It was formed of forty-eight boards, twenty on either side, and eight at the end, the front being formed of a curtain hung on five pillars. These forty-eight boards (3 x 42) are significant of the nation as before God in the fulness of privilege on the earth (4 x 12). The twenty boards on each side were held together by five bars passing through rings which were attached to them.
“The curtains which covered the Tabernacle structure were four in number. The first was made of ten curtains. . . . They were hung five on each side, probably sewn together to form one large sheet (20 x 28); the two sheets coupled together by loops, and fifty (5 x 10) taches of gold. The second covering was . . . 30 cubits long and four wide. . . . The third was of rams’ skins dyed red, . . . of which the dimensions are not given.
“The Entrance Veils were three in number. The first was ‘the gate of the court,’ 20 cubits wide and 5 high, hung on 5 pillars. The second was ‘the door of the Tabernacle,’ 10 cubits wide and 10 high, hung . . . on 5 pillars. The third was the ‘beautiful vail,’ also 10 cubits square, which divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. One feature of these three vails is remarkable. The dimensions of the vail of the court and those of the Tabernacle were different, but yet the area was the same. The former was 20 cubits by 5 = 100 cubits; the latter were 10 cubits by 10, equaling 100 cubits also. . . .
“The Gematria of Hebrews ix., which gives an account of the Tabernacle, yields the number five as a factor” (Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 142–43).
82. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 65.
83. Of the five wise virgins’ refusal to share their oil, we read: “This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself” (Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle,255–56). “Every man must light his own lamp with the oil of righteousness which he buys at the market of obedience” (McConkie, Mortal Messiah, 3:468).
84. It is also possible that the number five in the story was a reminder that, while Goliath seemed intimidating and indestructible, he was nothing more than a man.
85. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 138.
86. See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 121; Bullinger, Number in Scripture,123, 150; Smith, Book of Revelation, 288; and Johnston, Numbers in the Bible,67.
87. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 123, 150.
88. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 67.
90. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 151.
93. Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 67.
94. See Morris, Gospel According to John, 160–61; Pryor, John, 15–16; Ellis, Genius of John, 42; and Richardson, Gospel According to St. John, 55–56.
96. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 71; and Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 186. The number appears over fifty times in the book of the Revelation alone. Its symbolic connotations are also found with similar meanings in the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian religions (see Bennett, “Number,” 703).
97. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 158; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 118.
98. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 120.
100. See McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, 199; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122, 123.
101. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 118, 122–23; Drinkard, “Numbers,” 711; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 117; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 233, 295; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols,373; McConkie and Parry, Guide to Scriptural Symbols, 99; McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, 199; and Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 14, 27.
102. See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 24; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 117; and Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 373.
103. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 23, 107; Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 138; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 40; Rest, Our Christian Symbols, 61; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 186; McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, 199; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122; and Smith, Book of Revelation, 288.
104. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 194. “When the number seven is insufficient to express the complete thought required, then multiples of seven are used” (Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 126).
105. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 136–38.
106. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 167–68, 196; emphasis removed. “Some lexical or bilingual texts translate ‘7’ (but also ’40’ and ’50’) with . . . a word meaning ‘totality'” (Friberg, “Numbers and Counting,” 4:1144).
107. McConkie and Parry, Guide to Scriptural Symbols, 99. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122; and McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, 621.
108. “The first statement as to the original Creation in Gen.i.1 [in Hebrew] consists of 7 words, and 28 letters (4 x 7)” (Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 168).
109. Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 233.
110. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 194.
111. See McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, 265; Conner, Interpreting the Symbols and Types, 152; and Habershon, Study of the Types, 98–99.
112. See McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, 107; and Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture,2:325.
113. See Ryken, Wilhoit, and Longman, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 507; and Wilson, Dictionary of Bible Types, 257.
114. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 171, 181. “In regard to 7, the ritual arrangements found in the Pentateuch would alone warrant the conclusion that this number was regarded as in some sense sacred” (Muirhead, “Numbers,” 2:92).
115. It should be acknowledged, however, that chapterization and versification of the biblical text were not given by the prophets, but are arrangements of the text made many years after the revelation was first recorded. Additionally, although the current JST also places Isaiah 4:1 in chapter 3, that change was not made by Joseph Smith, but rather by the RLDS church in 1866 (apparently because of their anti-plural marriage platform) (see Nyman, “Contribution of the JST,” 122).
