12-11-2017, 06:55 PM
Where does the bible expressly prohibit counting letters, or searching into a word for numerical meaning?
You know, dihydrogen monoxide has also been used by Babylonians, witches, freemasons, soldiers, and left-handed punks to harm people. And yet, the bible does not expressly prohibit its use – why is that?
Is it possible that gematria can also be used properly? Proverbs 25:2 (“The glory of Alha, that which hides a word. The glory of a king, that which searches a word.”)
Indeed, just because a learning technique was used by Babylonians does not make it automatically bad. The Babylonians developed lots of useful things, including mathematical astronomy in Daniel’s time. Granted, countless people have leavened astronomy toward astrology that leads astray, but the astronomical techniques themselves are useful and can lead toward understanding the orderly creation of Alha.
Moreover, when you look at the origins of Greek and Babylonian practices, you can see major Semitic influences (such as the Greeks borrowing from the Semitic alphabet). See e.g., Bernal, Martin. Cadmean Letters: The Transmission of the Alphabet to the Aegean and Further West before 1400 B.C. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990.
There is evidence that throughout Mesopotamia, the Hebrews and others were using gematria (isopsephia) in the time of the apostles. And if you think about it for a second, it actually makes sense, because people were already using letters daily to count numbers. For example, if you wanted to annotate the number 666 in Hebrew, you could write literally: ܬܪܣܘ or ܣܳܣܘ. See e.g., Kiraz, New Syriac Primer (2007), p. 229.
When you read ܬܪܣܘ in context, you would naturally need logic to discern whether it was being used as a number or a word. Recall the Aramaic of Rev. 13:18, “Here having discernment, and of having in him logic ܢܚܫܒܝܘܗܝ (“he will count (plural) it”) to the number(s)/computation(s) of the living being, the number(s)/computation(s) she for of a son of man six hundred and sixty and six.”
Notably, if someone in Israel at the time of the apostles was speaking verbally this number 666 to you, they would not say ܬܪܣܘ, but rather they would say ܫܬܡܐܐ ܘܫܬܝܢ ܘܫܝܬ (“six hundred and sixty and six”).
ܬܪܣܘ is a word with dual contrast meanings: “to fight/challenge/oppose them” or “to nourish/shield/protect them”
ܣܳܣܘ is also a word with dual contrast meanings: “worms” or “vaults” (as in the vaults of the heavens).
I think 666 is like that. It is the number of a son of man. The number is not automatically bad. Like water or oil or a word, the real question is how it is being used.
Aux, I liked what you shared about the census as an explanation for 666. But how does a person need wisdom or logic to conduct a census? What is the subtlety, or do you have any further insights on how wisdom & logic come into play with your biblical application to an end-of-the age census. I do think you're on to something, especially to the extent that the 144,000 (who are marked by Alha between their eyes, for protection in Revelation 7) appear to be part of a 'census' as well.
Interesting topic.
You know, dihydrogen monoxide has also been used by Babylonians, witches, freemasons, soldiers, and left-handed punks to harm people. And yet, the bible does not expressly prohibit its use – why is that?
Is it possible that gematria can also be used properly? Proverbs 25:2 (“The glory of Alha, that which hides a word. The glory of a king, that which searches a word.”)Indeed, just because a learning technique was used by Babylonians does not make it automatically bad. The Babylonians developed lots of useful things, including mathematical astronomy in Daniel’s time. Granted, countless people have leavened astronomy toward astrology that leads astray, but the astronomical techniques themselves are useful and can lead toward understanding the orderly creation of Alha.
Moreover, when you look at the origins of Greek and Babylonian practices, you can see major Semitic influences (such as the Greeks borrowing from the Semitic alphabet). See e.g., Bernal, Martin. Cadmean Letters: The Transmission of the Alphabet to the Aegean and Further West before 1400 B.C. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990.
There is evidence that throughout Mesopotamia, the Hebrews and others were using gematria (isopsephia) in the time of the apostles. And if you think about it for a second, it actually makes sense, because people were already using letters daily to count numbers. For example, if you wanted to annotate the number 666 in Hebrew, you could write literally: ܬܪܣܘ or ܣܳܣܘ. See e.g., Kiraz, New Syriac Primer (2007), p. 229.
When you read ܬܪܣܘ in context, you would naturally need logic to discern whether it was being used as a number or a word. Recall the Aramaic of Rev. 13:18, “Here having discernment, and of having in him logic ܢܚܫܒܝܘܗܝ (“he will count (plural) it”) to the number(s)/computation(s) of the living being, the number(s)/computation(s) she for of a son of man six hundred and sixty and six.”
Notably, if someone in Israel at the time of the apostles was speaking verbally this number 666 to you, they would not say ܬܪܣܘ, but rather they would say ܫܬܡܐܐ ܘܫܬܝܢ ܘܫܝܬ (“six hundred and sixty and six”).
ܬܪܣܘ is a word with dual contrast meanings: “to fight/challenge/oppose them” or “to nourish/shield/protect them”
ܣܳܣܘ is also a word with dual contrast meanings: “worms” or “vaults” (as in the vaults of the heavens).
I think 666 is like that. It is the number of a son of man. The number is not automatically bad. Like water or oil or a word, the real question is how it is being used.
Aux, I liked what you shared about the census as an explanation for 666. But how does a person need wisdom or logic to conduct a census? What is the subtlety, or do you have any further insights on how wisdom & logic come into play with your biblical application to an end-of-the age census. I do think you're on to something, especially to the extent that the 144,000 (who are marked by Alha between their eyes, for protection in Revelation 7) appear to be part of a 'census' as well.
Interesting topic.