Two other passages cannot be entirely passed over, although little or nothing can be said in illustration : the reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in the baptismal formula (Mt 28'"), and tlie words ascribed to the risen Lord in the Ajtocalypse : ' I am the first, and the last, and the living one' (Rev 1'"). There is no parallel to the use of the number in the former in pre- Christian Jewish literature, and connexion with Babylonian and Egyptian triads is out of the question. The triple priestly blessing (Nu 6-+'-") and the Thrice Holy in the song of the seraphim (Is 6^) are remarkaV)le, but cannot be safely re- garded as foreshadowings of the doctrine of the Trinity. The number 3 is in both cases strongly emphatic, Imt it is not advisable to find more than emphasis. ' Holy, holy, holy ' is a very strong superlative. The passage in the Apocalypse is, no doubt, like the preceding words ' him which is, and which was, and which is to come' (Rev V), an ex- ])ansion or interpretation of the name I AM THAT I AM (Ex S''*), and has a partial parallel in Plato, dc Lcgibufs, 716 : 6 ixkv 8ri debs (wamp koi 6 iraXaibs \6yos) cLpXW ■'■f '''<^' T€\€VT7]v Kal fxiaa tCjv ovtwv atravToiv ^X<^''> l^iit must not be connected with it.
Four. — The number 4 (ricaapa, Ttrapraios, rirap- Tos, TeTpdfxijvoi, rerpairXoos) is found in the Gospels in the following passages : in the 4 months before harvest (Jn 43^), the 4 bearers of the paralytic (Mk 23), the 4th watch (Mt W'', Mk 6-*»), the fourfold restitution promised by Zacchanis (Lk 19°), the 4 daj's of Lazarus in the grave (Jn 11'"- 39), the division of the garments of Jesus among the 4 soldiers (Jn 19^), the 4 winds (Mt 243', ^^l]^ 1327)^ and the 4 kinds of soil in the parable of the Sower,
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with the tj-pes of character which thej- represent (Mt 13^*f- and parallels). We may add the 4 Gospels, the number of which Avas early regarded as significant. The four last references constitute a group. The 4 winds, associated with the 4 points of the compass, are met with in the OT and elsewhere in Oriental literature and symbol- ism : 1 Ch d-* 11 Vm. Jer 49=^, Ezk 37" 42-" RVm, Dn 88 11^ Zee 2« 6^, Babylonian Flood Story, col. iii. line 42, Book of the Dead, c. 161 (in Budge's smaller edition, p. 531 f. ). Tiiis use of 4 suggested world-wide extent and then comjjrehensiveness. So we lind in tiie OT : 4 heads of the river going out of Eden (Gn 2'"), 4 cherubim eacli with 4 faces and 4 wings (Ezk P'-, cf. Rev46<^), 4 horns (Zee l'*), 4 smiths (1-'"), 4 chariots (6^), and 4 empires (Dn 2^" ~3s. i7ff.j_ ^jj Assyrian royal title ran ' king of the 4 quarters,' that is, of the world. Some of the divine figures in Assyrian sculptures have 4 wings, for example No. 1 in the Nimroud Gallery of the British Museum. Adam's name is said to have been given from 4 substances, tliat is, tiie east, the west, the north, and the south (JSl. Enoch 30'^). Abraham is said to have pitched his tent where 4 roads met (Test, of Ab. text A 1). The 4 kinds of soil in the parable, therefore, and the 4 tjpes of character which they represent, cover the whole area of human life ; and the 4 Gospels give a com- plete outline-portrait of Christ. The use of 4 in the grouping of persons or things seems to have been a favourite method with Jewisii teachers. There are several examples of it in Amos (P- ^- '•'• "• '^ 2'- *■ 6) and in Proverbs (30'5f- i«- ^"f- -■"«■• •-'«•). Later instances are Sir 37'* ' good and evil, life and death,' Test, of Judah, ch. 16, '4 spirits in wine,' and the remarkable series of paragraphs in 'Aboth v. 16-21, in wiiicli people generally, dispositions, scholars, almsgivers, college-goers, and those Avho sit under the wise, are in each case grouped in 4 classes. May we sujjpose that our Lord, in accordance Avitli His habit of utilizing current methods, adopted in the parable a familiar mode ef classification 1
Twelve.— Twelve, as the number of the tribes of Israel according to ancient tradition, became natural!}' a favourite number among the Jews, especially as it carried with it the suggestion of Divine choice and Divine faithfulness. So it figured in religious ritual, sj-mbolism, and history. There were 12 jewels in the high priest's breast- plate (Ex 28'-'), and 12 cakes of shewbread (Lv 24^). Solomon's sea stood on 12 oxen (IK 7-''), Elijali's altar on Carmel consisted of 12 stones (I K 18^M, and tiie altar-hearth in Ezekiels visionary temple was 12 cubits long by 12 cubits broad (Ezk 43'"). It is, therefore, not surprising that the number 12 is prominent in the Gospels. The 12 disciples referred to in Mt 10"- ^ U' 20^' 26'^- -"• ■*' Mk 3'^ 4'" 6'' 9=« 103- 11" 1410. 17. :;«. 43 Li^ 513 gi 91. n 1831 223- -"v, Jn 6«'- ™- 202-' (in 22 of these passages simply as oi 5a>5e/ca, ' the Twelve ' ; cf. also Ac 6^ 1 Co 155, Rev 21i^), the 12 baskets of broken pieces (Mt 14-", Mk 6« 8'«, Lk 9'", Jn 6'^), the 12 legions of angels (Mt 26^^), are all more or less reminiscent of the 12 tribes. In the promise in Mt 19^ i Lk 22*« is a direct reference which puts beyond doubt the association of the number in our Lord's day Avith the tribes.