17 and 26

17 and 26 June 1, 2016

CJ Labuschagne (Numerical Secrets of the Bible) discovers repeated numero-literary uses of the numbers 17 and 26 in the Old Testament. Texts are comprised of multiples of one or the other of these numbers. Why?

26 is relatively easy: It’s the gematria of Yahweh, the sum of the numerical values of the letters. 17 is also a gematria. It’s “the numerical value of . . . aahweh, which is analogous to the archaized form . . . yahweh. The normal first person singular form of the supposed archaized form aahweh, ‘I am,’ (aehyeh) occurs in the famous verse in Exod 3:14, where the divine name is revealed and defined” (89).

But Labuschagne thinks “there is more to the symbolic significance of the two numbers in question, since they also happen to represent the numerical values of the Hebrew word kabod, “glory,” more particularly the Glory of God, also signifying his Presence. The sum of the numerical values of the letters . . . kbd, since Hebrew words were written without vowel signs, adds up to 17: k = 11 + b = 2 + d = 4.” Yet “kabod has an additional numerical value: 26.” The reason is that “the letters k to t of the Hebrew alphabet have a double function: apart from their normal alphabetical value representing the numerals 11 to 22, they were also employed to represent the tens and the hundreds: kaph = 20; lamed = 30; mem = 40; nun = 50; samekh = 60; bayin = 70; peh = 80; tsadeh = 90; qoph = 100; resh = 200; shin = 300; taw = 400.” When the kaph is given this alternative value, kabod ends up as 26 (90).

There’s a theological foundation to this association of name and glory: “The name of God and his Glory were regarded as belonging inextricably together. The intimate connection between them is most effectively demonstrated by the story in Exod 33:17–23 where Moses asks God to show him his glory, but God proclaims his name” (90). That divine speech consists of 26 words: “17 in verses 21–22 and 9 in verse 23” (91). Labuschagne finds additional support in the passages that bring name and glory into close connection: There are 51 (3 x 17) words in Isaiah 59:19-21; 85 (5 x 17) in Psalm 102:13-23; and 17 words spoken by Levites in Nehemiah 9 (91). These last stats are fishy; why should he exclude Isaiah 59:22 from consideration? Yet the numerical representation name and glory as 17/26 is striking and quite plausible.


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