Bible Numerics
From Textus Receptus
Bible Numerics is the study of numerical patterns in the Bible (particularly involving the number seven) and the use of particular numbers to represent certain concepts. It was pioneered by Ivan Panin from around 1890 until his death in 1942.
Bible Numerics is distinguishable from Bible codes, which involves use of decryption programs to examine Biblical passages to extract encrypted information about future events.
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Relevance of Bible numerics
Some Christians regard Bible numerics as irrefutable proof that the Bible is divinely inspired.
Those who believe in Bible numerics claim that it proves the authenticity and divine inspiration of controversial Bible passages such as Mark 16 (the last portion of Mark 16 is very important to some Christians, particularly in the Pentecostal movement, but is considered by many to have not been included in the original Gospel of Mark).
Criticism
Whilst Bible Numerics could originally not be disproved, more recent studies using a computer programme called Panin's Panic have questioned Bible Numerics, criticising the processes used in Panin's studies and suggesting that similar patterns can also be found in any non-Biblical text.
Gematria
Much of Bible Numerics revolves around the numeric values assigned to Hebrew and Greek letters. Neither of these languages (in which the Bible was written) have a separate number system, so letters were instead also attributed a number as follows:
Hebrew alphabet
| Decimal | Hebrew | Glyph |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleph | א |
| 2 | Bet | ב |
| 3 | Gimel | ג |
| 4 | Daled | ד |
| 5 | He | ה |
| 6 | Waw | ו |
| 7 | Zayin | ז |
| 8 | Heth | ח |
| 9 | Teth | ט |
| 10 | Yodh | י |
| 20 | Kaph | כ, ך |
| 30 | Lamed | ל |
| 40 | Mem | מ, ם |
| 50 | Nun | נ, ן |
| 60 | Samekh | ס |
| 70 | Ayin | ע |
| 80 | Pe | פ, ף |
| 90 | Tsadi | צ, ץ |
| 100 | Qoph | ק |
| 200 | Resh | ר |
| 300 | Shin | ש |
| 400 | Taw | ת |
| 20 | Kaph | ך |
| 40 | Mem | ם |
| 50 | Nun | ן |
| 80 | Pe | ף |
| 90 | Tsadi | ץ |
Greek alphabet
| Letter | Value | Letter | Value | Letter | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| αʹ | 1 | ιʹ | 10 | ρʹ | 100 |
| βʹ | 2 | κʹ | 20 | σʹ | 200 |
| γʹ | 3 | λʹ | 30 | τʹ | 300 |
| δʹ | 4 | μʹ | 40 | υʹ | 400 |
| εʹ | 5 | νʹ | 50 | φʹ | 500 |
| ϝʹ or ϛʹ or στʹ | 6 | ξʹ | 60 | χʹ | 600 |
| ζʹ | 7 | οʹ | 70 | ψʹ | 700 |
| ηʹ | 8 | πʹ | 80 | ωʹ | 800 |
| θʹ | 9 | ϟʹ | 90 | ϡʹ | 900 |
