49 and 70

Originally posted on May 26, 2006 – by Andre Piet

From a (highly esteemed by me) brother I received an email, in which the following was written:

Very beautiful and accurate how you explain the amount and the balanced arrangement of the Bible books. Seven-times-seven (49) books in the ORIGINAL of the Holy Scriptures point to a Divine signature.

Could the number of sixty-six books in our TRANSLATED Bibles perhaps indicate a human signature? I believe so! After all, translations have passed through the hands, thoughts, and theological frameworks of men.

But… with a bit of goodwill, even in our TRANSLATED Bibles, you still arrive at a multiple of seven (namely 70): if you count the Psalms as five books!

In short: God’s ORIGINAL inspired Word remains present, even in the TRANSLATIONS of “World Christianity” (mostly rooted in the “Septuagint”, the TRANSLATION of the former “World Judaism”)… though somewhat hidden! And moreover, “He can still strike straight blows with a crooked stick.”

I fully agree with this! A few more notes by way of addition.

1. When we follow the ancient Hebrew count, we arrive at a total of 22 books in the Tenach. The number 22 obviously corresponds to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. However, Hebrew also includes five final forms of letters… If we were to count these as well, we would arrive at 27 letters. The same number as the New Testament has books. The NT, which is the crowning conclusion of the Hebrew Bible…

2. The Hebrew count brings us to a total of 22 + 27 books. That is a total of 49 books. Seven times seven.
   However, if we follow the count of the Septuagint, we arrive at… 70 books. Through both the Hebrew and Greek route, the Scriptures form a multiple of 7 books. Strikingly, Septuagint (LXX) means seventy…
3. Seventy is, in Hebrew symbolism, the number of the nations. In the table of nations in Genesis 10, we find a list of 70 sons of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These names represent the world of the nations. Seventy is the number that fits the nations, and thus also the Gentile (non-Jewish, Greek) arrangement of the Scriptures.
4. Israel arrived at the beginning of its wilderness journey at Elim. Of this place we read (Exodus 15:27) that there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. Twelve is of course the number that represents the tribes of Israel. From the people (>12) the Scriptures arose (> LXX > 70). On our journey through the barren wilderness of this world, these seventy Scriptures, springing from Jacob’s well (cf. John 4:4!), form the oasis!

Delen: