Introduction

Method of Verse Identification

The method deals with how we can identify a verse numerically.

Definition (Method of Verse Identification) Let Q be a set of verses in the Bible. An identifier I of Q is the total of the sum of book numbers, the sum of chapter numbers and the sum of verse numbers of all the verses in the set Q.

For example, the identifier of the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke is 168:

Book	Chapter	Verse	Sum
42	11	2	55
42	11	3	56
42	11	4	57
			168

Similarly, the identifier of the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew is 285.

Book	Chapter	Verse	Sum
40	6	9	55
40	6	10	56
40	6	11	57
40	6	12	58
40	6	13	59
			285

As explained in the book any outcome of Biblical Mathematics must fall within its framework, shown below, where Axiom 1:1 (Jesus Christ came in the flesh) is adopted from 1 John 4:1-3.

4 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. ² Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: ³ And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

The Alphanumeric Method

The second method in Biblical Mathematics is the use of well-known standard value of each Hebrew and Greek letter. The alphanumeric code of assigning a numerical value to a word, name, or phrase based on its letters is known as Gematria. Traditional Jewish Gematria focuses on the Hebrew language and is often used for interpreting Jewish texts, especially the Torah. The Greek alphabet, like the Hebrew, also has historical associations with numerical values. This system is known as Isopsephy in Greek. The assignment of numerical values to Greek letters allows for the practice of gematria with Greek words, which was used in various ancient Greek documents and inscriptions.

The following table, showing the Jewish Gematria and the Greek Isopsephy, is sourced from the website The Construction of the Menorah and the Bible.

For example, the Hebrew phrase ישוע המשיח (read Yeshua HaMashiach) means “Jesus the Messiah”. Its value is 749, as shown below:

“ישוע” (Yeshua): י (Yod) = 10; ש (Shin) = 300; ו (Vav) = 6; ע (Ayin) = 70. Hence, the sum is 10 + 300 + 6 + 70 = 386.

“המשיח” (HaMashiach): ה (He) = 5; מ (Mem) = 40; ש (Shin) = 300; י (Yod) = 10; ח (Chet) = 8. Hence, The sum is 5 + 40 + 300 + 10 + 8 = 363.

Adding both sums together: 386 (Yeshua) + 363 (HaMashiach) = 749.

It is interesting that an estimation of the Prime Pi at 749 is 135, a permutation of the numeral form of 153 referred to in John 21:11: So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. It is also intriguing that another permutation, namely, 315, is the isopsephy of the 7-letter word “ἰάσπιδι” (iaspidi), which means “jasper”, that describes the man who “sat on the throne” in Revelation 4:2-3 (KJV):

² And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. ³ And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Using the standard alphabetic numeration of the Greek alphabet ( ἰ=10, ά=1, σ=200, π=80, ι=10, δ=4, ι=10 ), we find that the numerical value of “ἰάσπιδι” is 315. Hence, the one who sat on a throne is associated with the number 315.

Was it Jesus Christ who John the Apostle saw in his vision at Patmos, the one who sat on the throne, who looked like a jasper?

Our book, The Lord’s Prayer: A Mathematician’s Creed, is all about an interpretation of John 21:11 and the number 153. The astonishing discovery about the number 153 is that it points to the Lord’s Prayer. Indeed, there are 6 permutations of {1, 5, 3}, namely, {1,3,5}, {1,5,3}, {3,1,5}, {3,5,1}, {5,1,3}, {5,3,1}. The digits of the permutations, in turn, produce the numerals in the following set:{135, 153, 315, 351, 513, 531}. The sum is 1988. There are 16 divisors of 1988, given in the set {1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 37, 54, 74, 111, 222, 333, 666, 999, 1998}. The sum is is 4560. Therefore, the arithmetic mean of the divisors is 4560/16=285. But as shown above in the second table, the number 285 is the identifier for the Lords’Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew.

