Each number, or multiplication of a number, in the Holy Scripture symbolizes something. Therefore many saints wrote their contemplations on this; foremost of those is St. Augustine who had deep contemplations on certain numbers.
Some numbers are a symbol of perfection, like “7” and “10”, which people know very well. The number “3” is a symbol of existence or presence we wrote about it before. Today we shall speak about some numbers not very well known.
The number “6” Six :
It is a symbol of accomplishment of work
The ten commandments say, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,” and the reason is “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” (Ex 20:9,11).
The number “6” is connected with this work as a Creator and as a Redeemer
Therefore we pray in the Sixth Hour Prayer, saying, “O Lord, who on the sixth day, at the sixth hour, was nailed to the cross.” He accomplished creation on the sixth day, redemption on the sixth day and at the sixth hour.
Why was there darkness over all the earth about the sixth hour (Lk 23:44)?
It is because at that hour all man ‘s darkness, all the sins and trespasses committed by mankind were laid on the Lord, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa 53:6)
All the sins committed by mankind were laid on His cross, so the whole earth was overwhelmed with darkness.
And why darkness for three hours ? Because the number “3” , as said before, is a symbol of existence and presence. So the whole sin in its actuality is expressed by the number “3” from the sixth hour.
The work in the soil (the earth) was also accomplished in six years, as symbolically stated in (Ex 23:10)
The Lord said to Moses the Prophet, “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest …” And He blessed the produce of the sixth year to suffice for two years. We, at present, do not give rest to the earth but exhaust it and deprive it from sun and air.
The number “6” also is a symbol of the accomplishment of the work of the slaves.
“When he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” (Jer 34:14).
Also in the wedding at Cana of Galilee, the six water pots filled with water are a symbol of the accomplishment of the work of mankind. The miracle of the Lord in turning water into wine, that is creating a new substance, is here done symbolically by the six water pots as in the six days of creation.
We also read about the six cities of refuge which the Lord allocated for whoever is chased to be killed to take refuge there.
The number “6”
Is represented even in the offspring Our father Jacob , after the competition between Leak and Rachel, came to Egypt with sixty six person, his offspring (Gen 46:26).
The number “6”is a symbol of power as well.
Solomon’s couch was surrounded with sixty valiant men holding swords (song 3:7) Solomon was a symbol of Christ, and the “sixty “ is the multiplication of 10 x6. The “10” is the perfection of the commandments, which is the cause behind the power of those valiant men.
Even in evil, the number “6” is a symbol.
The number of the beast in the Revelation is “666”, as a symbol of its complete wickedness. It is repeated thrice as a symbol of its actual existence.- But whether the number of the letters of its name is the letters of a man, a nation, or a rule, this is not known.
The multiplications of the number “6”:
The work of spreading Christianity is accomplished by 12 apostles (6×2) in whom the action of the grace is multiplied. The same applies to the twelve tribes. And the whole work of man is done in days, months, and years, all of which are the multiplication of the number “6” : The year is 12 months, the months is 30 days, the day is 24 hours, the hour is 60 minutes, and the minute is 60 moments !
The number “5”:
It is a symbol of mankind.
Man has five senses, five openings on the face, and five fingers in the hand and the foot.
It is symbolic in the parable of the wise virgins and the foolish virgins
(Mt 25)
The five wise virgins symbolize all the wise and righteous people, and the five foolish virgins symbolize all the foolish and evil people. They are equal in humanity, but some were saved, and some perished. The same applies to the five talents which the first servant received and won another five (Mt 25:45) .It is here a symbol of the utmost awareness of responsibility and the utmost profit man obtains.
The same may be said concerning the miracle of feeding the multitude.
They were five thousand men (Mt 14:21), a symbol of the greatest number of people. They were fed with five loaves blessed by the Lord and offered by a boy (Jm 6:9), as a symbol of the utmost offering man can give. The Lord commanded that they be seated groups of fifty (Lk 9:14), which is the multiplication of the number “5”, a symbol of order and organization.
St Paul speaks about such organization concerning the work of the human tongue.
He says, “with understanding”… than ten thousand words “in a tongue”
(1 Cor 14:19)
He uses this number also in speaking about his passions, though actual, but also symbolic: “From the Jews five time I received forty stripes minus one.” (2Cor 11:24).
The number “5” is used to express the evils of mankind.
About division within the house the Lord says, “From now on five in one house will be divided: three against two and two against three…” (Lk 12:52).
Concerning the sin of the Samaritan woman, the Lord said:
“You have well said I have no husband, for you have had five husbands.” (Jn 4:18).
The number “5” here is a symbol of complete wickedness. When the sixth is added it will refer to the accomplishment of the evil of people in sin, which that woman lived with those men.
The same number is used by the rich man concerning poor lazarus.
The rich man said to our father Abraham about Lazarus, “I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.”(Lk 16:27,28). The number “5” here is a symbol of all those who need warning and guidance, who have Moses and the prophets, as our father Abraham said.
The number “50” as a multiplications of “5” :
The Lord used this number in His talk of Simon the Pharisee who judged the sinful repentant woman The Lord said to him, “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii , and the other fifty…” (Lk 7:41). The number here refers to the sins of people and the comparison between them.
With the same meaning we can understand the captain of fifty and his fifty men sent by King Ahaziah to Elijh the Tishbite
He sent them three times, as a symbol of the actuality of the mission.
The number “10” is either the multiplication of “5”, or a symbol of the ten commandments or anything else as we shall see
The fist law written by the hand of Gob was five Books.
It is Moses’ law, known as the Pentateuch: Genesis , Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
The holy ointment oil, with which the priests, the prophets, and the kings were anointed, consisted of five substances.
It is mentioned in (Ex:22-25,33(, and no one was permitted to make it.
The number “30” as a multiplication of “5”.
It is a symbol of the completeness of human work.
Besides the years, months, days, hours, minutes, and moments, as indicated before, we mention here an important fact about the holiest human work, that is, priesthood.
A person was only made a priest or a Levite at the age of thirty, not before that.
The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari were taken for the ministry (Num 3:17), and from the sons of Kohath “from thirty years old and above, even to fifty… to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.” (Num 4:2,3). The same from the sons of Gershon, and the sons of Merari (Num 4:23,46,47).
John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias the Priest, started his ministry at about the age of thirty (Lk 3:23). His ministry was under the law of Moses. Also David the Prophet who was a symbol of the Lord Christ, though was chosen early as a king, was thirty years old when he began to reign (2 Sam.5:4).
The number “30” is found in the Parable of the good crop:
The Lord said, “Others (seed) fell on good ground and yielded a crop : some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears of hear, let him hear!” (Mt 13:8). The number “3)” here is a symbol of complete work; “60” is a symbol of multiplication of work by the grace; “100” is a symbol of the perfect work of God towards man.
We shall deal with other numbers in next week’s article, God willing