Is the Bible obsessed with numbers, if so why ?

by mP 20 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  mP

  In another thread, i made the statement that the Bible seems obsessed with numbers, particularly 7,12, and 40.

  The perfect example is while it sometimes lists different tribes of Israel names the count is always twelve.

  http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/tribes.html

  What were the twelve (or thirteen) tribes of Israel? Genesis 49 Numbers 1 Numbers 13 Deuteronomy 33 Ezekiel 48 Revelation 7 1 Reuben Reuben Reuben Reuben Reuben Reuben 2 Simeon Simeon Simeon - Simeon Simeon 3 Levi - - Levi Levi Levi 4 Judah Judah Judah Judah Judah Judah 5 Zebulun Zebulun Zebulun Zebulun Zebulun Zebulon 6 Issachar Issachar Issachar Issachar Issachar Issachar 7 Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan - 8 Gad Gad Gad Gad Gad Gad 9 Asher Asher Asher Asher Asher Aser 10 Nephtali Nephtali Nephtali Nephtali - Nephthalim 11 Joseph (children of) Joseph Joseph Joseph Joseph Joseph 12 Benjamin Benjamin Benjamin Benjamin Benjamin Benjamin 13 - Manasseh Manasseh Manasseh Manasseh Manasses 

  12 apostles, tribes, sons of Jacob

  40 days of rain in noahs story, 40 days of jesus temptation, 40 years of davids reign, 40 years to kill off the murmuring generation that left egypt etc

  7 daniel, revelation
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  wha happened?

  Please don't start a thread on the Bible and numbers' OBVES will post like crazy on it
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  transhuman68

  Seven is the most important number in the Bible, and is believed to have originated with the Sumerians cosmology, as they could only see seven other planets in the night sky.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Um..... 42.

  Wait, that's the meaning of life.

  The meaning of the Bible is 666.
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  jgnat
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  jgnat

  If you look at the bible as a collection of books from a particular culture and place, it starts to make sense. You might enjoy looking up Kabbalah, Jewish numerology.

  As an aside, the Chinese have a strong tradition of "lucky" and "unlucky" numbers.

  http://www.chcp.org/numbers.html
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  glenster

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_numerology
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  TOTH

  Numbers are an esay way to explain patterns. They are easy to remember too. I wonder if anyone has considered using prime numbers to explain biblical stuff.
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  poppers

  Numbers are an esay way to explain patterns. They are easy to remember too. I wonder if anyone has considered using prime numbers to explain biblical stuff.

  Or how about using a binary number system. I bet all kinds of stuff would come out of that for the numberically obsessed (OBVES).
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  Disillusioned Lost-Lamb

  Christendom/Christians believe the contemporary Bible is true.

  They listen to this “inspired” book when it says only turn to God.

  However the problem is the “inspired” book uses a form of numerology to tell you this.

  Sooo, if God hates divining, why does HE use a form of divination?

  Even hard-core Christians have a hard time skirting around this “little” problem.