116. For example: Brewster, Isaiah Plain and Simple, 35; Grogan, “Isaiah,” 6:44; Jensen and Irwin, “Isaiah 1–39,” 233; Keil and Delitzsch, Prophecies of Isaiah, 1:150; Motyer, Isaiah, 57–58; Nyman, “Contribution of the JST,” 122; Parry, Parry, and Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, 44–45; Peake, Commentary on the Bible, 439; Rasmussen, Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament, 506; Roth, Isaiah, 36–37; Skousen, Isaiah Speaks to Modern Times, 170; and Young, Book of Isaiah, 1:170–72.
117. The premillennial chapter 3 speaks of the worldly and apostate conditions of a people steeped in disobedience. The millennial chapter 4 refers to a beautiful and glorious branch of the Lord that is obedient to His dictates, and thus has joy. If the KJV Isaiah 4:1 belongs in the context of the millennium, it seems curious that, taken literally, the women in 4:1 have little reason to rejoice. They have been left husbandless and childless. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who also placed this verse in Isaiah 4:1, attempted to resolve this issue by suggesting that it foreshadowed a potential millennial restoration of plural marriage (see Millennial Messiah, 655). One other commentator on the plural marriage interpretation stated, “The actual text of the verse does . . . place the practice of plural marriage in a negative light” (Donaldson, Restoration Study Bible, 1:186 note 1).
118. “In 1879, President John Taylor assigned Orson Pratt to prepare a new edition which would include a redivision of chapters (increasing the number from 114 to 239) [and] reversification” (Horton, “Book of Mormon—Transmission from Translator to Printed Text,” 240).
119. That section, found in what then would be 2 Nephi, chapter 8, reads, ” . . . & her gates shall lament and mou{r}n and she shall be desolat[e] and shall sit upon the ground and in that day seven women shall take hold of one man saying we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel only let us be called by thy {m_na}me to t(+)ake away our reproach in th{a}t day shall the branch of the Lord be bea{u}tiful and glorious the fruit [o]f the earth and excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel” (Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, 1:190).
120. The earliest known commentary on the book of Revelation was penned somewhere around A.D. 270 by Victorinus—a bishop of the Church, who suffered martyrdom in A.D. 304. Victorinus wrote the following: “We read also that this typical number [7] is announced by the Holy Spirit by the mouth of Isaiah: ‘Of seven women which took hold of one man.’ [Isaiah 4:1] The one man is Christ, not born of seed; but the seven women are seven churches, receiving His bread, and clothed with his apparel, who ask that their reproach should be taken away, only that His name should be called upon them. The bread is the Holy Spirit, which nourishes to eternal life, promised to them, that is, by faith. And His garments wherewith they desire to be clothed are the glory of immortality, of which Paul the apostle says: ‘For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on mortality.’ [1 Corinthians 15:53] Moreover, they ask that their reproach may be taken away—that is, that they may be cleansed from their sins: for the reproach is . . . sin which is taken away in baptism, and they begin to be called Christian men, which is, ‘Let thy name be called upon us ‘” (see “Commentary on the Apocalypse,” 7:345–46).
121. “Revelation 1:4 [mentions] ‘seven churches in Asia.’ There is no doubt as to the literal nature of this number for seven churches did indeed exist in Asia at that time. But the fact that there were more than seven in Asia at that time indicates that the writer is using the number symbolically or ideally. Hieropolis and Colossae were both located in the province of Asia (Col. 1:2; 4:13, 15–16), but are not dealt with in Revelation” (Davis, Biblical Numerology, 111).
122. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 32.
123. See ibid., 32–34. “Now the wonderful fact is that we have in the genealogy of Luke iii exactly 77 names, with GOD at the one end, and JESUS at the other. This is indeed stamping it with the number of spiritual perfection. . . . The genealogy in Matthew . . . is so arranged that it contains 42 generations, or SIX sevens (6 x 7). . . . JESUS, the birth name of His humiliation as Man, is composed of six letters [in Greek]; while Christ, His Divine title as the Anointed of God, is composed of seven letters [in Greek]” (Ibid., 160–61).
125. See Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 118; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 75; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 135; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 200; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122.
126. See Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 75; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 233; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 135; and Bullinger, Number in Scripture,196, 200.
127. See Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 135.
128. See Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 233; and McConkie and Parry, Guide to Scriptural Symbols, 46. “According to Clement of Alexandria, Christ placed those whom he gave a second life under the sign of 8” (Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 135).
