Dictionary of Bible Themes  »  1000 God  »  1600 Scripture as the word of God  »  1650 numbers, significance of  »  1654 numbers, 11-99

Significant numbers include twelve, often associated with the full number of God's people, and multiples of ten, especially forty and seventy.

Eleven

Eleven sons of Jacob

Genesis 32:22; Genesis 37:9

Jesus Christ's eleven disciples

Matthew 28:16; Mark 16:14; Luke 24:9,33; Acts 1:26; Acts 2:14

Twelve

Twelve tribes of Israel

Genesis 49:28 See also Genesis 35:22-26; Exodus 24:4; Exodus 28:21; Exodus 39:14; Judges 19:29; Ezra 8:35; Acts 26:7

Representatives of the twelve tribes

Deuteronomy 1:23; Joshua 3:12; Joshua 4:2-3

The church symbolised as twelve tribes

James 1:1; Revelation 7:4-8; Revelation 21:12

Twelve apostles

Mark 3:14 See also Matthew 10:1-4; Matthew 19:28; Luke 9:1; Luke 22:30; John 6:70-71; Acts 6:2; 1 Corinthians 15:5 The term “the Twelve” is used here even though only eleven disciples remained at the time referred to.

Fourteen

Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month

Numbers 28:16 See also Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:2-5; Joshua 5:10; 2 Chronicles 35:1; Ezra 6:19; Ezekiel 45:21

Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month

Numbers 9:10-11; 2 Chronicles 30:2-3,15

Periods of fourteen years

Genesis 31:41; 2 Corinthians 12:2; Galatians 2:1

Genealogy of Jesus Christ in spans of fourteen generations

Matthew 1:17

Fifteen

Festivals on the fifteenth day

Leviticus 23:6,34,39; Numbers 28:17; Numbers 29:12; 1 Kings 12:32-33; Ezekiel 45:25

Twenty

Twenty as the minimum age in a census

Exodus 30:14; Exodus 38:26; Numbers 1:3,18; Numbers 14:29; Numbers 26:2; 1 Chronicles 27:23

Twenty as the minimum age for Levitical service

1 Chronicles 23:24,27; 2 Chronicles 31:17; Ezra 3:8

Thirty

Thirty as the age for beginning a life's work

Luke 3:23 See also Genesis 41:46; 1 Samuel 13:1; 2 Samuel 5:4; Ezekiel 1:1 The “thirtieth year” may refer to Ezekiel's age.

Thirty as the minimum age for Levitical service

Numbers 4:3,23,30,47; 1 Chronicles 23:3

The Thirty in David's army

2 Samuel 23:23 pp 1 Chronicles 11:25; 2 Samuel 23:24; 1 Chronicles 11:15-42; Corinthians 12:4,18; 1 C 6

Thirty pieces of silver

Matthew 26:15 See also Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 27:3,9

Forty

Forty days

Jonah 3:4 Forty days is a standard period, sometimes viewed as a time of preparation or testing before a major event.

Forty-day periods at the flood:

Genesis 7:4,12,17; Genesis 8:6

Moses fasted for forty days on Mount Sinai:

Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9,18 Matthew 4:1-2 pp Mark 1:13 pp Luke 4:1-2 Jesus Christ fasted for forty days in the wilderness. Numbers 13:25; 1 Samuel 17:16; 1 Kings 19:8; Acts 1:3

Forty years as a general term for a generation

God's anger against Israel in the wilderness:

Numbers 14:34; Numbers 32:13; Joshua 5:6; Psalm 95:10; Hebrews 3:9,17

God's provision for Israel in the wilderness:

Exodus 16:35; Deuteronomy 2:7; Deuteronomy 8:2-4; Deuteronomy 29:5; Nehemiah 9:21; Amos 2:10; Acts 7:36; Acts 13:18

Other significant forty-year periods

Forty-year periods in Moses' life:

Exodus 7:7; Deuteronomy 34:7; Acts 7:23,30,36

Forty-year periods of peace:

Judges 3:11; Judges 5:31; Judges 8:28

Forty-year periods of leadership:

1 Samuel 4:18; 2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Kings 2:11 pp 1 Chronicles 29:27; 1 Kings 11:42 pp 2 Chronicles 9:30; 2 Kings 12:1 pp 2 Chronicles 24:1; Acts 13:21

Fifty

The fiftieth year as the Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25:10-11 The word “jubilee” refers to the liberation of slaves, rather than to a fixed period of time. The number 50 represents the year following seven periods of seven years, i.e., 49 years + 1.

Seventy

Seventy people went down to Egypt

See also Genesis 46:27; Exodus 1:5

Seventy years of God's judgment

Jeremiah 25:11-12 See also 2 Chronicles 36:21; Isaiah 23:15-17; Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:2; Zechariah 1:12

Seventy years as the human lifespan

Psalm 90:10

Groups of seventy

Exodus 24:1; Numbers 11:16,24-25; Judges 9:2; Luke 10:1 fn,17 fn

Seventy as a large number

Matthew 18:22 See also Daniel 9:24

See also

4299  wilderness
5249  census
7135  Israel, people of God
7217  exile in Babylon
7227  flood, the
7230  genealogies
7266  tribes of Israel
7390  Levites
7406  Passover
7482  Year of Jubilee
7630  Twelve, the
8432  fasting, practice