Biblical Numerology: A Basic Study of the Use of Numbers in the Bible

I just Love The Bible, and I want to learn more from this book about Biblical Gematria. It is so far very interesting. - Sky

Just got it. It will help with bible study

I've read most of John J. Davis' books and they all have been fantastic! This book is no exception. Dr. Davis is a conservative scholar and treats the Bible as God's true word. The topic discussed was well-handled and thoroughly investigated. I was able to easily digest the contents of this book in a mere two days. This is because John writes with great clarity and succinctness. The end of each section ends with a summary that wonderfully wraps up everything discussed. This helped me remember the key points Dr. Davis had made.The last chapter is a larger summary of all the conclusions found throughout the entire book. I wish all authors would do this! For those interested in what this book covers, the opening paragraph of this chapter will be helpful:"The aims of this study were three-fold: (1) to collect, analyze, and classify data relevant to numbers and their use in the Bible, (2) to define the nature and use of numbers in Scripture, and (3) by experimentation and evaluation to establish valid and consistent principals for the interpretation of Biblical numbers."This book is broken down into two primary sections. The first section dealt with the construction of numbers in the Bible and in contemporary literature. The second section dealt with the four basic uses of numbers in the Bible: conventional use, rhetorical use, symbolic use, and mystical use. Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering what position Dr. Davis takes on these issues. I'll leave you with this: John believes that the "numbers found in the Bible should be taken at face value and understood as conveying a mathematical quantity unless there is textual or contextual evidence to the contrary." Those expecting this author to ascribe various theological meanings to various numbers will be sadly disappointed! John convincingly concludes that the mystical and symbolical interpretation of numbers (excluding the possibility of 7 in some contexts) has no place in a sound system of hermeneutics.

I had a student ask me what the #5 means. I wasn't so sure so I did some research and I really like John Davis. I have his book on Genesis and Exodus and really enjoy his authorship. This book is pretty dry and boring but if you want to learn, know, and understand biblical numerology, I highly recommend this read. In fact, I highly recommend John Davis as an author, period. And no, you cannot keep your doctor, period...

The Bible was reportedly written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. In both the Hebrew and Greek alphabets (possibly Aramaic as well, I do not know)the letters of the alphabet represent both a letter and a number. Gematria is a method of interpreting those relations which has been in traditional use for millennia and is associated with a large body of additional esoteric context and meaning. I expected such rich layers of meaning and tradition from a book titled 'Biblical Numerology'. Instead the author managed to completely avoid millennia of biblical numerological tradition and delivered a mundane, hollow, unsatisfactory, and spiritually useless interpretation. It was as if a blind man asked a sighted man what he saw when he looked at the night sky and the answer he received was 'rocks'. Or if you bought a book purported to contain gourmet recipes and it was about making mud pies. While this book may be perfect for very literal Bible students who don't wish to upset their sensibilities with any information beyond their realm of every day experience it's useless for anyone else. Actually it's worse than useless. Boring and uninspiring, reading it in the vain hope of grasping even one nugget of wisdom felt like a punishment. I strongly suggest anyone with a real interest in biblical numerology purchase a work such as 'Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation' by Aryah Kaplan or 'The Dimensions of Paradise' by John Michell instead

A bit outdated, but the process Davis uses to draw his conclusions is exhaustive. I cannot dock another star because I disagree with some of his conclusions, but I did dock a star for failing to address many important OT numerology one might purchase this book for in the first place (e.g. the astounding silence concerning the book of Daniel). For how compact and short this book is, you'll find it quite long in implication and very dry in reading. This is a scholarly work, not for modern day pre-mill folks who would rather the emotional appeal of Left Behind.

It's o.k.! Not great.

A little more in depth than I had anticipated.