bible interpretation using numerical and word patterns

minstrel

hello,

can anybody explain more about this practice of using biblical word patterns and numbers. Also what is it used for??

regards

minstrel

I read an interesting book when years back when I left jw's... I think it was called "A Kabala of Numbers" by Sepherial....It was extremely interesting, and all about this subject. It was used mainly for divination. I think the majority was bunk and not very practical, however. Good tidbits in there though..

gumby

Yes,

God loved his children SO MUCH, that he decided to speak to his children in this manner, that were fortunate enough to decipher the code or run into someone who could. That is like a dad speaking sign language to his children that aren't deaf nor understand sign language. Why would you want to worship someone who plays head games?

Gumby

Islandboy99

If your into mathematics, physics, and chemistry... you can see math and reocurring numbers throughout creation... constants...ie. pi...natural log...

like Galileo said, math is the language that God used to write the Universe.... the Jews use their alphabet as their number system, and interestingly enough, whether by chance or design, numbers continually reoccur in the writings of the Hebrew scriptures... I found it extremely interesting for a while, so studied it a bit.... Eventually I threw it away just like everything else.

peacefulpete

Search 'Bible Code' here, as this has ben discussed a number of times on this site over the past year. To sum up, it's bunk. The text is not ome fixed pattern. Translating, manuscript variation and recognised additons to the text, make the whole premise of a message hidden in th word order ridiculous.

Earnest

I think that minstrel is referring to gematria, the rabbinical rules for interpreting the Torah which consist of explaining a word or group of words according to the numerical value of the letters.

It first appears in statements by Jewish rabbis of the second century AD and initially only referred to the numbers in a word. For example, a soft taw (th) = 4, a soft beth (v) = 2. Other forms of gematria developed which consist of changing the letters of the alphabet by substituting the last letter for the first, the penultimate for the second, etc. This already occurs in the Bible to some degree. For example, Jeremiah 25:26 & 51:41 both refer to Sheshach [shin shin kaph] which is a cryptogram for Babel ("Babylon") when converted to [beth beth lamed], Jeremiah 51:1 refers to "leb kamai" which is identical, according to this system, with Kasdim ("Chaldeans").

Other methods of gematria that were used include :

(1) The numerical value of one word (equaling the sum of the numerical value of all its letters) is equal to that of another word (e.g. strength [gevwrah] = 216 = lion [aryeh]).

(2) A "small number" which does not take into account tens or hundreds (4 = th; 2 = v).

(3) The squared number in which the letters of the word are calculated according to their numerical value squared. The Tetragrammaton, y [10x10] h [5x5] w [6x6] h [5x5] = 186 = m q w s ("Place"), another name for God.

(4) The adding up of the value of all of the preceding letters in an arithmetical series (d = 1[a] + 2[b] + 3[g] + 4[d] = 10). This type of calculation is important in complicated gematria that reaches into the thousands.

(5) The "filling" where the numerical values of all the letters that make up the names of each letter are calculated (so h = e + i + t + j). These are important with regard to the numerical value of the tetragrammaton, which varies with values of 45, 52, 63 and 72. There is also a "Name of 72 Names" taken from Exodus 14:19-21 where each verse contains 72 letters.

(6) The addition of the number of letters in the word to the numerical value of the word itself, or the addition of the number "one" to the total numerical value of the word.

In many cases gematria were simply used as mnemonics but they were also used to obtain hidden meanings from scripture. Here are a few examples of the application of gematria :

When Isaac said in Genesis 32:4 "With Laban I have resided" - the gematria value of "I have resided" is 613, meaning "I resided with Laban but still observed the 613 laws" (Moses ha-Darshan, Genesis Rabbati, 145).

The phrase elleh ha-devarim ("These are the words [that Jehovah has commanded]") in Exodus 35:1 hints at the 39 categories of work forbidden on the Sabbath, since the plural devarim indicates two, the additional article ha a third, while the numerical equivalent of elleh is 36, making a total of 39 (Talmud Shab. 70a).

The early Christians also practiced a form of gematria. In the Epistle of Barnabas (9.7-9) the author interprets the number of Abraham?s household (318 men, Genesis 14:14) to refer to Christ. The Greek letter for the numeral 300 is equivalent to the English T, which the author believed to signify the cross of Jesus. The numeral 18 was composed of 10 and 8, which in Greek is formed by the letters I and H respectively. These letters form the first two letters of the name of Jesus in Greek (= IHSOUS), and so the author of Barnabas argues that the name of Jesus was revealed in connection with the cross (in the Greek translation of Genesis !!)

The Jewish equivalent interprets the 318 men to be Eliezer the servant of Abraham, the numerical value of his name being 318 (aleph=1 + lamed=30 + yod=10 + ayin=70 + zayin=7 + resh=200). So, as with much else, gematria can be used to read into the text whatever you want to see. But if mathematics is the closest we can come to pure truth then it is possible that God has revealed something of himself in the mathematics of scripture.

Earnest

Frannie Banannie

Earnest, I've wondered whether the science of numbers, applied to music could produce the "As if New Song".....the Chaldean-Hebrew Kabala Alphabet produces the first 4 notes of the "Hallelujah Chorus" of Handel's "Messiah" when playing "YHWH" translated into notes, according to their position in the Kabala. Does that make any sense?

Frannie B

Earnest

Frannie, both music and mathematics can be symbols of pure truth. And I dare say that both can draw us to God in different ways. I don't agree with gematria myself as it propagates the idea that there is some secret knowledge only known by a few. But I do find the mental gymnastics that some have achieved in teasing out meaning from scriptures quite mind-blowing. If you want an alternative to weed, try the kabbalah.

Earnest

Frannie Banannie

Too bad, Earnest.....things are not always what they appear to be, chere....and since the songs of birds make things grow (just to name one example of how music creates), and an experiment with an Eidophone proves that not only the content of our words, but their musical tones influence the conditions in our lives, I think there's something to this idea.

Frannie B

cruzanheart

I think a great many of us were watching the History Channel last night, because Chris & I saw a program about numerical patterns in the Bible. I was kind of interested but mostly skeptical, especially after they produced an expert who was able to find the same type of messages in "Moby Dick," thereby bringing up the interesting question: "was 'Moby Dick' inspired by God?" Could be . . . could be . . .

Nina

bible interpretation using numerical and word patterns

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