Numerical Secrets of the Bible by Rediscovering the Bible Codes

Author:Rediscovering the Bible Codes
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf, epub
Published: 2010-08-10T12:32:17+00:00

Book I

(1–41)

41

Book III

(73–89)

17

Book IV

(90–106)

17

Book V

(107–150)

44

Total number of psalms :

34 + 85 = 119

(2×17) + (5×17) = (7×17)

The total number of psalms in Books I and V, 85, is a multi-

ple of 17: (5×17), while Books III and IV each consist of 17

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NUMERICAL SECRETS OF THE BIBLE

psalms. Moreover, of the 85 original “Davidic Psalter” (Books

I and V) 51 (3×17) belong to David, while 34 (2×17) are

attributed to other authors.29 This is a clear illustration of the

structuring role played by the divine name number 17 in the

formation process of Scripture, of which the purpose seems to

have been to “seal” the authoritative writings and preserve a

canonical form of the sacred tradition.30

In my own research, I detected a similar role for both 17 and

26 in the formation process of the book of Deuteronomy. This

means that this “sealing” of a text by means of the divine name

was practiced already during the earlier stages of the growth of

the text, and also at the end of that process, when the text

achieved its final form. What I have observed in Deuteronomy

points to a relatively early date for the use of these numbers by

the biblical authors as a technique to seal their writings as holy

Scripture, by fitting them, so to speak, with the watermark of

the name of God, the hallmark of canonicity. Further historical

research, I firmly believe, will substantiate this supposition.31

The Bible as a High-Grade

Literary Work of Art

Investigating the Numerical Structure

of the Biblical Text

Havingintroducedthereaderinthepreviouschapters

to the high frequency in the occurrence of the num-

bers 7, 17, and 26, I now intend to illustrate the struc-

tural

use of these numbers which gave the biblical texts their

characteristic form as numerical compositions. The numeri-

cal principles employed by their authors played a crucial role

in the literary architecture of the texts and added consider-

ably to making the Bible a high-grade work of art. The artful

hand of the master composers can be detected most particu-

larly in the refined numerical structure of the text.

When I qualify the Bible as “a work of art,” I am not saying

anything new, since this would be endorsed by many readers

of the Bible, biblical scholars, and literary experts before me,

who have discovered and come to appreciate its great literary

qualities. In this respect, I have in mind specific scholars who

favor a synchronic approach to the text, such as L. Alonso-

Schökel and W. Richter of the “aesthetic school”; M. Weiss,

who advocates a “total interpretation” from the standpoint of

modern literary theory; J. Muilenburg and other advocates of

“rhetorical criticism”; and the exponents of the so-called

“Amsterdam school” and related circles engaged in stylistic

and structural analysis.1

105

106

NUMERICAL SECRETS OF THE BIBLE

One of the basic principles held by the growing number of

scholars practicing these new methods of study is the compo-

sitional unity of the biblical writings—as opposed to the dissect-

ing diachronic approach to the biblical texts by scholars who

cling to the “historical-critical” method in its old-fashioned

form. Scholars of the new trend in text analysis maintain that

the biblical texts, in the form they were handed down, are not

the result of a haphazard formation process that came to a halt

by chance, but were deliberately designed compositions.

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