Numerical Secrets of the Bible: Rediscovering the Bible Codes

211 Pages·2000·0.8 MB·English

by  C. J. Labuschagne

Numerical Secrets of the Bible

Numerical Secrets of the Bible
Rediscovering the Bible Codes
by
Casper J. Labuschagne
BIBAL Press
North Richland Hills, Texas
BIBAL Press
An imprint of D. & F. Scott Publishing, Inc.
BIBAL P.O. Box 821653
N. Richland Hills, TX 76182
Copyright © 2000 by D. & F. Scott Publishing, Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanymanner
whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except for brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
08 5 4 3 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Labuschagne, C. J.
[Vertellen met getallen. English]
Numerical secrets of the Bible : rediscovering the Bible codes / by
Casper J. Labuschagne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-941037-67-9 (alk. paper)
1. Numbers in the Bible. I. Title.
BS680.N8 L3313 2000
221.6'8--dc21
00-009699
Contents
Preface ix
A Personal Note xiii
1
Counting Hebrew Letters, Words, and Verses
in Jewish Tradition 1
Introduction 1
The Function of Numbers in Antiquity 5
The Counting of Letters, Words, and Verses
in the Masoretic Tradition 7
Seeking and Locating of the Center of the Text 9
The Significance of Such Counting Activities 10
Well-Known Numerical Compositions: the
Alphabetic Poems 12
The Book of Lamentations as a Numerical
Composition 14
Conclusions That Could Have Been Drawn Long Ago 18
2
Some Significant Numbers in the Bible 21
A New Awareness of the Significance of
Numbers in the Bible 21
Explicitly Mentioned Symbolic Numbers
in the Bible: 40, 12, and 7 22
Explicit References to the Number Seven
in the Bible 26
The Hidden Presence of the Number Seven
in the Old Testament 31
Examples from the Four Gospels 33
More Examples from Other Books of the
New Testament 33
v
Contents
3
Clusters and Series of Seven Divine Speeches 41
The Divine Speech Formulas as an Incentive
to Counting 41
Series of Seven in the Tabernacle Laws 42
The Significance of the Menorah in Center Position 48
Series of Seven in the Book of Leviticus
and the Sabbath 49
More Examples of Manifestly Designed
Series of Seven Items 53
4
The 7+4=11 Pattern in the Pentateuch 57
The Primeval History in Genesis 1–11 57
The Eleven Divine Monologues in the Pentateuch 62
Three Genealogies in Genesis 1–11 64
The Eleven Toledoth-Formulas in Genesis 66
The Role of 7 in the Life Spans of the Patriarchs 67
How Did 7 Acquire its Symbolic Meaning? 69
The Number of Fulfillment, 11 70
5
The Secret of the Hidden Sacred Numbers 17 and 26 75
Significant Numbers in the Divine Speeches
in Genesis 75
Examples from the Book of Exodus 79
Conspicuous Numbers in the Divine Speeches
in Deuteronomy 82
Counting Verses in Deuteronomy 85
The Symbolic Meaning of 17 and 26 88
The Divine Name Interwoven in the Fabric
of the Text 92
The Purpose of the Hidden Numerical Structures 93
The Divine Name Numbers Signifying God’s
Presence 96
17 and 26 in the Life Spans of the Patriarchs
and in the Genealogies 98
The Watermark of the Name of God as the
Hallmark of Holy Scripture 103
vi
Contents
6
The Bible as a High-Grade Literary Work of Art 105
Investigating the Numerical Structure of the
Biblical Text 105
The Layout Markers in the Hebrew Text of Genesis 107
The Numerical Architecture of the Hebrew Bible
Rediscovered 111
The Pioneering Work of Claus Schedl 114
The Theoretical Foundations of Schedl’s Thesis 117
Schedl’s Numerical Analysis of New Testament Texts 120
Significant Compositional Models Discovered
by Schedl 121
a) The “Minor Tetraktys” 121
b) The “Major Tetraktys” 127
c) The Pentateuch- and Decalogue-Model 127
a
d) The YHWH- echadModel 128
e) The Numerical Menorah-Structure and the
Balance-Model 130
Keywords Determining the Number of Words
in a Text 135
7
Proper Use and Misuse of Numbers 141
The Significance of the Numerical Aspects
of the Bible 141
How Numerical Structures Support the
Message of a Text 143
a) Psalm 82 143
b) Psalm 8 145
c) Psalm 19 147
d) Isa 8:19 – 9:6 149
The Misuse of Numbers by Numerologists 153
A Theological Assessment of the Numerical
Aspects of the Bible 157
Notes 163
About the Author 183
Index of Scripture Citations 185
vii

Preface
T
hroughtheagesnoliteraryworkhasreceivedsomuch
attention as the Bible, which has been handed down
from generation to generation so carefully, studied so
diligentlyandcommenteduponsothoroughly.Manyavenues
ofitswritingshavebeenexploredandnumerousaspectsinves-
tigated in detail. Especially during the past century biblical
scholarshavedevotedmuchtimeandenergyinaddressingthe
manyquestions,bothliteraryandhistorical,raisedbythiscom-
plicated body of literature. One would think that by now the
Bible must have yielded all its secrets. Yet nothing is less true,
judged by the discovery in recent times of a virtually unde-
tected and practically unknown facet of thebiblical writings.
Thisdiscoveryconcernsahithertounrecognizedprincipleof
composition: the use of specific numbers in the organization
and formation of the text of the canonical books of the Bible.
Scholarlyresearchthelastcoupleofdecadesledtotheconclu-
sionthatthebiblicalwritingsarenumericalcompositions.This
means that they were not written off the cuff, but carefully
devised and meticulously composed and structured with the
help of certain numbers. These numbers have a specific sym-
bolic meaning, on the basis of which they seem to have been
used to deepen and enhance the meaning of the text. Since I
have been deeply involved personally in the discovery of the
numerical aspects of theBible, I intend to takethereaders on
an exploratory expedition in order to let them discover for
themselves what has been uncovered in this respect.
ix