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NASB | Genesis 8:5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 8:5 The waters continued to decrease until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen. |
Bible Question: What do the number 10 in the bible signify? |
Bible Answer: Hi, The number ten can mean 'a number of times'. For example Jacob said, 'you have changed my wages ten times' (Genesis 31.41). It can also indicate a complete series. Thus in Genesis 5 and Genesis 11 we have two series of ten patriarchs which are intended to sum up the whole line of patriarchs. This last is the most common usage. In fact the ancients used numbers as adjectives in order to give an impression. Seven was used to indicate divine perfection and completeness. Numbers were first invented (in primitive form) in the area around Babylonia around 3500 BC. But their use was limited to a few experts. For long centuries most people had a limit of counting of three, and even today among a number of tribes three is still the limit of their use of numbers. (It was not a question of spiritualising them. It was the way that they used them). This comes out in 1 Kings 17.12 where the widow woman was collecting 'two sticks' i.e. a few. 'Three' would have indicated 'a lot'. That is why the hieroglyph for the number three in Egyptian also meant the universe. It went back to their thinking in terms of a man, his woman and the rest of the universe. The Sumerian symbol for one meant 'man', for two meant 'woman. and for three meant also 'many'. We have another example of this in 1 Samuel 13.1 where the Hebrew text reads. 'Saul was one year old when he began to reign and he reigned two years over Israel'. Saul was a primitive king and had no recorder and thus the later writers had no statistics for his reign. So they used the common people's conventions. 'One' indicated the first stage of life. He became king before he reached maturity. 'Two' indicated the first and middle stages of life. He never reached old age (which would have been 'three'). Even today among primitive tribes old men will proudly tell you that they are three years old. Our own number system indicates a time when ten was the limit of counting. Thus eleph en (eleven) mean ten and one more. two eleph (twelve) meant ten and two more. That may well be why thirteen originally became an unlucky number. It was originally the one outside the count. It is doubtful if in Jesus day the majority of Gentile Christians (and other Gentiles) could count beyond say twenty, even if that. They could probably also not read. That is why the Scriptures were read aloud in the churches. A number of the so-called number contradictions that some people claim today are easily resolved by recognising these facts. I realise this may seem strange to us. We have been brought up to count. But it is nevertheless true. To most ancient people numbers were a mystery. In the Egyptian texts a king who was able to number his fingers was counted as 'a great magician'. Such was the awe in which numbers were held. So ten was a significant number for it was the number of fingers on both hands indicating a complete series. Any good book on the history of mathematics will tell you these facts. Best wishes Jonp. |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Gen 8:5 | Author | ||
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dovie | ||
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Searcher56 | ||
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jonp | ||
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jlhetrick | ||
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stjohn |