RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Numbers
of the Trinity used to be found in the ethnic triads; but it is to be remembered that the great triads of Babylonia and Egypt came out of a threefold division of the universe, with which the doctrine of the Trinity has nothing to do. To what the conspicuous prominence of the number three is due will probably remain a basis of debate. Examples of its use are: II Cor. xii. 2, the third heaven; Exod. iii. 14, the threefold feast; Dan. vi. 10, three daily seasons of prayer; Gen. xl. 10 sqq., three-day period; three-month period, Exod. ii. 2; triple salutation, I Sam. xx. 41. In many other relations three appears; cf. Judges vii. 16; Deut. xix. 7; Josh, xviii. 4; Job. ii. 11; I John v. 7. Multiples of three are to be noted, as in the ten times three of the month, the thirty shekels of Exod. xxi. 32; in the 300 of Gen. xlv. 22 and other passages; in the 3,000 of I Mace, (frequently); in the 3,600 of II Chron. ii. 1; and in the 30,000 so often appearing, as in Josh. viii. 3. The relations of the number four to the universe at large appear often; cf. Gen. ii. 10; Jer. xlix. 36; Dan. vii. 2, viii. 8; Zech. ii., vi. 1 sqq.; Ezek. i. 5 sqq.; Rev. iv. 6, vii. 1; Ezek. xiv. 21; Judges xi 40. Multiples of four figure largely: so forty, Gen. xxv. 20; Josh. xiv. 7; Ex. xvi. 35, expressing a generation; Acts xiii. 21, vii. 30; Judges iv. 3 (where twenty is the half of forty) ; Gen. vii. 4 sqq. Forty days is a very common period of time in the Old Testament; Jonah iii. 4; Acts i. 3. Indeed, forty enters into other computations, as where it is combined with twelve to indicate a certain period (I Kings vi. 1; upon which the commentaries should be consulted, giving hints as to variations of this computation). So 400 appears as a round number: Gen. xv. 13; Judges xxi. 12, often; 4,000 is also known, I Sam. iv. 2; Matt. xv. 38; Acts xxi. 38; 40,000 occurs in Judges v. 8; II Sam. x. 18; and 400,000 in Judges xx. 2, 17.
The number five appears as the half of ten; cf. I Kings vii. 39, 49; Matt. xxv. 2; also as a round number, I Sam. xvii. 40, xxi. 3; Isa. xix. 18; I Cor. xiv. 19. Five also is of importance The Num- in penalties and the like, as in Ex. bers Five xxii. 1; Num. iii. 47, xviii. 16; the to Twelve, same idea is found in Gen. xliii. 34, xlv. 22; one-fifth also makes its appearance in legislative directions, as in Lev. v. 16, xxii. 14, and often; while multiples of five appear in the regulations of Lev. xxvii. respecting the vow; cf. fifteen in Hos. iii. 2. Multiples of five are employed: in measures, Gen. vi. 15; Ezek. xl. 15; in compensation, Deut. xxii. 29; frequently in matters regarding population or the army (e.g., Ex. xviii. 21; Deut. i. 15); periods of fifty days or years are to be noted (Lev. xxiii. 16, xxv. 10-11), in this case the motive is seven times seven plus one. Higher multiples used are 500, 5,000, and 500,000. The number six is seldom employed as symbolical. The six years of Ex. xxi. 2 correspond to the six work-days of the week (Ex. xx. 9) ; the six steps of Solomon's throne are related to the twelve lions (I Kings x. 19); further instances are the six wings of the seraphim (Isa. vi. 2) ; the reed . of six cubits (Ezek. xl. 5); cf. also one-sixth in Ezek. xlv. 13. Multiples of six are 60, 600, 6,000,
and 600,000. The number eight occurs generally as the next number to seven, as in the case of circumcision (Gen. xvii. 12), in offerings (Ex. xxii. 29 sqq.; Num. vi. 10), and in feasts (Lev. xxiii. 36). Nine, as the square of three, might be expected frequently, but is rare, and generally signifies ten minus one (Neh. xi. 1; Luke xvii. 17), occurring as ninety-nine (100 minus one; Matt, xviii. 12). Round numbers in multiples of nine are 900 and 9,000. The number ten is naturally of frequent occurrence: as a basal measure for the Temple (I Kings vi. 3), as the number of the commandments, as denoting the number of vessels, etc., in the Temple (I Kings vii. 27-38) ; in the ritual frequently (e.g., Ex. xii. 3), including the tenth (see Tithes). The use of the powers of ten is of course common. Thus 100 as a round number and as a multiplier is used (Eccles. vi. 3; Gen. xxvi. 12; Matt. xiii. 8); so 1,000 (Ex. xx. 6; Matt. xiii. 8); and 10,000 (Judges iv. 6 sqq.; I Sam. xv. 4; Matt, xviii. 24); as well as 100,000 (I Kings xx. 29); and such passages as Dan. vii. 10; Rev. v. 11 show the use of this number to suggest large ideas. Other uses are shown in Lev. xxvi. 26; Neh. v. 11; Lev. xxvi. 8; Judges xx. 10, etc., in which various proportions that involve the number are employed. In Matt. xx. 6 sqq. the number eleven is used symbolically. The common use of the number twelve is somewhat remarkable, whether that is influenced by its being the product of three and four or the sum of five and seven or the number of the months and the zodiacal signs — certainly of the last there are no signs among the Hebrews, where the use most general refers to the number of tribes. Naturally the multiples of twelve appear also in relation to the tribes; 12,000 (Num. xxxi. 5), 24,000 (Num. xxv. 9), 144,000 (Rev. vii. 4). There is room for question whether the number seventy (ut sup.) is a round number for seventy-two; this is familiar through the use of that term for the translators (six times twelve) of the Old Testament into Greek. One usage worthy of notice here is poetic, in which a lower and a higher number are conjoined for rhetorical heightening of effect (Isa. xvii. 6; Amos. i. 3 sqq.; Micah v. 5; Prov. xxx. 15 sqq., notable; Eccl. xi. 2). On the mystical numbers in Dan. viii. 14, xii. 11; Rev. xiii. 18-19 consult the commentaries. (E. Katjtzsch")".)
Bibliography: Isidore of Seville, De numeris, in MPL, lxxxi.; K. C. W. F. Bahr, Symbolik des mosaischen Cultus, i. 119-208, Heidelberg, 1837; C. Auber, Hist, et thiorie du symbolisme religieux, i. 97-155, Paris, 1870; R. Hirzel, in Abhandlungen der sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften (1885), 1 sqq.; S. Kraus, in ZATW, xix. 1 (1899), 1 sqq., and part 2, pp. 38 sqq.; H. Gunkel, Zum religionsgeschichtlichen Verstdndnis des N. T ., pp. 43-44, 81, Gottingen, 1903; W. H. Roscher, in Abhandlungen der sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, xxi. 4 (1903), xxiv. 1 (1904), xxvi. 1 (1907), xxvii. 4 (1909); A. Jeremias, Das A. T. im Lichte des alten Orients, pp. 56 sqq., Leipsic, 1906; E. Mahler, in ZDMG, lx (1906), 834 sqq.; B. Stade, in ZATW, xxvi (1906), 124 sqq.; E. Konig, in ZDMG, lxi (1907), 474 sqq.; Schrader, KAT, ii. 614 sqq.; E. W. Hopkins, Oriental Studies of the Oriental Club of Philadelphia, pp. 141 sqq.; H. G. Wood, Ideal Metrology in Nature, Art, Religion, and History, Dorchester, Mass., 1908; Vigouroux, Dictionnaire, fasc. xxviii. columns 1677—97; DB, iii. 560-567; EB, iii. 3434-3439; JE, ix. 348-350; the literature under Cabala and the commentaries on the Biblical passages.
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