129. “In Hebrew the number eight is Sh’moneh, from the root Shah’meyn, ‘to make fat,’ ‘cover with fat,’ ‘to super-abound.’ . . . Eight denotes that which is superabundant or satiating” (Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 196). See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 121; and Smith, Book of Revelation, 144.
130. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 200.
131. See Elliott, 1 Peter, 673; and Reicke, Epistles of James, Peter and Jude, 113–14.
132. Of the dimensions of the tabernacles in which they would serve, Bullinger noted: “Eight is the first cubic number, the cube of two, 2 x 2 x 2. . . . The significance of the cube is seen in the fact that the ‘Holy of Holies,’ both in the Tabernacle and in the Temple, were cubes. In the Tabernacle it was a cube of 10 cubits. In the Temple it was a cube of 20 cubits. In Rev. xx the New Jerusalem is to be a cube of 12,000 furlongs” (Number in Scripture, 201).
133. See ibid., 203. “The Sibylline Oracles 1:342–44 give the number of the name of the Savior in Greek as 888 (I=10, A=8, S=200, O=70, Y=400, S=200)” (Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 273 note 29). “In the Hebrew alphabet this is the sacred number of Jesus” (Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 120).
134. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 204. Bullinger points out that, if spelled out in Greek gematria, “Christ” totals 1,480 (8 x 185); “Lord” totals 800 (8 x 100); “Our Lord” totals 1,768 (8 x 221); “Savior” totals 1,408 (82 x 32); “Emmanuel” totals 25,600 (83 x 50); “Messiah” totals 656 (8 x 82); “Son” totals 880 (8 x 110). Additionally, in gematria “the names of the Lord’s people are multiples of eight” in most cases (see ibid., 203, 204, 205–7).
136. Read, Unveiling Biblical Prophecy, 24–25.
138. See Valletta, “Jared and His Brother,” 304, 318.
139. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 207, 213, 235; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122.
140. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 235, 236, 242. Another source states, “This is the last of those single numerals known as digits, beyond which we have merely combinations of those previous digits. It, therefore, marks the end. It is the number of finality or judgment” (Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 77).
141. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 123–24, 132, 164; and Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 229.
142. Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 6:50 note 258.
143. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 141; McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, 621; and Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 243.
144. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 141; and Bennett, “Number,” 703.
145. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 141. “The ten plagues were representative of the complete circle of God’s judgments on Egypt” (Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 244).
146. Eschatology is the study of the last days.
147. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible, 621. Ten seems to play a similar role in the system of measurement employed in the Book of Mormon (see 2 Nephi 15:10; Mormon 6).
148. Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 144.
149. See Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 234; Julien, Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols, 446; Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 186; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 239, 243; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122.
150. See Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 120; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 81; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 234; and Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 251.
151. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 251.
152. See Comay, Who’s Who in the Old Testament, 190; and Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 251.
153. Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 81.
154. See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 24, 46, 56, 83; Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 295; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 2–3, 107; Smith, Book of Revelation, 288–89; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 39, 83; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 122.
155. The Nephite Twelve, although referred to as “disciples,” were ordained “Apostles” (see Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 190; Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,3:157–59; and Widtsoe, Priesthood and Church Government, 22).
156. Whether related or not, it is curious that Jesus was twelve years old when he was found “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, and they were hearing him, and asking him questions” (JST, Luke 2:46).
157. See Talmage, House of the Lord, 155; and Brown, Symbols in Stone, 94–96.
158. Thus, President Brigham Young stated, “Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell” (Discourses of Brigham Young, 416).
159. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 253.
160. See Smith, Book of Revelation, 48; and Draper, Opening the Seven Seals,46–47, 83, 156.
161. Smith, Book of Revelation, 288–89.
162. See, for example, these publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania: You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 124–26; and Revelation, 19, 116–17. “Certain numbers appear often in the Bible in an illustrative, figurative or symbolic sense, and in such cases an understanding of their significance is vital to an understanding of the text.” This is apparently denied as it pertains to the number 144,000 (see Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Aid to Bible Understanding, 1233).
163. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 83.
164. See Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 41 note 8, 205–6.
167. Drinkard, “Numbers,” 712; and Smith, Book of Revelation, 289.
168. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 121 note 79, 122; Cooper, Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, 120; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 266; Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 85; Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 144–45, 155–56; and Todeschi, Encyclopedia of Symbolism, 187.
