Further examples : 144,000 (or 12,000 for each tribe) are sealed as the ' servants of our God ' (V*"- 14'). The number 12, with multiples and frac- tions, is used exclusively in the delineation of the Celestial City : 12 gates, angels ; a cube of 12,000 furlongs ; 12 foundations, precious stones, pearls (211-f-).
5. Ten. — A natural importance attaches to this number. It is the number of lingers (5-1-5) on the two hands — the natural means of reckoning between two traders who speak ditl'erent languages. It closes tlie series of units and is the dominating number of the most natural system of reckoning. It is the number naturally chosen to designate a con- siderable number of persons or a short but not in- considerable period of time: e.g., 10 days' tribulation for the faithful Church of Smyrna (2"') ; 10,000 x 10.000 and 1,000x1,000 are the number of the angels round about the throne (5"). Men without the seal of God are tormented by locusts for 5 months (9*). The dragon has 10 horns, the Beast rising out of the sea has 10 horns and 10 crowns (12' 13^). Similarly the woman on the scarlet Beast has '10 horns' (17'-'), which are explained to be '10 kings' (IT'^). The devil is bound for 1,000 years, while the martyrs of Jesus reign on the earth (202-*). On the 1,000 years see art. Apocalypse, p. 78, note. The fraction tV occurs only in U". Its nse in this passage suggests the negative side of the significance of the tithe-offering —viz. the part representing the whole. The 10th part of the city— 7 out of 70 thousand inhabitants — perish, but the remnant 'were affrighted and gave glory to God.'*
6. Six.— Apart from the notorious three C's of the Beast in 13", 6 occurs only once in the Apoca- lypse. In 4' the 4 Beasts, copied doubtless from Ezk l'*-, have 6 wings like the seraphim in Is 6-, and not 4 only as in Ezekiel. In connexion with 13'*, the suggestion has been made (see art. Apoca- lypse) that to a Jewish symbolist 6, as = 7-l, might very well have tlie significance of that which resembles the Divine perfection but fails just when it seemed likely to succeed. Tlie Beast, to which the Dragon gives its throne (13-), and which therefore represents the rival of the Supreme God, has 7 heads, like the 7 spirits of God, which belong to Jesus Christ (3'), but on the heads are 'names of blasphemy.' The Beast has the trap- pings of divinity ; only the reality fails.
7. The number of the Beast.— The passage, Kev 13'*, is a Scripture instance of what is known in
• It is curious that the multiple 40, so common in the number- SL'heniatism of Scripture to denote a period of disciplinarv affliction or penitential exercise (e.g. Ps 95^0, Ezit 46 29U-13, i s 1716, Jon 3^ Ex 2418), does not occur independently in the Apocalj-pse. The nearest approach to a reference is the '42 months' (inatead of 3i years) of 11^ and 136.
later Rabbinisni as Gematria, or the mystic art of attaching values to names according to the numbers reprcsenterl by the letters composing them. As both in Hebrew and Greek the letters of the al|)habet were used to indicate numbers, the art could be pursued both by Hellenic and Palestinian or Babylonian Jews. For the various views re- garding the name (Greek or Hebrew) corresponding to 666, see art. Apocalypse. For a fuller account see G. A. Barton's art. 'Number' in EBi iii. 3434 ff.
The calculation which gives the name ' Nero Ciesar,' ^Dp pij (NeronKesar), is as follows: 3=60; 1 = 200; 1 = 0; : = .')0; p = 100; D = 60; T = 200— total, 668. In regard to the Hebrew notation it may be mentioned that the letters K to t: = the units ; ' to s = thetens; pton = the first four hundreds, n compounded^ other hundreds. Thus p"n=600; n"n=00O; p"n = 700;n"n = 800; p"nn = 900. The thousands are expressed by the letters forthevmits with two points placed above: it = l,000; 6=9,000; '=10,000.*
8. Four. — This number is naturally associated with the 4 directions of space. The 4 living creatures (fija) ' round about the throne ' in 4* are adopted from Ezk P*-. The principal difference is that the 4 faces (man, lion, calf,t eagle) are dis- tributed among the 4 fijia, instead of, as in Ezekiel, belonging to each. The reason seems to be that to the apocalyptist the main attribute of these ministers of the Divine presence is not, as with Ezekiel, their ubiquitousness, but rather their omniscience. Their place is round about a station- ary throne, but they are ' full of eyes before and behind.'
It may fairly be doubted whether the apocalyp- tist attached any significance to the number 4 in this reference or to the variety of faces. Perhaps as in other places (see art. Apocalypse) he bor- rowed more than he used. The other instances of 4 in the Apocalypse are : 4 angels standing at the 4 corners of the earth holding 4 winds (7' ; cf. 29"), '4 horns of the golden altar which is before God' (9"), 4 ' angels bound on the river Euphrates,' corre- sponding to 4 terms of destructive operation (hour, day, month, year) (9'*''), 'the city lieth Terpdycjivo!' (21'^). It is perhaps only in the last instance that we are warranted in supposing that tlie apocalyptist attached any significance of fjiith to the numeral 4. It seems to be associated in his mind, if it does not actually express it, with the inconceivable mag- nitude, yet perfect symmetry, of the City of the Redeemed.