There is an interesting mathematical system for the Patriarch’s age at death.
Abraham died at 175 years of age. (7 times 5 squared)= 175
Isaac died at 180 years of age. ……(5 times 6 squared)=180
Jacob died at 147 years of age…….(3 times 7 squared)=147
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Do you think this mathematical system is a coincidence?
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Do you think God arranged this mathematical system for some purpose? What purpose?
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Do you think that maybe the writers of Genesis created this mathematical system so the astute reader would know that Genesis is fiction?
Now that you are astute…in the know….what do you think?
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10 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.It is not a mathematical system, it is a particular mathematical pattern that is noted and quite possibly the cited examples are cherry picked.
I don't know offhand if any of the authors of that era would have been likely to know about the underlying mathematical concepts. I don't know if this is consistently applied to every person mentioned in an OT genealogy along with their age, or if it's being force-fitted or contrived.
What I do know is:
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Biblical numerology is a big deal for some folks, both those trying to gin up credibility for the Bible based on pseudoscience, and those trying to find hidden / esoteric / symbolic meaning. All examples of it I've ever looked into thus far have constituted confirmation bias.
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People didn't live longer at any time in the past than they do now; if anything, they tended to live shorter, nastier lives. Inflating their ages is just a way of making these figures larger than life.
So meh.
mordant
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
Hey wait no....
Enoch never died at all, he was taken up so (0 times 0 squared)= 0 Never died, that proves it, yayh me
LenHazell53
Level 9
Dec 6, 2018
2
I think a few bored scribes probably got drunk on Kosher wine one night and sneering and nudging one another said
"This is really going to freak out some clever dick rabbi in 4000 years time who will probably waste his whole life trying to read some stupid esoteric significance into it hahahahahaha Hic"
LenHazell53
Level 9
Dec 6, 2018
1
It certainly is possible
Well I personally believe that their ages have been distorted due to assumptions that whoever wrote these numbers down were going by a Roman calendar year instead of the actual time for which these people lived.
Meaning that instead of year being based off of 12 months which didn’t begin to be in use until around 700 ad that possibly that age was based off of seasonal changes like in Abraham’s time there were 3 seasons.
So divide 3 into 175 and you get 58 which would actually equate to a more accurate age based off the lifespans recorded of other people in that region and during that time ( which were 45-72 )
But this just theory as well since the documentation of timelines weren’t consistent nor were they always clearly marked by lunar cycles like certain civilizations.
48thRonin
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
Interesting theory....I will take a closer look.
I think whoever wrote those passages has a poor understanding of astronomy, doesn't know how long a year is, and was exaggerating.
Perhaps if you wrote those years in binary another mathematical coincidence occurs.
Buxx
Level 7
Dec 6, 2018
1
For sure there are several astronomical problems in the Bible
It’s important to realize that if the Old Testament is not true, then it is impossible for the New Testament to be true because the New Testament is based on the foundation of the Old Testament.
The following demonstrates that the writers of the OT did not have an accurate knowledge of astronomy and therefore the OT could not have been inspired by an all knowing God. [All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2Timothy 3:16]
The God of the Bible promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the Heavens. [I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed Genesis 26:4 see also Genesis 15:5, Genesis 22:17, Exodus 32:13]
After Israel was in slavery to Pharaoh, the Exodus from Egypt, and the forty years in the wilderness, Moses declared that God had made Israel as numerous as the stars in Heaven. [The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. Deuteronomy 1:10,see also Deuteronomy 10:22]
Moses declared that God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars had now been fulfilled.
So how many people comprised the nation of Israel? How many stars in the Heavens did the OT writers think there were?
After the Exodus from Egypt, Moses and the leaders took a census of the men over 20 years of age who were fit for war, and there were 603,550 men. [So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, even all the numbered men were 603,550. Numbers 1:45-46]
Just prior to the entrance into “the promised land,” when Moses declared that God’s promise to make Israel as numerous as the stars had been fulfilled, Moses took another census of the men of Israel, and there were 601, 730. [These are those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730. Numbers 26:51]
Based on these census figures, scholars have calculated that Israel numbered no more than four million men, women, and children. The writers of the OT believed the stars in the Heaven numbered a paltry four million stars. But modern astronomers know that the stars in the Heavens number in the billions. An all knowing God would have known how many stars He created. Surely this is positive proof that a God did not inspire the writing of the Old Testament.
@nicknotes "It’s important to realize that if the Old Testament is not true, then it is impossible for the New Testament to be true because the New Testament is based on the foundation of the Old Testament."
Well, since ALL of the Old Testament is fiction, it only stands to reason that ALL of the New Testament is also fiction.
The bible is not a reference book. I really wish people would stop trying to push it as one.
On a lighter note Jacob’ age of 147 is the same as a maximum break in snooker, therefore perfection. Does this mean that Jacob was brilliant at snooker, or that he was good at ‘snookering’ situations, I.e able to influence for his own purposes? ...and on it goes. Just an example of how this system could be used. Very entertaining I hope you agree!?
Geoffrey51
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
0
Most of the Old Testament was written down after the Babylonian exile. You’ll find that much of the early Judaic tradition comes out of the cultural melting pot of Chaldea. The culture was very big on numbers like the 12 base system and squared numbers that is still used today For example 12 x 5 = 60 (mins, hours), 6 x 60 = 360 (degrees in a circle), They also introduced Gematria, the system whereby if words have the same numerical value they mean the same thing. So all numbers in some contexts in their writings have allegorical meanings. Well worth the study if you have the time.
Geoffrey51
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
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