169. See Wilson, Dictionary of Bible Types, 177.
170. Johnston, Numbers in the Bible, 100. This “law” cannot be referential to the law of Moses, as it was not in effect the entire 4,000 years prior to Christ’s birth. However, a probationary period, requiring sacrifices in similitude of the anticipated coming of the Messiah, did last for the entire 4,000-year span.
171. Elijah is also described as fasting forty days (see 1 Kings 19:8).
172. See Nibley, “Forty-day Mission of Christ,” 10–44.
173. See Berrett, “Endowment Houses,” 2:456.
174. Smith, Book of Revelation, 289.
175. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 24.
176. Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 499.
177. Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 16, 72–73.
179. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 149. See Bennett, “Number,” 702; Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 799; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 215, 216, 217, 219–22. Although it is uncertain, it is quite possible that this mode of numeric symbolism initially served as a mnemonic device in the ages before printing.
180. See Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 93; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 126 note 6, 128, 131.
181. Locks, Spice of Torah, 1. “Once the letters of an alphabet have numerical values, the way is open to . . . take the values of the letters of a word or phrase and make a number from these. Then this number may furnish an interpretation of the word, or another word with the same or a related numerical value may do so” (Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 252–53).
182. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 126, 140; Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 214; Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 95; Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 799; Myers, Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, 768–69; and Vaner, “Christian Use of Jewish Numerology,” 52.
183. See Drinkard, “Numbers,” 712.
184. “Isopsephy consists of determining the numerical value of a word or a group of letters, and relating it to another word by means of this value” (Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 256).
185. “The numerical evaluation of names was also used in times of war by Muslim soothsayers, under the name of khisab al nim, to predict which side would win” (Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 261).
186. Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 252–53.
187. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 128.
188. Aside from the most common form, secondary models include the following: (a) Squaring the numerical equivalents of letters (e.g., 5 becomes 25, 6 becomes 36, 10 becomes 100), (b) Spelling out each letter of a word (e.g., A in Hebrew would be written out as “Aleph,” B as “Beyth”) and then calculating its numerical value, (c) Substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first (e.g., Z replaces A, Y replaces B, X replaces C) and then taking the new numerical total and comparing it with other words (see Isaacs, Jewish Book of Numbers, 181–85).
189. See Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 254.
191. See Friberg, “Numbers and Counting,” 4:1145; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 254.
192. See Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 254.
193. Brown, Death of the Messiah, 2:1395.
194. See Cardwell, “Fish on the Fire: John 21:9,” 12; McEleney, “153 Great Fishes (John 21:11),” 414 note 13; Birch, “Number,” 3:560–61; Virkler, Hermeneutics,51; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; Drinkard, “Numbers,” 712; Bennett, “Number,” 703; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 142–43; and Dantzig, Number, Language of Science, 39.
195. See Smith and Cornwall, Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names, 66.
196. See “General Epistle of Barnabas,” 1:142–43. See also Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 257; and McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, 223.
197. “This passage might well be unknown to many Christians except for the reference to it in John 3:14–15, which compares the lifting up of the Son of Man to Moses’ lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness. The comparison is followed immediately by John 3:16, probably the best-known Bible verse in world Christianity” (Sakenfeld, Journeying with God, 118). “Men dying in sin are saved by the dead body of a man suspended on the cross. Just as physical contact was impossible between those bitten by snakes and the copper snake, so sinners are unable to touch the life-giving body of Christ. Yet in both situations the sufferers must appropriate God’s healing power themselves: by looking at the copper snake or ‘believing in the Son of Man’ (John 3:15)” (Wenham, Numbers, 158).
198. See Johnson, “Revelation,” 12:533; Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 295; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; Fontana, Secret Language of Symbols, 152; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 143; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 253.
199. One scholar wrote, “‘Gematria’ is the obvious method of solving the meanings underlying the apocalyptic numbers 616 and 666” (Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 95). See Irenaeus, “Against Heresies” (30:1–3), 1:558–59; Victorinus, “Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John,” 7:356; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 292–96; Birch, “Number,” 3:561; McEleney, “153 Great Fishes (John 21:11),” 413; Owen, “One Hundred and Fifty Three Fishes,” 52–53; Romeo, “Gematria and John 21:11,” 263; and Drinkard, “Numbers,” 712.
