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NASB | 1 Samuel 17:40 He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Samuel 17:40 Then he took his [shepherd's] staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the stream bed, and put them in his shepherd's bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd's pouch. With his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. |
Bible Question: what does the number 5 mean in the bible. |
Bible Answer: Good afternoon Shree, The letter Hey is the 5th letter of the Aleph-Bet, having the numeric value of five. The pictograph for Hey looks like a man with his arms raised, whereas the classical Hebrew script (ketav Ashurit) is constructed of two Vavs (of the Dalet) with an unattached and inverted Yod that functions as the "foot" of the letter. The meaning of the name "Hey" is "look," or "behold!" The Mystery of Hey According to the Jewish mystics, Hey represents the divine breath, revelation, and light (the word "light" is mentioned five times on the first day of creation (Gen. 1:3-4), which is said to correspond to the letter Hey). Since the numerical value of Hey is five, this corresponds on a physical level to the five fingers, the five senses, and the five dimensions. On a spiritual level it corresponds to the five levels of soul: Nefesh -instincts Ruach - emotions Neshamah - mind Chayah - bridge to transcendence Yechiddah - oneness Hey represents God's Creative Power "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6). In the Talmud (Menachot 29b) it is said that the "breath of His mouth" refers to the sound of the letter Hey - the outbreathing of Spirit. Moreover, in the fifth word of Genesis 2:4, the hey appears smaller than usual. The could be seen as "in Hey" they (i.e. the heavens and the earth) were created. Moreover, since Bet represents the Son of God (th Word of the LORD), we could read this as the Son breathed forth creation. Hey and the Divine Name The Sacred Name, yod-hey-vav-hey, includes two instances of the letter Hey. Hey and the Divine Presence According to one midrash, Yod left Aleph to become part of Dalet, thus forming Hey. Since aleph represents God and Dalet represents broken humanity, Hey is a picture of the presence of God within the human heart. This function of Hey can be seen when Abram was renamed to Abraham and Sarai was renamed to Sarah. Shalom (This is an excerpt from http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Hey/hey.html - it is "extra-biblical" to be read and studied with caution, but it is interesting, and it doesn't hurt to know what a Hebrew author may have had in mind as he penned the Hebrew scriptures.) |