This use may have been aided bv the constant recurrence of the 12 months of the year, but it is not safe to follow Dr. A. Jeremias (Dabylonisehes iin ST, 88) in connecting the num- ber of the Apostles even indirectlv with the 12 signs of the zodiac. He does not, indeed, venture to affirm that this lav in the consciousness of Jesus, although he thinks the promise of the 12 thrones (Mt 19-», Lk 2280) i„jght point at that ; but he is confident that ' the mystical cosmological reference,' as he calls It, lies in the words of the writer of the Apocalvpse about the 12 Apostles of the Lamb (Rev 2V*). However it mav be with the latter, it is unnecessary to find any allusion of the kind in the Gospels. .Men familiar in some degree with Gentile culture and the astrological-astronomical speculations which were in
vogue about this time, such as Philo and Josephus, might con- nect the 12 gems of the high priest's breastplate with the signs of the zodiac, and might therefore regard 12 as a perfect num- ber (Philo, de Prufufjis, § 33, cited by Konig, DB iii. 5G3a, ■ri'/.uc; h' tt.pi6u.is l huhciio. ; Josephus, Ant. iii. vii. 7) without the idea ever entering the minds of the majority.
In several jiassages a period of 12 years is re- ferred to. The woman healed by touching the fringe of the Lord's garment had been ill for 12 years (:Mt 920, Mk 5-3, Lk 8^^). The daughter of Jairus was 12 years old (Mk 5^-, Lk 8-'-). Jesus was 12 years old when found in the Temple (Lk 2^-). In all these cases tiie number must be under.stood literally, but tiie second and tliird admit of illus- tration from Oriental life. At 12 childhood ceased for tiie Jewisli boy. In the addendum to the liftli chapter of 'Aboth two of tiie rules run : 'At 10 tiie Mi^hnali, at 13 the Commandments.' A Ijoj' of 12, therefore, was on tiie tlireshold of manhood. A tradition recorded bj- Josepiius affirms that Samuel Mas 12 years old wiien he received the Divine call (Ant. V. X. 4). Anotiier tradition, found in a Ciiristian wxiting, but ^jrobaljiy of Jewisii origin, represented Solomon as 12 years old when he gave his famous judgment about the child (pseudo- Ignatius, ad Magnesias, iii.). At 12 a girl was marriageable. According to the Book of Jubilees (30-), Dinaii was 12 years old at the time referred to in Gn 34'-.
One more passage remains : ' Are there not twelve hours in the day?' (Jn IP). Here, no doubt, Bab3loiiian influence can be traced, al- though in the time of Clirist most of the Jews living in Palestine will have been wholly un- conscious of the fact. The full day was divided by the Babylonians, who in this matter as in so manj- points set tiie rule for all their neighbours, and through tiie Greeks for the whole XVestern world, into 12 parts. As this day consisted of t^o halves, the dayliglit portion and the night portion, the division into twelve was applied to each, witli- out regard to tiie season of the j-ear. An hour was one-twelftli of tlie day or the nigiit [KAT [ZW] 328, 335 f.). Tlie old way of speaking still survives in Syria. The day is regarded, as in the time of Christ, as consisting of 12 hours (Bauer, VoIJcslebcn im Lande der Bibel, pp. 274 f.).
Sixty. — Tiie use of the numlier 60 in the parable of tiie Sower (Mt 13«- -\ Mk 48- 20, not in Lk 24'^) may possiblj' have indirect connexion with the sexagesimal system of Babylonia (for this, cf. Bezold, Ninive und Babylon, 90, 92), which must have been current througliout western Asia, especially through its use in the subdivision of the talent ( talent = 60 manelis; maneh = 60 shekels), and would naturallj' lead to the employment of the number with more or less significance. There are many passages in tiie OT and other Jewish litera- ture in whicli 60 can hardly be accidental : Nu 7** (60 rams, 60 he-goats, 60 he-lambs of the first year), Dt 3^ (60 cities, cf. Jos 13=*", 1 K 4i3, i Ch 2-'3), 1 K 6- (Solomon's temple 60 cubits long, cf. 2 Ch 3^), 1 K 422, 2Ch 1121, Jer 52-5 (qq jj^en of the people of the land found in Jerusalem by the Babylonians, cf. 2K 25i«), Ca 3' 68, Test, of Judah, ch. 3 (stone weighing 60 lbs.), ch. 9 (60 men slain). Test, of Abraham, text A 10 (cherubic chariot attended by 60 angels). The manj^ examples in the Baby- lonian Talmud (fire the 60th part of Gehenna, Bcrak. 57'' etc.) will be largely due to the Baby- lonian atmospliere of the compilation.
Thirty.— Thirty, tiie half of sixty, may be used in the same context (Mt 13«- ^, Mk ^^•''^) in somewhat the same way, through the same associ- ation. In Lk 323, where it is said that Jesus was about 30 years of age at the beginning of His ministry, there is probably an allusion to the belief that 30 years marked the attainment of manly vigour. Joseph entered on his career as a states-
xu:nx dimittis
^■U:s"C DIMITTIS
253
man at 30 (Gn 41^), and David was 30 when he ascended the throne (2 S o^). In the appendix to the tifth chapter of 'AbOth, 30 is dehned as the age of strength (■i:'? zS-'^v \i). The 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas (Mt•26"27^•^ cf. Zee 11'-') would remind every Jew of the average value of a slave as fixed in tlie Law (Ex 2P-), 30 shekels. The Babylonian average was lower, but the Assyrian coincided with the Hebrew (Johns in Bnbi/lvnian and Assi/rian Laws, Contnwts, and Letters, p. 182 f.}. In the remaining passage, Jn 6'", the number is purely historical.