In our book, we showed that Jesus Christ died at precisely 3.15pm and His chest was pierced at precisely 5.31pm before Sabbath. Based on these, the time-equivalents of {135, 153, 315, 351, 513, 531} are therefore the elements of the following set {1.35pm, 1.53pm, 3.15pm, 3.51pm, 5.13pm, 5.31pm}. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ hung on the cross from 9am and was taken down before Sabbath. Therefore, in the 12-hour format, the only possible times with the digits {1,5,3} are in the set:

{10.35am, 10.53am, 1.35pm, 1.53pm, 3.15pm, 3.51pm, 5.13pm, 5.31pm}

These therefore are the eight daily prayer times of the Lord’s Prayer, and the numbers in the set {135, 153, 315, 351, 513, 531} indicate the Lord’s Prayer.

Richard Bauckham’s 2002 paper The 153 Fish and the Unity of the Fourth Gospel in the journal “Neotestamentica” marked a notable point in the discussion of gematria within biblical scholarship. Bauckham, a respected New Testament scholar, suggested that numerical techniques, including gematria, were more prevalent in biblical texts than previously acknowledged by mainstream scholarship:

NT scholars have rarely taken seriously the use of numerical techniques of literary composition by NT authors, but the evidence is mounting that such techniques were used in biblical and related literature. Three such techniques have been identified: (1) The best known is gematria, involving Hebrew or Greek letters. (In Hebrew and Greek the letters of the alphabet also serve as numerals, and so every word has a numerical value which is the sum of the numerical values of its letters.) (2) Another technique is the measurement of sections by counting the syllables or words.  (3) The number of occurrences of a particular word within a literary work (or section of one) may be significant. Such techniques can be combined.

Bauckham’s work contributed to a broader recognition and discussion of these methods within academic circles. It suggested a more complex and nuanced understanding of the composition of biblical texts, proposing that authors might have employed these methods as part of their literary and theological expression.

Note though that traditional historical-critical methods and literary analysis remain the predominant tools for biblical interpretation in academic settings. Gematria and related techniques are often viewed more as a part of the history of interpretation or as ancillary to the main methods of textual analysis.

In our book, we developed and applied the following definition:

Definition (Method of the Gematria) Let V₁ and V₂ be two verses in the Bible. Let N₁ be the total gematria of a set of words in V₁. Let N₂ be the total gematria of a set of words in V₂. It is possible that V₁ and V₂ are contextually or thematically linked if and only if N₁ = N₂.

Biblical Numerology

Biblical Numerology is a method of attaching a meaning to a number based on one or more coinciding events in the Bible. Some of the numbers themselves appear explicitly in the Bible. Such numbers are called biblical numbers. A first systematic study of biblical numbers is often attributed to the Harvard scholar Ivan Panin[1] (1855 – 1942). Several notable studies on the biblical meaning of numbers were made by E. W. Bullinger[2] (1837 – 1913) and Ed F. Vallowe[3] (1919 – 2002).  A relatively recent book by Stephen E. Jones[4] is an excellent reference which builds on the works of Ed F. Vallowe and E. W. Bullinger. In our work, when we refer to biblical numbers, we shall refer to those defined and expounded in S. E. Jones’ 2008 publication The Biblical Meaning of Numbers from One to Forty.

In our book, we showed that if a biblical verse or set of biblical verses yielded the number 168 (identifier of the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke), or 285 (the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew), or 153 (John 21:11) or one of the permutations of its numeral form (135, 153, 315, 351, 513, 531), then we could infer that there is a link between the Lord’s Prayer and the verse or set of verses.

As new results come to hand, these will be posted up in the Articles section.

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[1] I. Panin. The Structure of the Bible: A Proof of the Verbal Inspiration of Scripture, Gospel of Christ Print, 1891. [2] E. W. Bullinger. Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance, 4^th Ed., Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1921. [3] Ed F. Vallowe,  Biblical Mathematics: Keys to Scripture Numerics, Ed F. Evangelist Society, 1984 [4] S. E. Jones. The Biblical Meaning of Numbers from One to Forty, God’s Kingdom Ministries, Minnesota, USA, 2008.

Dr. Jito Vanualailai

jito.vanualailai@usp.ac.fj