Structural Numbers of the Bible
by Craig Paardekooper (2003)
The word "Bible" (
,
Biblios) means "Book". It has a
gematrical value of
314, which is the first
three digits of 100 x pi, where pi is the circumference of a unit circle,
3.141592.... Pi is well approximated by the ratio
22/7,
which is, in fact, the best approximation to pi using integers less than 100.
See http://www.biblewheel.com/GR/GR_314.asp for other words that sum to
314.
The Number 22/7 will be used in the discussion below as the approximate ratio of the diameter of a circle to it's circumference. The fact that the Canon Wheel shows the Bible naturally divides into 22 spokes and 7 sections suggests a connection between Numbers 22 and 7 and the Bible as a Circle or Wheel. Note also that a circle suggests completion and perfection.
There are 4 numbers that most scholars would recognise as relating to the
dimensions of the Bible. These are
66,
1189, 31102, and
373. The Bible statistics
may be confirmed at
http://www.marshcommentary.com/stats/
.
| 66 | = the number of books in the Bible. |
| 1189 | = the number of chapters in the Bible. |
| 31102 | = the number of verses in the Bible. |
| 373 | = the gematrical value of "The Word" (cf. Logos Star) |
At first sight, these numbers seem unrelated. It may come as a surprise, therefore, that all these numbers are related, and form a curious pattern based on the numbers 22 and 7:
| 31102 | x 1000 / 22 | = 1189 x 1189.005 |
| 31102 | x 1000 / 7 | = 666.6 x 6665.3 |
| 1189 x 1189 | x 22 / 7 | = 666.6 x 6665.3 |
| 666.6 x 666.6 | x 22 / 7 | = 3737 x 373.7 |
These relations are exact to within the accuracy of the digits shown. The last equation relates these numbers to the Heart of Wisdom (37) and the Logos Star (373) which form the basis of the Creation Holograph and the Logos Holograph. Here's a schematic of the above relations:
Just as the word "Bible" is a collective name that integrates all the books, chapters and verses, so it appears that the structual numbers of the Bible (314 approx. = 22/7) are related by close approximations based on the Numbers 22 and 7.
A deeper integration with the number of words and the number of letters in the Bible awaits further research. (Scholars with the facility to count either should email Craig Paardekooper at craig_pkooper@yahoo.com). This concerns a word or letter count in the original languages of the Bible - Hebrew for Old Testament, and Greek for New Testament. Your input will be greatly appreciated.
The initial findings look quite interesting. A word count was made of the number of Hebrew words in the Old Testament (the Massoretic Text). Then, a word count was made of the number of Greek words in the New Testament (Nestle-Aland/ United Bible Society Text).
| Number of OT Words (Hebrew) | = 306,375 |
| Number of NT Words (Greek) | = 138,020 (cf.
New Testament Statistics
) |
| Total Number of Words | = 444,395. Note that 444,395 = 666.6 x 666.659, almost the perfect square of 666.6. |
The number of letters in the Bible remains to be counted. The above findings suggest a consistent pattern that should penetrate to the level of the letter. I don't think anyone has ever counted the number of Hebrew and Greek letters in the Bible, so it will be a first. I wonder what we will find.
As a further point of interest, these results also integrate quite well with
the findings of Vernon Jenkins in his article concerning the structure of
Genesis 1:1 called
The Arbiters of Truth
.
I begin with this symmetrical approximate representation of the numbers encountered above:
| 7 x | 3.737 x | 3737 x | 7 / 22 = | 31102 (verses) |
| 373.7 x | 3737 x | 7 / 22 = | 444395 (words) | |
| 3737 x | 7 / 22 = | 1189 (chapters) |
The precise figures are:
| 7 x | 3.737 x | 3737 x | 6.9994 / 22 = | 31102 (verses) |
| 373.7 x | 3737 x | 7.0007 / 22 = | 444395 (words) | |
| 3737 x | 6.9997 / 22 = | 1189 (chapters) |
Notice how the factors making up the chapter, verse, and word counts are almost identical. In each case, the term in the fourth column is within 7 +/- .0007.
Sumarizing these approximations, we have:
Three circles can be drawn. Let the circumferences of the circles be -
Then the diameters of these circles will be -
Given the initial finding that the number of words in the Bible was equivalent to the diameter of a circle of circumference 3737 x 373.7, is it not a great coincidence that the chapters and verses should form practically the same pattern? The chapter divisions were introduced into the Latin Vulgate in 1290 by a Professor Stephen Langton. However, it is only when these divisions are applied to the original Hebrew and Greek texts that the pattern emerges. And this was not done for another 200 years. Furthermore, Stephen Langton introduced the chapter divisions into the Catholic Bible. The pattern would therefore remain completely hidden until the Hebrew Old Testament Canon was adopted by the Protestant Church at the time of the Reformation.
The verse divisions have always been part of the Hebrew Old Testament, though they were not numbered until the Middle Ages. Robert Estienne (better known to us as Stephens) introduced a system of numbered verse divisions in his Greek New Testament published at Geneva in 1551, and into the Latin Vulgate published at Geneva in 1555. For this he used as his model the short verses into which the Hebrew Bible had been divided by Rabbi Nathan in 1508. Henry Stephens, Robert's father, had introduced verse numbers in his 1509 edition of the Psalms. A detailed history can be found at this site:
www.holybible.com/resources/Trinitarian/article_462_5.htm
It is astounding that the words, chapters and verses have been so ordered as to exhibit the patterns shown above. It suggests a provident force at work – a force signified by the number 373.