200. Some early manuscripts have 616 instead of 666, but the latter number is believed to be correct. See Irenaeus, “Against Heresies” (30:1–3), 1:558; McEleney, “153 Great Fishes (John 21:11),” 413; and Birch, “Number,” 3:561.
201. See Victorinus, “Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John,” 7:356; Irenaeus, “Against Heresies,” 1:559; Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 295–96; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 145.
202. Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 295–96.
203. See Cruse, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, 40–41; Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; and Hocking, Coming World Leader, 211.
204. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 260.
205. See Owen, “One Hundred and Fifty Three Fishes,” 52–53; McEleney, “153 Great Fishes (John 21:11),” 413; Birch, “Number,” 3:561; Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; Hocking, Coming World Leader, 211; and Davis, Biblical Numerology, 144.
206. See McEleney, “153 Great Fishes (John 21:11),” 413; Birch, “Number,” 3:561; Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 260.
207. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296.
208. See ibid.; and Hocking, Coming World Leader, 211.
209. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566; Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 260; Davis, Biblical Numerology, 144; and Irenaeus, “Against Heresies,” 1:559.
210. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; and Clarke, Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 6:1026.
211. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296; and Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 260–61. The name of Pope Leo X has also been associated with the number 666 (see Davis, Biblical Numerology, 145). Regarding the claim that the Pope’s coronation crown bears an inscription totaling 666, Barry Bickmore has written: “A missionary companion once gave me an old typescript copy of an ‘expose’ in which it was revealed that the pope’s tiara is inscribed with one of his official titles, Vicarius Filii Dei (Vicar of the Son of God). If you add up the Roman numerals in the title, it adds up to . . . 666! However, the pope has no such official title, and, in fact, his tiara bears no inscription. His real title, Vicarius Christi (Vicar of Christ), only adds up (with a disappointing thud) to 214″ (“Clearing Up Misconceptions,” 198–99).
212. Ifrah, Universal History of Numbers, 260–61. See Davis, Biblical Numerology,128, 132, 145; and Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296.
213. Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296.
214. See Johnson, “Revelation,” 12:535; Morris, Revelation, 168; Bray, Revelation Decoded, chapter 14, page 3; and Church, NIV Matthew Henry Commentary (New Testament), 798.
215. Ford, Revelation, 215. See Morris, Revelation, 168; Church, NIV Matthew Henry Commentary (New Testament), 798; Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 176; and Nicoll, Expositor’s Greek Testament, 5:434.
216. Curiously, the Hebrew phrase “you shall sell” totals 666 (see Locks, Spice of Torah, 266).
217. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296.
218. See Locks, Spice of Torah, 266.
219. See Pope, “Number, Numbering, Numbers,” 3:566.
220. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 296.
221. Bennett, “Number,” 704. See Davis, Biblical Numerology, 146–47; and Vaner, “Christian Use of Jewish Numerology,” 55.
222. Johnson, “Revelation,” 12:534. Johnson accurately notes that there is no evidence in the book of Revelation, or, for that matter, in any of John’s writings, that supports the notion that John employed gematria.
223. Parry and Parry, Understanding the Book of Revelation, 176; Smith, Book of Revelation, 289. One source notes that the number nine is a factor of 666 (being 9 x 74). Nine represents judgment, which shall surely come to all who figuratively acquire the mark of the beast (see Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 235).
224. See Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 150–51; Johnson, “Revelation,” 12:535; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 282–84; and Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 235.
225. Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 373. One source speaks of Lucifer, the Great and Abominable Church, and the Anti-Christ as “a trinity of imperfection” (Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 151).
226. See Barclay, “Great Themes of the New Testament,” 295; Bullinger, Number in Scripture, 282–86; Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols, 235; Draper, Opening the Seven Seals, 150–51; and Johnson, “Revelation,” 12:535.
227. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible, 1084.
228. Johnson, “Revelation,” 12:535.
229. This is not to imply that standard numerology isn’t without dangers. Some have gone far overboard in their interpretation or application of numbers. For example, in a discussion about gematria, E. W. Bullinger offers a list of 12 “Canaanite names” which he indicates, if added together, come to a numerical total of 3,211. However, Bullinger points out that 3,211 = 132 x 19. Thus, Canaanites are really symbolized by the number thirteen, and hence symbolize apostasy (see Number in Scripture, 205–6, 209).
230. Packer, in Conference Report, October 1984, 81.
231. Ryken, Wilhoit, and Longman, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 599–600.